JOHN BLACK was born in Donegal county, Ireland, son of John BLACK, a native of the same county, where he died in 1783. His grandfather, James BLACK, born near Letterkenny, Ireland, was a son of James BLACK, a native of Scotland, who removed to Ireland towards the close of the Seventeenth century. The subject of this sketch came to the United States in 1793, and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he married Jane CRISWELL, a native of Derry county, Ireland, in 1795. In 1797 they removed to Westmoreland county (now Armstrong), and in 1799 settled in what is now Marion township, Butler county, upon the land where William and Joshua T. BLACK reside. He subsequently purchased [p. 1305] another farm of 400 acres on the Middle Branch of Slippery Rock creek, where he built a saw mill in1825 and later a grist mill, the only mill in this section for many years. It was known as BLACK's mill, and was a familiar landmark in pioneer times. Here he died on October 3, 1832, and his wife, in January, 1864. He was one of the founders of West Unity United Presbyterian church, and a leading Democrat of his day. The children of John and Jane BLACK are as follows: Martha, who married Robert BREADEN; Matthew, who died in 1850; Jane, who married John KERR; Robert C., who died in 1850; John, who died in Butler, in 1889; James, a resident of San Jose, California; William, who died in 1891; Alexander M., who died in 1834; Rebecca, who married David VANCE, and Julia A., who married John PORTER. Several of the sons became leading citizens of Butler county, and were prominent factors in its social and material development. During the Rebellion thirteen grandsons of John BLACK, Sr., served in the Union armies, and four of the number laid down their lives in defence [sic] of the flag. No other family in Butler county exhibited a greater devotion to the Union cause than the descendants of this Irish pioneer of Marion township.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pabutler/1895/95x75-2.htm
