Captain Joseph Black (1742-1821): American Pioneer, Protector, Patriarch and

Patriot
I have known and admired Captain Joseph Black, patriot, defender of the frontier and
fighter at the stunning Battle of Kings Mountain victory, for as long as I can remember
!et outside the small "irginia town of #bingdon, incorporated in $%%&, there are few who
have heard of him or know his uni'uely #merican story I am fortunate to know him
personally however, at least in a manner of speaking
Joseph Black was born in $%() in *redrick County "irginia, son of John Black, an Irish
immigrant who died when Joseph was an infant and his wife +li,abeth -e know little
else until we have recorded on #pril $(
th
, $%%( Josephs purchase of ./0 acres on
+ighteen Mile Creek in "irginia along the ancient trail known as the 1reat 2oad 3he
land was near a cave entrance where wolves emerged and attacked 4aniel Boone one
evening in $%5/ 6ince known as -olf 7ills, the location was well suited to a town and
Joseph donated (/ acres for that purpose
3o afford he and his fellow settlers protection from Indians, Joseph built a small fort It
would not be his last 6oon the little settlement on the 1reat 2oad, nestled in the ridge
and valley of the #ppalachians, became known as Blacks *ort 3his name was short
lived but space does not permit the full telling of the creation in $%%5 of -ashington
County 8after a promising 1eneral9, the significance of the fort, Josephs work to build a
:ail and courthouse or the renaming of the town after the ancestral #bingdon, +ngland
home of Martha -ashington
In $%&/ words of warning arrived from ambitious British 6harpshooter, Colonel ;atrick
*erguson 7oping to gain more loyalist troops from the region to reinforce his 1eneral
<ord Cornwallis, *erguson issued a warning to the men of the waters of the 7olston that
if they resisted him he would =>hang their leaders and lay their country waste with fire
and sword.? 3his was to prove an unwise message 7ardy and resourceful hunters and
pioneers like Joseph marched over the mountains in answer
Joseph was a lieutenant among the contingents of =@vermountain Men? who carried out
a surprise attack against *ergusons forces on the ridges of Kings Mountain 3he Battle
of Kings Mountain was a stunning victory for the new nation 3hough small in number
and in total losses, the battle was pivotal *erguson was killed and Cornwallis would
rally no loyalist reinforcements from the mountains and piedmonts of #ppalachia
4eprived of the victory and these critical troops, he would be forced to retreat to
!orktown and eventual surrender
# few years later, for reasons now lost, Joseph moved to what is now Maryville
3ennessee 7e built another fort and helped found another town 7is descendants still
live there ;reparing to :oin =Joseph?, or more accurately my father, for his annual
childrens tour during #bingdons fifty year old "irginia 7ighlands *estival, I met them
-e were all surprised and delighted this serendipitous meeting 3hese living links to our
2evolutionary past had forgotten their own link to #bingdon, arriving to en:oy the
festival, they had seen Josephs name in the festival program and hurried to meet himA
My own father had chosen to inhabit the persona of =Joseph? on the basis of a cryptic
historic marker on #bingdons Main 6treet, in order to enliven his annual tours for
children and involve our family <ittle did we know that is would lead to friendships, a
far more detailed historic marker and the rediscovery of a past that provided the rich
future we now inhabit
Joseph Black, ;ioneer, ;rotector, ;atriarch and ;atriot, now rests in honor in a well kept
churchyard outside Maryville <ike the many thousands of his contemporaries he forged a
new life of freedom and opportunity for his family and friends long ago and he fought to
protect it 7e could not have imagined the events that would later lead to this account but
perhaps he did imagine that his actions would provide a new and lasting breath of
freedom for us and his descendants that would inspire the world