James Black | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 3rd Chairman of theProhibition Party | |
| In office 1876–1880 | |
| Preceded by | Simeon B. Chase |
| Succeeded by | Gideon T. Stewart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1823-07-23)July 23, 1823 Lewisburg,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 16, 1893(1893-12-16) (aged 70) Lancaster,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Prohibition |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic Party (before 1854) Republican Party (1854-1869) |
| Spouse | Eliza Murray |
| Children | 6 |
| Parents |
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| Signature |  |
James Black (September 23, 1823 – December 16, 1893) was an Americantemperance movement activist and a founder of theProhibition Party. Black served as the first presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party during the1872 presidential election.
Black was born September 23, 1823, inLewisburg, Pennsylvania, the son of John Black and Jane Egbert Black. In 1836 the family moved to the city ofLancaster, Pennsylvania, which would remain his hometown for the rest of his life.[1] In addition to his home in the city of Lancaster, Black also had a residence inFulton Township, Pennsylvania.[2]
As a child he worked in a sawmill from 1836 to 1837 and worked on theSusquehanna and Tidewater Canal in 1839 before attending the Lewisburg Academy from 1841 to 1843. In 1844, Black began the study of law, passing into the Pennsylvania state bar in 1846 and setting up a legal practice in Lancaster. In 1845, he married Eliza Murray and would later have six children with her.[1]
Black was initially a member of theRepublican Party but was also deeply committed to anti-alcohol activism, having joined theWashingtonian movement while still a youth.[1] He first joined theDemocratic Party, but in 1854 he participated in the creation of the Republican party and later served as a delegate to the1856 Republican National Convention where he voted to giveJohn C. Frémont the Republican nomination.[3][4]
Black was actively involved in establishing theGood Templars, a temperance organization. In addition, he co-founded theNational Temperance Society and Publishing House withNeal Dow, another pioneering temperance leader. In its first 60 years, the publishing house printed over one billion pages. It published three monthly periodicals with a combined circulation of about 600,000. It also published over 2,000 books and pamphlets plus textbooks, flyers, broadsides and other temperance materials.
In 1869, Black and some of his friends founded theProhibition Party in Chicago, Illinois with Black serving as president of the convention. Three years later he was selected to run as the party’s first presidential candidate, but he won no electoral votes and only 5,607 votes. During the 1872 presidential campaign it was incorrectly stated that he had endorsed theLiberal Republican presidential ticket ofHorace Greeley andBenjamin Gratz Brown.[5] From 1876 to 1880 he served as chairman of the national Prohibition committee.[6]
On December 16, 1893, Black died ofpneumonia at his home inLancaster, Pennsylvania, at age 70. The Prohibition party would continue to exist to the present day and was successful in achievingalcohol prohibition in the United States from 1919 to 1933.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Party founded | Prohibition Party presidential nominee 1872 (lost) | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
