Black, William W.

Dr. William W. Black was born in South Carolina in 1820. He completed his medical training at Student Medical College in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1847. He moved to Louisiana in 1848 before settling in Panola County, Texas, in the spring of 1850. Black practiced medicine and farmed near the community of Bethany. He married Melinda Haliburton in 1855 and fathered two sons; David Black, born in 1856, and William Black, born in 1859.

In 1862 Black joined a volunteer company of cavalry organized by H. G. Roquemore. In the spring of that year Black was elected captain of G Company, 14th Texas Cavalry (dismounted), when his unit was inducted into Confederate service. Black died during the Army of Tennessee's campaign of 1862-63.

In 1863, after Captain Black's death, his widow married Marcus Dosson of Rusk County. Black's youngest son, William S., became a successful cotton broker and married Agnes Robb of New Orleans, Louisiana.

From the guide to the William W. Black Papers 82-015; 92-184., 1820-1911, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)