The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1883-08-23
JUDGE BLACK DEAD.
Death Of Judge Jere 8. Black of
Pennsylvania, Who Passed Away
With Prayer on His Lips.


With a Prayer on His Lips.
York, Pa, Special Telegram, Aug. 10. -
Brockie is in mourning. Judge Black, the
the central figure OF Brockie, lies cold in
death. His death was peaceful and calm,
and bis eyentful life went out beautiful q
the setting of summer sun upon the cloud
less sky. His death was . courageous one,
and in hope of blessed Immortality. At
2:l5 O'Clock he breatbed bis last. Kissing
his wife goodbye, he turned over ON hi,
side, and with smile playing upon his lips
be passed away. His two sons, Chauncey
+. and Henry, his daughter, Mrs. Ho1nsb1,
AID bis son-in'iaw, Mr.. Hornsey, and A. F.
the vital spark fled. Shortly before death
had laid bis icy hands upon him, he SPOKE
with confidence Of the future, saying to his
SOD Chauncy he had no fear of crossing the
dark river when his Heavenly Father
awaited him on the other shore, ending,
II wonld that l were as comfortable about
what leave behind in the world" When
bis beloved wife kaelt by his bedside com.
forting him with her sympathy and love,
he gave utterance to the following impres.
sive prayer: "Oh, thou m ost beloved and
mercitnl heavenly Father, from whom 1
bod my being, and in whom have ever
trusted, if it be thy will, grant that my suf-
feriDg end and that / be called home TO
thee. And oh bless and comfort thou my
Mary"
The judges illness only dates from Mon
day last, and from the first approach of the
fatal and painful disease he was perfectly re-
signed, feeling that it would terminate fatal
~. After his case became Critical, and it wa.
found necessary to resort to q surgical Oper-
alton, he observed that the doctors were in
council, and asked its import. They told
him of the intended operation, and that
they had asked the consent OF the family.
Good hnmoredly and with mis- accustomed
Wit, he remarked:
Yon have reckoned without your host.
am the victim and the only one to be con-
suited. l will not submit. l can hold out
moned in consultation.
Aereeab'y to the judges desire the doc
tors were brought and he consented to the
operation. 1t was successfully performed,
but blood poisoning followed, which was
the lmh'ediate Cause of his death. All
through bis sickness, although suffering in
tense agony, he was cheerful, and bis great
mind gave vent in frequent sc!rtillations of
witty u'teran.es, aud at times he repeated
selections from his favorite aathors, Bry-
| ants Thanatopsis and the words of Lady
Mac. eth. In lis dying moments the :jurist
lost none OF his force OF character, his gent
sli'y and brightness Of disposition, and his
flow OF Language, when not under the. inf1u-
| ence of opiates. Judge Black suffered
| greatly dining bis illness, but his last mo-
| ments were without acne pain, and
he passed qnietIy away, retaining con-
| seriousness within a few minutes of his
| death.
jeremiah Sullivan Black was born in
Somerset county, Pa, Jan. 10, 1910. His
! ancestors came from the north of Ireland
and settled near the present site of York.
Pa, the home of the statesman, early in
the seventeenth century. His father, Henry
Black, being farmer, Jerry, a. he wss
Familiarity called, passed his early Yeas
upon the virgin fields of the clearing
among the glades," and bis love of rural
1t also fixed bis religious faith and turned
him to the CampDellite church, which he
Joined at the age OF twenty-e'ght. He re-
celVed his first mind. training in the schools
about his own home, but he CON-
plesed his studies 1T q private acad-
envy in Fayette county. He had an im-
mense legal prac ice from the first and in
1888 he married Miss Mary Forward, his
p:eceptor's daughter, who survives him.
In 1s42 Gov. Porter appointed, him Judge
of Common Pleas. He was made CHEF
Justice OF the supreme court of the State in
1851, by drawing the short term of three
years. after having been chosen upon the
ticket with Lewis, Groson, Lowery, and
Coulter, under the new constitutional pro
vision, making the judges elective. In
1854 he was reelected TO the supreme
bench by . large majority. Afterwards
he became Attorney General of the United
States under Mr.. Buchanan. Judge Blacks
loyalty during those trying months is IN
questionable. The late member of that
cabinet, furnished in January, 1877, = writ
en- tribute to Judge Blacks answering
loyalty during that period; and Judge Holt
another of his cabinet colleagues, has said:
mo man could have been more ardent or
earnest in his attachment 10 the union or
more persisten: in urging those things CAL
culated to save it from the designs of the
southern men than Judge Black"
As a lawyer he was considered one of the
greatest in the country. Two years ago
he published a vigorous defense of the
Christian religion in the North American
Review against the onslaughts of Robert G.
Ingersoll.
Louisville as a Gamblers Center.
A Louisville XIV. )cOrrespOndent of