Biographies
Bamberg County - South
Carolina Genealogy Trails
BLACK, JAMES BENJAMIN, M. D., for
eight years a member of the South Carolina house of representatives,
and in 1905 elected state senator from Bamberg county, was born in
Colleton county, South Carolina, July 19,1849. His father, Robert
Black, was a farmer who had served as captain in the Confederate
army, and was sheriff of Colleton county until the time of his
death, which occurred in his twentieth year of consecutive service
in that office. His mother, Elizabeth Black, was the granddaughter
of Thomas Caldwell, who came from Ireland and settled in Colleton
county about 1800; while Robert Black, his paternal great great
grandfather, was of Scotch Irish descent, and settled in South
Carolina about 1760, serving in the Revolutionary army.
His
early life was passed in the country, and to this, in part at least,
he owes a sound constitution and good health. He says of himself, "I
worked on a farm, and learned how to make a living." Such
difficulties as lay in the way of his acquiring an education he
overcame by his industry and his ability to earn his own way. To
biographical reading he attributes much of the stimulus to
achievement in his own life. He completed courses of study in the
high schools of his county, and was graduated from the University of
Maryland, school of medicine, in 1872, with the degree of M.
D.
On August 1,1872, he married Miss Hattie Ayer, and in the
same year he began the practice of medicine in Colleton county. With
the practice of medicine he has combined the business of a druggist;
and for eighteen years he has served as director in the Bamberg
bank. He is also a director of the Bamberg Cotton mills.
He
served as captain of a company in the state militia from 1877 to
1880, although he saw no active service. He was the prime mover in
the creation of the county of Bamberg, and he has often been styled
in the local press "the father of Bamberg county." For eight years
he has served in the house of representatives of the state of South
Carolina, and he now represents
Bamberg county as
senator. He has also served as attendant of the town of
Bamberg.
Of the ten children of Dr. and Mrs. Black, eight are
now living. Dr. Black is a member of the following fraternities:
Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World;
and he has filled the highest official positions, in his own
locality, in several of these orders. He is an ex-president of the
Barnwell County Medical society, of which he is still a member. His
political affiliations are, as they have always been, with the
Democratic party; and in religious convictions he is a Baptist. He
finds traveling his most enjoyable and helpful recreation. To his
young fellow citizens he says, "Be honest; abstain from the use of
intoxicants and narcotics; do not smoke cigarettes; keep good
company."
Men of Mark in South Carolina By James Calvin Hemphill
Published 1907 - transcribed and contributed by Barb
Ziegenmeyer
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