William Perkins Black Biographical Materials

In this section, two biographies of William Perkins Black have been selected from editions of The Bench and Bar of Illinois and The Bench and Bar of Chicago. Both were written about him while William was still alive and underscore his legal skills and prominence in the Chicago Bar.

In addition, another article written by Herman Kagan is included under this section concerning William’s role as defense counsel in the famous trial of trial of eight men charged in connection with a bombing at Haymarket Square in Chicago during a worker’s rally for an eight-hour day. The bombing on May 4, 1886 killed one and injured several others. William’s decision to serve as one of the defense counsels would significantly affect his professional life thereafter and influence his views of workers and society, as reflected in a number of later speeches and writings contained in the Speeches section of this Special Collection.

William changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and made an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1882.

 
William was a featured speaker throughout his life on a variety of social issues as well as on historical subjects including President Lincoln. William met Lincoln while William and his brother, John, lived as the stepsons of Danville’s Dr. William Fithian who was a client of Lincoln in the 1850s and an ardent supporter of him as President.

William was married to Hortensia Mary MacGreal of Galveston, Texas and they had one son, William Paul Elisha Black. She died in 1910. William Perkins Black died on January 3, 1916 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.

Hortensia wrote her own biographical sketch of her husband while he was alive. It is interesting and included in this section.

Hortensia was an intellect with her outspoken views. One example is included in this section where, as a member of the Chicago Humane Society, her published opinion in the Chicago Tribune criticized Teddy Roosevelt for his “shameful” killing of wild beasts in Africa. As a consequence, she predicted that Roosevelt would return incarnated as a “wildebeast or a gnu.”

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