Black, Henry

Henry Black was born in Illinois ca. 1836, and lived in Carrollton, Illinois, with his parents, William and Caroline, who owned a farm. His siblings included John W., Catherine, and Alice. In 1864, he moved temporarily to Pacheco, California, where he worked on a farm, and in 1866 he returned to Carrollton and received a patent for a pulley used in hay harvesting. He spent the next several years marketing and selling his machine in the Midwest and South. He committed suicide in 1878.

From the guide to the Henry Black papers, Black, Henry papers, 1863-1872, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)