From Fauquier County, Virginia Deed Book 9, page 350, on 2 March 1787 Denny Martin Fairfax of Leeds Castle, County of Kent, Kingdom of Great Britain, leased approximately one hundred and ninety acres of land to one Jacob Black, his heirs Executors administrator or assigns, for and during the life of the said Jacob Black, Peter Black and Adam Black his brothers.  Witnesses were Thomas Massie, John Black, Matthew Neale, and John Morehead.  The deed was recorded 24 April 1787.  John and Peter match the names of Abraham's sons in the Fauquier Personal Property Tax (PPT) lists, while Peter, Adam and Jacob match the names of Abraham's sons in the Greenbrier PPT lists.  Seems to point to the two Abrahams being the same.  But it is puzzling for the following reasons.

Since it seems strange that a lease would be written with a 4 year old boy as lessor, could there have been another Black family that entered into this lease?  Search of the PPT records showed no other Blacks in the Fauquier County listings.  Not far, to the north in Frederick County, Maryland and Adams County, Pennsylvania there were some Black families with the same male naming patterns, including an Abraham Black, along with Jacob, Peter, Adam, and John.  Could they have entered into this lease and then were absentee lessees?  While it is certainly possible, the PPT entries did show that Matthew Neal, Thomas Massie and John Morehead, all witnesses to the lease, were in Fauquier County with the start of PPT listings in 1782.  Other researchers have placed the Neale family in Fauquier as early as 1760 and Thomas Massie as early as 1772 when he married Mary Morehead, daughter of John Morehead.  It might seem more likely that Abraham, as the late comer and potential neighbor, struck up a friendship that included these three serving as witnesses to the lease some 15+ years after they had established themselves in Fauquier.  As strange as it seems to our 21st century minds, the lease may very well have been made in the name of a 4 year old, including the names of other minor sons, to help seal a long lease term.

With the same male naming patterns, could the Black families in Frederick County, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania by chance be relatives?  For example, Adam Black who died 18 December 1818 and is buried in Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery, Taneytown, Frederick County, Maryland is said to have been born 18 June 1744 in Germany.  This is in the same timeframe as Abraham's estimated birth date (before 1750), and among Adam's children were Adam, Jacob and Peter.

In looking at German migrations, it was quite common to come in through Philadelphia, migrate to southern Pennsylvania then through Frederick County, Maryland into northern Virginia and spread southward and westward.  In checking that area we found a John Peter Schwartz born to Abraham and Elizabeth Schwartz in York County, Pennsylvania on 21 February 1772 and baptized at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church on 12 May 1772.  Witnesses were Nicholas Diehl and wife (Catharine).  Common German naming practice was to use the saint Johann/John as a first name but the "middle" name, Peter in this case, was how they were known in everyday exchange and legal transactions.  There was another Abraham and Elizabeth in the Adams county area at the time, but they ended up being childless.  The Peter in Fauquier and Greenbrier came of legal age in 1793, which would put his birth date as circa 1772.  Just a coincidence?

In the parish register, book II, 1762-1811, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Frederick, Frederick County, Maryland one Magdalena Schwartz was born 27 September 1774 and baptized in this church 2 November 1774.  Parents were Abraham Schwartz and wife Elisabeth and sponsors were Adam Schober and wife Magdalena.  Is this the same Abraham and Elizabeth Schwartz from York County, Pennsylvania?  From Loudoun, Fauquier, Greenbrier Counties?  Could Magdalena really be Mary Magdalena, and thus be the same Mary as Abraham's daughter married in Fauquier County?  We have not been able to find independent sources to identify the approximate birth date of the Fauquier Mary, but this timeframe does fit.  Abraham was in Loudoun County in 1774 - Loudoun County borders with Frederick County - Frederick County ministers made regular trips to Loudoun to conduct services - it might not be too great a stretch to believe Abraham and wife would make a trip to Frederick for a baptism.  We are still working on this lead.

We know who some of the children of Abraham and Elizabeth are, and in other cases we have hunches.  The children of Abraham Black and Elizabeth (unknown) are:

1. John Black, b. 7 December 1769, probably Pennsylvania; d. 17 September 1845, Boone County, Missouri
2. Peter Black, b. 21 February 1772, York County, Pennsylvania; d. unknown
3. Mary Black, b. 27 September 1774, Loudoun County, Virginia; d. probably Bef. 1850, Greenbrier County, (West) Virginia
4. Catherine Black, b. about 1777, Loudoun or Fauquier County, Virginia; d. probably between 1840 and 1850, Hancock County, Indiana
5. Adam Black, b. 14 January 1779, Loudoun or Fauquier County, Virginia; d. 10 April 1859, Hamlin, Cabell County, (West) Virginia
6. Elizabeth Black, b. Abt. 1781, probably Fauquier County, Virginia; d. Aft. 1860, Cabell County, (West) Virginia
7. Jacob Black, b. Abt. 1783, Fauquier County, Virginia; d. probably between 1870 and 1880, Putnam County, West Virginia
8. Susannah Black, b. 6 November 1785, Fauquier County, Virginia; d. 2 August 1865, Webster County, Iowa
9. Margaret Black, b. Abt. 1794, Greenbrier County, (West) Virginia; d. 20 March 1851, probably Cabell County, (West) Virginia