Rev. Samuel Black

The town of Blacksburg, incorporated in 1798, derives its name from the son of a pioneer Presbyterian preacher, the Rev. Samuel Black. This minister of the gospel, born in North Ireland in the year 1700, was educated at the University of Edinburgh and licensed to preach at Glascow, Scotland. In the year 1735 he emigrated to America, where he became pastor of a Presbyterian church in Brandywine Manor, Chester County, PA. After a few years of residence there, he moved down into the Valley of Virginia and finding that a very considerable number of his Scotch-Irish co-religionists had occupied the beautiful region east of the Blue Ridge along the Rockfish, he removed to that section and spent the remainder of his long and useful life administering to the settlers along the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge and in the lovely Rockfish valley.

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Samuel was educated at Edinburgh, Scotland and licensed to preach at Glasgow. Another source says he was licensed by Armagh Presbytery in Ireland. He emigrated in 1735 from Ulster, with father James and brothers, Anthony and John according to the Ulster Genealogical and Historical Guild.

He was received, as a probationer, by the Presbytery of New Castle. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Donegal, PA on Oct. 27, 1736 and installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church in the Forks of the Brandywine in Chester County PA on the 10th of November, 1736. In 1743 he went to visit his brother John in Augusta Co, VA, and for 4 years traveled as a missionary among the Scotch-Irish in the area.. In early 1747 he received and accepted a call from Rockfish and Mountain Plain congregations in VA. He became the first pastor of Rockfish Church in Nelson County, VA.

IVY CREEK, MARCH 29, 1747.

       Whereas it is agreed or proposed that ye Inhabitants of Ivy

Creek and ye

       Mountain Plain Congregation joyn together with ye Congregation

of Rockfish,

       to call and invite ye Reverend Samuel Black, now Residing in ye

bounds of

       ye Reverend Mr. John Craig's Congregation, to be our Minister

and Pastor to

       administer ye ordinances of ye Gospel among us: All we, whose

names are

       hereunto affixed, do promise and oblige ourselves to pay yearly

and every

       year ye several sums annexed to our names, for ye outward

support and

       Incouragement of ye said Mr. Samuel Black during his abode and

continuance

       among us, for ye one half of his Labor in ye Administration of

Gospel

       Ordinances to us in an orderly way, according to ye Rules and

Practice of

       our Orthodox Reformed Presbyterian Church: as Witness our hands.

He later moved to Albemarle County, VA where he married and remained for the rest of his life. He was the first Presbyterian minister to settle in Albemarle County, VA and for a time he also conducted a boys school on Meechum's River. His son William also taught school. In 1751 he purchased 400 acres of land on Meechum's River, near Batesville, VA, where he made his home until his death in 1770. This is the land where the house known as Port-A-Ferry Farm was built. As was the custom at the time, Samuel owned slaves to work the plantation.

Selected U.S./Internat'l Marriage Records, 1340-1980

Black, Samuel Marriage Year : 1740

Marriage Location Code : PA

Gender : M

Birth Year : 1700

Birth Location Code : ST

Spouse : Shaw, Catherine

Birth Location Code : of VA

Source Number : 857.001

Source Type : Pedigree chart

Number of Pages : 4

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http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=126085542

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ALSO SAID TO HAVE BEEN BORN IN NORTHERN IRELAND.

■ SAMUEL BLACK BECAME THE FIRST PASTOR OF THE "ROCKFISH CHURCH" - PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ESTABLISHED IN 1746. THE ANCESTRAL FILE LISTS A DEATH DATE AS 7 AUG 1770 IN ROCKFISH, ALBEMARLE, VIRGINIA

THE ROCKFISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WHICH SAMUEL WAS THE FIRST PASTOR STILL EXISTS TODAY IN NELLYSFORD, VIRGINIA. THE FOLLOWING WAS CULLED FROM THEIR WEB PAGE AT http://www.rockfishpresbyterian.org/about_us.html :
The Rockfish meeting house was established here by 1746, making it one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in the region. James McCann conveyed land for a church and school. Samuel Black became the first pastor of the church in 1747. Thomas Mason built a new frame structure for the congregation about 1771. The present Creek Revival brick structure was constructed by 1854. Further modification have been made to the building and grounds since that time, including an addition completed in 1995.” The church has been blessed with faithful pastors and members who have kept the flame of Christ’s love alive through many lean times. The tenacious spirit of those first Scots-Irish settlers still lives, but Rockfish has become a place where people of all backgrounds are welcomed and affirmed.

SAMUEL WAS KNOWN AS THE PRESBYTERIAN PIONEER. THE FOLLOWING LINK CONTAINS A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT SAMUEL AND THE BLACK FAMILY AND BLACKSBURG, VA.

http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/wilson.htm

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Rev Samuel Black was born ca1700 somewhere in Scotland and died 9 August 1770 in Albemarle Co., Va. His father was named James Black, and he was supposedly a wool merchant who too was born in Scotland but, died in N. Ireland. I am not sure who Samuel's mother was and have never seen any conclusive evidence concerning an Eleanor.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=karen2335...

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Family history reports that Samuel Black was a descendant of an old Scotch family which emigrated from Scotland about the time of Cromwell's invasion of Scotland (circa 1650). They probably settled in Londonberry County, Ireland. Samuel and Agnes had four sons, Robert, James, Samuel and Thomas and four daughters. The four sons, all single, came to the Colonies circa 1754, landing in Philadelphia, PA. Robert went to South Carolina and James to Maryland. Samuel was with these two brothers but his descendants have not been traced. Thomas' fate is unknown. The four sisters remained in Ireland.