Caro, Biographies, Indian Fields, Tuscola Co., MI

This history was extracted from "History of Tuscola and Bay Counties, Mich.
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of their Prominent Men 
and Pioneers", published in Chicago by H. R. Page & Co. (1883), p. 93-104

This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives.



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HON. CYRENIUS P. BLACK. This gentleman was born April 16, 1843, in Alfred, 
Allegany County, N. Y. The family is of Scotch extraction. Besides a common 
school education, he attended the university at Alfred Center. After leaving 
school he clerked for a while and also taught school in Allegany County. He 
began reading law at Angelica in the office of Martin Grover, judge of the court 
of appeals, of the State of New York, and subsequently entered the office of 
Marshal B. Champlain, attorney general of the State. He came to Tuscola County 
in 1866, locating at Watrousville. Shortly after coming he was appointed 
assistant U. S. assessor of internal revenue for Tuscola County. He was admitted 
to the bar in 1867 and practiced law at Bay City until 1869, during which time 
he was a member of the legal firms of Shepard & Black and Black & Wheeler. In 
the fall of 1869 he was appointed administrator of the estate of Aaron Watrous 
and removed to Caro. Since living in Caro has been a partner of Hon. H. P. 
Atwood and Hon. John P. Hayt, late territorial governor of Arizona. In 1873 he 
entered into a co-partnership with Hon. D. H. Ball, of Marquette, and removed to 
that place. During his residence in the Lake Superior Country he was prosecuting 
attorney for Marquette County, also attorney for the city of Marquette. The firm 
of Ball & Black were attorneys for the Chicago & Northwestern, and the 
Marquette, Houghton & Ontonagon railway companies, also for a large number of 
the principal mining companies, among which were the New York mine (in which 
Samuel J. Tilden was the principal stockholder), the Republic, Lake Superior, 
Cleveland, Washington, etc. During his residence there he was engaged in some of 
the most important mining suits ever argued in the State. In 1877, in 
consequence of ill health, he was compelled to leave the Upper Peninsula and 
spent a year in Rocky Mountains, part of the time at Denver. In 1878 he returned 
to Caro, and his health improving he resumed practice. When the contest settling 
the county seat at Caro was going on, Mr. Black was the supervisor for the 
township of Indian Fields, and it was largely owing to his untiring zeal and 
efforts that Caro retained the prize. He has served several terms on the Caro 
school board. The county of Tuscola is strongly Republican politically, and 
although Mr. Black is a Democrat, his personal popularity is such that whenever 
he has been nominated for office he has always run largely ahead of his ticket.

    In 1880 he ran against the present Senator Conger for congressman in the 
Seventh Congressional District. In Tuscola County Mr. Black was some 500 votes 
ahead of his party's ticket, and about 800 in the district. In the fall of 1882 
he was elected a member of the State legislature for the Second District of 
Tuscola County. At the session of the legislature held in 1883 he was a member 
of the judiciary, railroad, and deaf and dumb asylum at Flint, committees, and 
is also on the special committee to investigate the subject of discrimination in 
railroad freights. He married a daughter of the late Aaron Watrous, of 
Watrousville, and has a family of three children. Mr. Black, from a boy of 
fourteen years, has worked his way in the world without pecuniary aid from any 
one.

    He is now a member of the firm of Black & Edson, attorneys, Caro, Mich.