Menard County Texas

William Leslie Black

William Leslie Black was born 1843, the son of Agnes Sewell and Charles Black. Raised in the East, he bought 32,000 acres of land at the head of the San Saba River and stocked it with longhorn cattle, sheep and purebred Marino rams. He hired an Englishman by the name of Shannon to run this spred while he remained in St.Louis.

He and his wife, Camilla (Bogert) Black, moved to Menard County sometime around 1884. They rented the abandoned Fort McKavett hospital building a short distance from their property and they lived there until their ranch house was completed.

After buying angora goats, William built a cannery to sell the meat and had a tannery to cure the hides. Though he hired W. G. Tobin, an experienced canner, the market wasn't ready to accept goat meat and the cannery was closed. Eventually, the tanning endeavor would also shut down.

William Leslie and Camilla had 9 children. Camilla died in 1916 and William died in 1931. Both are buried on the ranch in the Black Family Cemetery. (Source: Menard County Anthology)

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Photos of interest to Black family researchers

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Saturday, March 22, 2008 11:00 AM