In September, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, 129th Illinois Infantry, and thereafter engaged principally in scouting. He was injured while on duty, and for a period of six months was confined in the hospital in Louisville with brain fever. He retired from the service in the spring of 1864, and coming to Jacksonville, resumed the practice which he has since followed with success.
Dr. Black is a gentleman of fine literary attainments, and has devoted his talents mostly to matters connected with his profession. His first work, published in 1884, is entitled "Formations of Poisons by Micro Organisms." In 1885 he contributed several articles to the publication entitled "The American System of Dentistry." In 1887 he published "Histological Character of Periosteum and Peridental Membranes." In 1888 "The Compendium of Dentistry," a German work, by Jul Parreidt, translated by Louis Ottofy, was annotated by Dr. Black. He also invented for dental purposes two engines, and for a period of ten years gave much of his time to microscopical investigations, being the possessor of about 4,000 slides.
Dr. Black is a prominent member of the Illinois State Dental Society, which was established in 1865, and has also been President of the Illinois State Board of Dental Examiners. In the St. Louis Dental College he was a lecturer for several years, and assisted in the organization of the Chicago College of Dental Surgery in 1883. For more than four years he held the Chair of Pathology in that institution, and in September, 1887, was elected its Superintendent, holding the office until the expiration of the term of 1889, when he withdrew and returned to the practice of his profession in Jacksonville. He is a member of the Academy of National Science, at Philadelphia, Pa., and a correspondent of the Microscopical Society of Central Illinois, also of the First District Dental Society of the State of New York.
A large share of the dental practice in Jacksonville for many years has fallen to Dr. Black. He is a man genial and companionable by nature, prompt to meet his obligations, and is as popular among his fellow-citizens, socially, as among the members of his profession. He identified himself with the Masonic fraternity about 1870, having previously become a member of the I. O. O. F.
Miss Elizabeth A. Davenport, a native of Jacksonville, Ill., became the wife of our subject, Sept. 14, 1865. She was born May 5, 1840, and is the daughter of Ira and Minerva Davenport, natives of Kentucky and Ohio, and who spent their last years in jacksonville. Dr. and Mrs. Black occupy with their children a beautiful home at No. 349 East State street. In addition to this property, the Doctor is the owner of other valuable real estate in the city. Their two sons and two daughters are named respectively: Carl E., Clara, Arthur D., and Olive.
The eldest son of our subject was graduated from the Jacksonville High School, in the class of '81, and form Illinois College in 1883. Later he turned his attention to newspaper work, having charge for two years of the local department of the Jacksonville Journal. Upon withdrawing from this, he engaged with Dr. Price as a medical student at the Sanitarium. Then entering the Chicago Medical College, he pursued his studies closely until March, 1886, when he was graduated. Two years later he spent six months in Europe perfecting himself in his medical studies. After his return to America, he commenced the practice of his profession in Jacksonville. His office is at his father's residence on East State Street. He is a young man of fine attainments, and it is predicted that in the near future he will take his place among the best physicians in the State.