BLACK FAMILY BIBLE
The Bible does NOT have a front or back cover, nor does it have a binding. There is neither a title page nor a name of a Publisher or a date of Publication. The existing remnants of the Bible begins with Judges Chapter XIX, page 212 and ends on page 834 of Maccabees Chapter 11. It has the Book of Apocrypha with I and II Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solmon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, The History of the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon; The Prayer of Manasses, King of Judah; I and II Maccabees.
The Black Family Bible has been handed down through the generations in the following manner according to Mrs. Mary Bess Roth of Kettering, Ohio.
James K. Polk Buchanan, son of Samuel Gardner Buchanan and Sarah E. Bodenheimer, was born May 12, 1844 in Giles County, Tenn. He married Almeda Black, daughter of John Black and Helen Davenport. Almeda Black was born January 20, 1851 in Minor Hill, Giles County, Tenn. The Black Family Bible passed to Clara Elston Buchanan.
Their daughter was Clara Elston Buchanan born December 13, 1874 in Minor Hill, Giles County, Tenn. She married William Bolivar McAlister on December 18, 1896 in Giles County, Tenn. He was born October 9, 1868 in Bodenham, Giles County, Tenn., son of Franklin Lafayette McAlister and Sarah Harwell. The Black Family Bible then passes to Loraine McAlister.
Loraine McAlister was born July 9, 1897 on Weakley Creek, Giles County, Tenn., daughter of William Bolivar McAlister and Clara Elston Buchanan. Loraine married Henry Thomas William on May 17, 1923. Henry Thomas Williams was born August 21, 1896 on Second Creek, Lawrence County, Tenn., son of William Jefferson Williams and Martha Mabe. The Black Family Bible then passes to Mary Bess Williams, daughter of Loraine McAlister and Henry Thomas Williams.
Mary Bess Williams was born October 16,1927 in Lawrenceburg, Lawrence County, Tenn. She married Robert Roth August 29, 1949 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Robert Roth was born May 11, 1926 the son of Harold Roth and Ethel Rathwell. Mary Bess Roth then forwarded the Black Bible to William Trousdale Nichols in 2004.
William Trousdale Nichols was born May 10, 1940 in Nashville, Davidson County, Tenn., the son of Rhea Trousdale Nichols and Helen Almeda McAlister. Helen Almeda McAlister was a daughter of William Bolivar McAlister and Clara Elston Buchanan. The Black Family Bible is now in the possession of Dr. Nichols in Knoxville, Tennessee.
MARRIAGES
Robert Black and Tabitha Black were married August 26th, 1803
John Black and Helen M. Black wa1s married January the 4th, 1841
BIRTHS
Adnie and Annie Buchanan was born Jany 19th 1880
Almeda Buchanan was born June 3rd, 1883
James Black Buchanan was born October 25th 1885
Roy Lou Buchanan was born April 13, 1888
Asenath Black was born August 16, 1811
Samuel Black was born 2nd of February 1816
Anna Black was born 9th of June 1819
John Black was born March 29, 1819
Son by Ellet Black was born January the 5th 1839
Jereome Black was born August the 16th 1821
Helen Black was born December the 19th 1824
Mabry Ann Black was born 13 1829
John Franklin Black was born November the 8 1847
William Robert Black was born December the 12 1848
Ann Elizabeth Black was born January the 3rd 1850
Almeda Black was January the 20 1851
George Washington Black was born July the 4th 1852
Martha Tennessee Black was born December the 10 1853
Andrew Jackson Black was born March 17th 1855
Mary Virginia Tarpley was born September 15 1858
Charles Claten (?) Tarpley was born March the 9 1860
Thomas David Tarpley was the September the 21 1861
Johnie G. Buchanan was born May the 9, 1869
William Leslie Buchanan was borne April the 28th 1871
Clarence Buchanan was borne February the 15th 1873
Clara E. Buchanan was borne December the 13th 1874
Ella Mar Buchanan was borne March 9th 1877
DEATHS
Betty, Slave of John Black departed this life April the 14th 1849
John G. Buchanan departed this life July the 15th 1887
Tabitha Black, wife of Robert Black, departed this life 7th of August 1823
Prudence Black, wife of Robert Black departed this life August 1846
Robert Black departed this life February the 1st 1849
Jerome Black departed this life October the 4th 1852
John Black departed this life March 20th 1855
Martha Tennessee Black departed this life September 15th 1861
This information from the Black Family Bible was transcribed by Dr. William T. Nichols on April 7, 2004.
Last Updated by Kathy Niedergeses February 25th, 2010