James Black (blacksmith)
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James Black (May 1, 1800 - June 22, 1872) was an American knifemaker best known for his improvements to the Bowie knife designed by
Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...
.


Early life

James Black was born in
Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jers ...
on 1 May 1800. James' mother died when he was very young and he had difficulty getting along with his stepmother. Black ran away from home to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
at age 8 and was apprenticed to a
silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...
. At age 18 he migrated westward and took jobs on the
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
and
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
rivers. About 1820 Black spent some time at Bayou Sara in
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
working as a ferryman and as a steamboat deckhand on the Red River which took him upstream to
Fulton, Arkansas Fulton is a town in Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 201 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area. The community is named after steamboat inventor Robert Fulton. Geography Fulton i ...
. Black left the boat and settled at a crossroads 14 miles northeast of Fulton that would later become
Washington, Arkansas Washington is a city in Ozan List of Arkansas townships, Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 180 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 148 in 2000 United States Ce ...
and Black's permanent home.


Partnership with William Shaw

During his travels, Black had befriended Elijah Stuart. Stuart opened a tavern at Washington and Black was hired by a local
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
named William Shaw. Black, due to his previous training, worked on firearms and knives while Shaw concentrated on horse shoes, wagon wheels, and the like. Black would later become a partner in the business with Shaw. Stuart's tavern would become famous as the place where
Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...
,
Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...
, and
William B. Travis William Barret "Buck" Travis (August 1, 1809 – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army. He died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. Tr ...
created the plan for an independent Texas and Black would go on to create some of the world's finest knives. Black fell in love with his partner's daughter, Anne Shaw, and was forced out of the partnership when Shaw would not allow the marriage. Backed by the note he had received from the dissolved partnership Black purchased some land along the
Cossatot River The Cossatot River is an river in Howard, Polk and Sevier counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Cossatot begins in the Ouachita Mountains southeast of Mena, Arkansas. The river flows through the Ouachita National Forest and then in a ge ...
and established a blacksmith's shop, dam, and mill. Black's endeavor came to an end when he was thrown off of his land. Local officials claimed that the land was Indian treaty land and that Black could not legally inhabit it. Black then discovered that the note he had received from William Shaw for his share of the partnership was actually worthless. Black set up his own blacksmithy in competition with Shaw's and married Shaw's daughter in 1828 despite Shaw's objections and also convinced Shaw's son to join him in his business. Black was soon recognized as the best blacksmith in the area which had a bad effect on his father-in-law's competing shop. Black and his wife had four sons and a daughter during this period: William Jefferson in 1829, Grandison Deroyston in 1830, Sarah Jane in 1832, John Colbert in 1834, and Sydinham James in 1835. Black became a respected member of the community and served in local government posts.


Bowie knife and fame

In 1830, Black made the famous Bowie knife for Jim Bowie who was already famous for knife-fighting from his 1827 sandbar duel. Bowie's killing of three assassins in Texas and his death at the
Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...
made him, and Black's knife, legends. After Bowie's death in 1836, Black did a brisk business selling his knives to pioneers bound for Texas. Everyone seemed to want "Jim Bowie's knife." Black forged his knives behind a leather curtain and kept his process a secret. Black's knives were known to be exceedingly tough yet flexible. Many claimed that Black had rediscovered the process to make
Damascus steel Damascus steel was the forged steel of the blades of swords smithed in the Near East from ingots of Wootz steel either imported from Southern India or made in production centres in Sri Lanka, or Khorasan, Iran. These swords are characterize ...
. James Black's wife Anne died in 1838; and in 1839, while Black was in bed from an illness, his father-in-law Shaw broke into Black's house and brutally attacked him with a club. Black's life was saved by the family dog; he survived, but his eyes were severely damaged by the attack. He went north to seek medical advice, where his eyes were further damaged by the inept ministrations of a
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, physician. When Black returned to Arkansas he discovered that his father-in-law had sold his business and property, illegally, and disappeared with the cash. Black lived on a local
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
for a couple of years until Dr. Isaac Newton Jones took him into his home. Black lived with the Jones family for the next 30 years. He attempted to pass on his knife-making secrets to Daniel Webster Jones, but unfortunately he could not remember the technique. Jones would later become Governor of Arkansas. James Black died on 22 June 1872 in
Washington, Arkansas Washington is a city in Ozan List of Arkansas townships, Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 180 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 148 in 2000 United States Ce ...
. More skeptically, "... ere is no direct contemporary evidence to establish that James Black made a knife for James Bowie... The story rests solely on Black's claims made well after he had been adjudged mentally incompetent..." "... e only time that
ames Bowie Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a List of places in Arkansas: A, place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * ...
''verifiably'' used a knife in a personal encounter was on the Sandbar in 1827..." “... this day there is no known knife bearing his name that is proven authentic, nor positively identified as the work of James Black. Neither is it proven beyond doubt that he even made a knife of any type!” Shifting the question (and the burden of proof) from people to knives, "... e Black explanation remains the most logical way to understand this part of the Bowies' history."


Bowie knife since Black's death

Black's shop has been recreated as part of the
Old Washington Historic State Park Historic Washington State Park (formerly Old Washington Historic State Park) is a Arkansas state park in Hempstead County, Arkansas in the United States. The museum village contains a collection of pioneer artifacts from the town of Washington ...
. Old Washington is the headquarters of the
American Bladesmith Society The American Bladesmith Society, or ABS, is a non-profit organization composed of knifemakers whose primary function is to promote the techniques of forging steel blades. The ABS was founded by knifemaker William F. Moran, who came up with the con ...
and they maintain a knife-making college at the site. Black's knives are exceedingly rare and are prized by collectors. Several examples of early Bowie knives are on display at the
Historic Arkansas Museum The Historic Arkansas Museum, sometimes called HAM, is a state history museum in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum was created as part of the Arkansas Territorial Capitol Restoration Commission, by Act 388 of the 1939 Arkansas General As ...
as part of the American Bladesmith Society collection. In 1996, Black was inducted into the American Bladesmith Society Hall of Fame as an inauguree.


James Black in fiction

*In the 1956 film ''
The Iron Mistress ''The Iron Mistress'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Alan Ladd and Virginia Mayo. It ends with Bowie's marriage to Ursula de Veramendi and does not deal with his death at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. ...
'', Black is depicted forging Bowie's knife from iron that he has extracted from a meteorite. *In 1956 James Black was in the first episode of the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
, ''
The Adventures of Jim Bowie ''The Adventures of Jim Bowie'' is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book ''Tempered Blade'', by Monte Barrett. Synop ...
'', which was primarily set in 1830s in Louisiana. The show, which starred
Scott Forbes Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...
as Jim Bowie, was based on the 1946 novel ''Tempered Blade''.


References


External links

* http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2534 {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, James 1800 births 1872 deaths Knife makers People from Hackensack, New Jersey American blacksmiths People from Hempstead County, Arkansas People of the American Old West