BLACK, WILLIAM LITTLETON, president of the Centennial National Bank of Virginia, and one of the mos astute financiers of Cass County, as well as a man of sterling capability and uprightness, has long ben an important factor in money circles in Cass County. He was born in Tennessee, June 8, 1829, a son of William and Mary S. (Vaughn) Black, who were married December 4, 1823. When William L. Black was an infant, his parents moved to Scott County, Ill., and in 1845 came to Cass County, locating six miles southeast of Virginia. There the mother died January 9, 1881, and was buried on the farm in the family lot. She was born in Tennessee, November 1, 1803. After her death, the father, born January 3, 1796, moved to Virginia, and there died October 6, 1884, and is buried by the side of his wife, he being then eighty-nine years old. By birth he was a Georgian. His great-grandfather was a soldier in the American Revolution.

William L. Black was reared on a farm, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits until he was about fifty years old. In 1878 he moved to Virginia in order to give his children better educational opportunities, and has since made the county seat his home. Upon first coming to Virginia he engaged in a mercantile business with his brother for about eighteen years, but later, after suffering a loss by fire, he engaged in a grocery business on his own account and was in this line for seven years. He then sold and has lived retired since August 15, 1904. He was alderman of his ward for six years, was township treasurer for twenty years while living on the farm, and has always taken an active part in local affairs. He was elected president of the Centennial National Bank on the first Tuesday in January, 1896, and has since continued at the head of this institution. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow, having joined that order in 1879, and belongs to the Christian church, which he served as treasurer for many years.

On March 24, 1857, by Reverend Callaway, of the Christian church, he was married to Andromache Naylor, who was born December 13, 1829, and died January 31, 1879, and is buried in Walnut Ridge Cemetery. She was a daughter of Alexander and Martha (Clark) Naylor. It is interesting to note that four members of the Naylor family married four of the Clark family. The latter family claims descent from George Rogers Clark, who settled in Kentucky in 1775, procuring the organization of that territory. Mr. and Mrs. Black became the parents of three children: Alice, who is the surviving widow of John S. Martin, who died May 9, 1905, has three children, Leslie, Frank and Lorene; Carrie, who died March 5, 1912; and Frances, who is Mrs. G. L. Snively. Mr. and Mrs. Snively have one daughter, Virginia, and they live at Louiston, Ill. Mr. Black still owns 160 acres of land on section 29, township 17, range 9, in Cass County, which he has improved. On this property he carried on general farming and stock raising. Before his father died, the latter owned 200 acres of farming land in Cass County, so it can be seen that the Black family has been largely interested in agricultural matters since locating in this county.