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John Black
Portrait from the United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self-made men; Wisconsin volume (1877)
24th Mayor of Milwaukee
In office April 1878 – April 1880
Preceded by	Ammi R. Butler
Succeeded by	Thomas H. Brown
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 6th district
In office January 5, 1874 – January 3, 1876
Preceded by	John L. Mitchell
Succeeded by	John L. Mitchell
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Milwaukee 3rd district
In office January 1, 1872 – January 6, 1873
Preceded by	James Hoye
Succeeded by	James McGrath
Personal details
Born	Jean Schwartz (1830-08-16)August 16, 1830 Bitche, Lorraine, France
Died	October 25, 1899(1899-10-25) (aged 69) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Spouse	Elizabeth M. Schoeffel (died 1891)
Children	Elizabeth M. Black (b. 1856; died 1939)
Signature

John Black (born Jean Schwartz; August 16, 1830 – October 25, 1899) was a French American immigrant and Democratic politician. He served as the 24th mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and represented Milwaukee County for three years in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Biography

Black was born near Bitche, Lorraine, France. He attended college in Metz before moving with his family to the United States in 1844, settling near Lockport, New York. He moved with his wife to Milwaukee in 1857, where he started a wholesale wine and liquor business. Black was active in politics, having served in the Wisconsin State Assembly, the Wisconsin State Senate, the Milwaukee Common Council, and, in 1878, as Mayor of Milwaukee for a two-year term, a Democrat in a city largely Republican at the time. He appointed a fellow Democrat as police chief, who fired twenty-five Republican policemen (as part of the spoils system then prevalent). He was described by a contemporary, publisher William George Bruce, as "a tall, broad-shouldered, dark-bearded man, a positive character who spoke his mind freely and who called a spade a spade." Black was the Democratic nominee to the United States Congress in 1886, but was defeated by Henry Smith of the Union Labor Party.

He died at his home in Milwaukee on October 25, 1899. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery.

References

1. John Black
2. Wellauer-Lenius, Maralyn A. Milwaukee Police Department. Mt. Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008; p. 10.
3. Bruce, William George. "Memoirs of William George Bruce: Seeing and Hearing Eminent Persons". Wisconsin Magazine of History Archived November 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, V. 18, No. 1 (September 1934), p.52
4. "Prominent Milwaukeean Dead". The Green Bay Gazette. Milwaukee. October 26, 1899. p. 1. Retrieved February 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Aikens, Andrew J. and Lewis A. Proctor, eds. Men of progress. Wisconsin. A selected list of biographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business, professional and official life. Together with short notes on the history and character of Wisconsin. Milwaukee: The Evening Wisconsin company, 1897; pp. 630-632.

• 1830 births
• 1899 deaths
• People from Bitche
• Mayors of Milwaukee
• Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• Wisconsin city council members
• Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators
• French emigrants to the United States
• 19th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin
• Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Milwaukee)
• 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature