Black start­ed his mu­sic­al ca­reer with John How­ard of New York and Dan­iel Town­er of the Moody Bi­ble In­sti­tute. He moved to Wil­liams­port, Penn­syl­van­ia, around 1881, and was an ac­tive mem­ber of the Pine Street Meth­od­ist Epis­co­pal Church from 1904 un­til his death, serv­ing as a song lead­er and Sun­day school teach­er. Black al­so found time to ed­it a doz­en Gos­pel song books, write al­most 1,500 songs, and serve on the com­mis­sion for the 1905 Meth­od­ist hym­nal. His works in­clude:

• Songs of the Soul, with Jo­seph F. Ber­ry (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Cran­ston & Cur­tis, 1894)
• Songs of the Soul No. 2 (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Curtis & Jen­nings, 1896)
• The Chor­us of Praise (New York: Ea­ton & Mains, 1898)
• The Ep­worth Hym­nal No. 3 (New York: Ea­ton & Mains, 1900)
• Praise and Pro­mise, with C. C. Mc­Cabe (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: R. R. Mc­Cabe & Com­pa­ny, 1900)
• Junior Prais­es (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Jen­nings & Pye, 1901)
• The Gos­pel Chor­us (New York: Ea­ton & Mains, 1902)
• Songs of Faith and Hope (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Cur­tis & Jen­nings, 1905)
• Hymns of Wor­ship and Songs of the Gos­pel (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall Mack Com­pa­ny, 1906)
• Songs of Faith and Hope Num­ber 2 (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Cur­tis & Jen­nings, 1909)
• Sacred Praise (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: Jen­nings and Gra­ham, 1912)
• New Jun­ior Songs (New York: The Meth­od­ist Book Con­cern, 1914)
• Songs of Help (New York: The Ab­ing­don Press, 1917)

• Emurian, pp. 146-50
• Loyer
• Reynolds, pp. 252-53
• Sanville, p. 84
• Taylor, p. 248

1. Be Rea­dy When the Bride­groom Comes
2. Come, Oh, Come to Me
3. Day of All Days, The
4. In the Sha­dow of His Wings
5. Never Say Good­bye
6. Revive the Hearts of All
7. When the Roll Is Called Up Yon­der
8. We Shall Reign with Him in Glo­ry
9. Where Je­sus Died for Me

1. All the Day
2. Answering Time Will Come, The
3. Beautiful Eden Bells
4. Beautiful Way, The
5. Easter Bells
6. He Will Not Leave Me Alone
7. His Love Will Ne­ver Let Me Fall
8. Home in My Heart for Je­sus, A
9. I Re­mem­ber Cal­va­ry
10. Jesus Died for Me
11. Let the Dear Sav­ior Come In
12. Look to the Lamb of God
13. My Heart Is Cling­ing
14. Precious Je­sus
15. Resting in God’s Peace
16. Shepherd Calls, The
17. Sweet Voic­es
18. When I Stand in Yon­der Ci­ty
19. When the Saints Are March­ing In
20. Where Je­sus Is, ’Tis Hea­ven