House of Black

The **House of Black** is a well-known family of wealthy socialites who can trace their origins back in 16th century England.

## History

### 16th century

The earliest known ancestor to the current House of Black was a man by the name of Japheth Black, who was born in 1554 in a small English village. Despite his family being fairly wealthy for the time period, Japheth gained more wealth when he became a successful businessman and moved to the city to continue his career. After having lived in the city for several months, he met and quickly married Tryphena Lowry, a daughter of a wealthy English couple. Even though Japheth and Tryphena had not known one another long before marrying, they had a marriage full of love and care.

Japheth and Tryphena had five children: Elisha, Keziah, Lemuel, Rhoda, and Bathsheba. Each of their five children were born with a strange affliction that caused them to develop supernatural powers during puberty which continued to grow and develop well into their adult lives. Unbeknownst to the Black family, the five Black children were mutants, a sub-species of humans who are genetically superior to *Homo sapiens*. Japheth wanted all of his children to suppress their abilities and not use or show them, but the children found this difficult and began practicing their powers with each other.

As they grew older, the five siblings began to feud. Each believed that they possessed the most useful gift and should be awarded the legacy of their father. However, after Japheth's death, Tryphena divided her late husband's legacy evenly among the five children, causing some of them to become jealous and try to steal from the others. It has long been unknown which sibling actually began stealing from the others, as the descendants of each Black sibling claims it was not their ancestor, rather one of the others.

The feud between the five Black children caused a lasting divide between the descendants of the five individuals which has lasted all the way to the present day. The descendants of the Black family still feud with one another and are responsible for many of the deaths of the other members of the Black family.

### 17th century

#### Salem witch trials (1692)

After many descendants of the Black family moved to the "New World" and settled in the early colonies. Descendants of Elisha and Rhoda Black ended up in Salem, Massachusetts, near the end of the 17th century. When Elisha's descendants discovered that many of their fellow Salem residents were distant cousins of theirs, they began accusing them of practicing witchcraft. One of Elisha's descendants, Abigail Williams, even used her abilities to make it seem as if her cousins were practicing their witchcraft on her.

## Known House of Black members

* Japheth and Tryphena Black - patriarch and matriarch of the House of Black
	+ Elisha Black - eldest son of Japheth and Tryphena
		- Samuel Parris
			* Elizabeth Parris
		- Abigail Williams
		- William Stoughton
		- Waitstill Winthrop
		- John Hathorne
		- Increase Mather
			* Cotton Mather
	+ Keziah Black - eldest daughter of Japheth and Tryphena
	+ Lemuel Black - third child of Japheth and Tryphena
	+ Rhoda Black - fourth child of Japheth and Tryphena
		- Bridget Bishop
		- Rebecca Nurse
		- Sarah Good
		- Elizabeth Proctor
		- Wilmot Redd
		- Mary Eastey
		- Abigail Faulkner
		- Giles Corey
	+ Bathsheba Black - youngest child of Japheth and Tryphena
		- Stiles Wentworth
			* Lillian Wentworth
				+ Matthew Priestley
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				+ Frederic Priestley
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			* Copeland Wentworth
				+ Piper Wentworth
					- [[
					- [[
				+ Paul Wentworth
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				+ Peter Wentworth
			* Victor Wentworth
				+ Victoria Wentworth
			* Angeline Wentworth
			* Rory Wentworth
				+ Cecelia Wentworth
				+ Grace Wentworth
			* Rosalie Wentworth
				+ Darius Hudson
				+ Emelia Hudson