Battle News

Prior to the war, Harvey H. Black and his brother, A.H. Black, moved from their homestate of Kentucky to East Texas. They traveled across the country with 1,200 sheep and settled on a ranch just west of Jefferson. In 1857, Black started a small meat-packing facility along the Big Cypress Bayou, believed to be what is now Total Farm. Black's operation allowed cattle and eventually pork and according to a local Jeffersonian was "the biggest thing in this town or section of the state." In addition to the meat-packing operation, Black owned a sawmill, tan-yard and constructed one of the original brick warehouse buildings in Jefferson, TX contributing to the manufacturing industry that would become vital during and after the Civil War. Black was one of the founding members of Christ Episcopal Church of Jefferson, TX. Records show he signed the Articles of Association on June 8, 1860 and became a vestryman on June 11, 1860.