Matthew Baxter Black

This is actually the story of three generations of men, memorialized by three gravestones in Section 211, each with the same name. Coincidentally, the first Matthew Black was 33 when the second one was born, and the second was 33 when the third one was born.

The first Matthew was from a large family whose father arrived in Philadelphia in 1857 and married another Irish immigrant in 1859. Charles served in the Civil War and listed his occupation on two census reports as an engineer, but what type wasn’t stated.

Matthew was a post-war baby boomer and was baptized as an infant at Second Associate Reformed Church on Lombard Street (predecessor to Fourth United Presbyterian Church). He lived his first 20 years with his family on Montrose Street east of 2nd Street. 

He never served in the military but did make a 40-year career out of serving his city in uniform. Matthew joined the Police Department in February of 1889 at the age of 22. About 18 months earlier he made Martha Taylor his bride, whom he called “Mattie” and she called him “Matt.”

Within a few years they bought a house at 1722 South 11th Street in the East Passyunk Crossing neighborhood where they remained for the rest of their lives. Mattie gave birth to Matthew Jr., their only child, on April 3, 1900. They probably celebrated with cigars at the 25th District station when Sergeant Black announced he was a father.

Matthew Jr. celebrated his 18th birthday while his country was involved in World War I. His draft card, dated September 18, 1918, disclosed his job as a machinist at the U.S. Naval Shipyard. On November 9 he was inducted into the Army, two days before Armistice Day brought the end of fighting. 

From Philadelphia, Private Black went only as far as Baltimore where he was assigned to the Motor Transport Corps. There he attained the rank of sergeant before he was discharged on April 14, 1919 and he returned to work at the Navy Yard.

In the coming years a teenage girl named Agnes Lauderback caught his eye, which led to marriage after she turned 18 in 1926. Their joy was soon muted when Mattie died of heart disease later that year. Concern for Matthew Sr. led them to live with him on 11th Street for the rest of his days. 

Junior found a new career when he became an electrician at the Gulf Oil refinery in South Philly. Meanwhile, Senior had risen to captain at the15th Street & Snyder Avenue station. The officers of the district gave him a surprise party in 1929 to celebrate his 40 years on the job, and he received a ring from the commander of the South Division. Within a few months he took his pension, just as the nation’s economy was hit by the Great Depression.

Junior kept his refinery job on Penrose Ferry Road through those years, and still had it when the 1950 census was taken. Agnes gave birth to their only child, Matthew Baxter Black III, on March 8, 1934. Times were tough for her sister, whose marriage failed, so the Blacks took in their nephew for several years.

Matthew Sr. had heart trouble for several months before he died in 1946. He was buried beside his wife, whom he outlived by 20 years. In 1956 the third Matthew put on an Army uniform and served for two years. That may have been where he picked up the nickname, “Blackie” which was used in his obituary. The information available implies he married and moved from the city to Ridley Park in Delaware County, probably in the late 1950s.

That’s where Agnes was visiting when she died in 1961 at age 53. She suffered from cervical cancer for several years before bladder cancer and uremia took her life. She and Junior were still living in the 11th Street home, the place where he was born 61 years ago. It’s likely he wasn’t living there when he died in 1983. Ironically, he outlived his wife by two decades, just as his father did.

What Matthew III did for a living isn’t known, although a newspaper account in 1968 said he performed as an illusionist at a children’s party, using the appropriate title, “Black Magic.” His obituary said he had a daughter and three sons, one of whom was named Matthew  but his middle initial was E, not B.

Blackie’s death came unexpectedly in 1992. After leaving a bar he walked into traffic and was killed. He was buried in Section 211 in the same plot as his parents and grandparents. His great-grandparents, Charles and Margaret Black are nearby in Section 204. Four siblings of the first Matthew Black are also buried at Mount Moriah.