This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Death Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/UaB.2ACE/3238 Message Board Post: 18 Jan 1893 - Indiana Weeky Messenger - BARNEY BLACK lived in Conemaugh township, distant a little over one mile from Saltsbtirg. For some time Barney had not been in the best of spirits, and his meditations led him to think that he would fare belter in the next worla. Sunday night he procured a quantity of muriatic acid with this acid Barney proceeded to wash off the the brass works of an old clock which had long been out of repair and which were heavily coated with verdigris. The acid with the rerdigris in solution he carefully permitted lo run into a tin, and then he drank about four ounces of the deadly poison. From the (effects) of this deadly poison he suffered excruciating agony for some time, but death, which he had so deliberately invited, at last came to his relief. Coroner Miller held an inquest on the remains on Monday, and a verdict in accordance with the facts tated was found. Black was aged about 54 years was married and the father of a large family, he had n! ot fared prosperously in the world, but his circumstances while not affluent might have been much less comfortable. Mr. Black was a soldier during the late war, and was an esteemed member of the 0. A. B. Post at Saltsburg. It was brought out in the testimony before the Coroner that he had been engaged in making counterfeit five cent pieces and it was thought that perhaps fumes exhaled from the * had killed him. He left a letter in which he stated that instead of arrest and preferred death to standing trial for counterfeiting. Moulds for making nickles and a number of newlymade were found on the premises. His wife * that he had other molds and mateial which he kept secreted in the woods; that he never visited the resort while snow was on the ground, for fear of being being tracked. She also said that he made (most) of his counterfeit money on Sundays. He was a relation of David Black, a well-known character in this county. The inquest was adjourned to meet at Sultsburg tod! ay at 1 o clock. The followng persons compose the jury... 19 Jan 1893 - Indiana County Gazette - BARNEY BLACK, who resided in Conemaugh township, about one and a half miles from Saltsburg, committed suicide last Sunday morning. The cause for the act is unknown. Mr. Black had been with his family in the sitting room for some time, but got up and went to the kitchen and locked the door. He remained then returned in the kitchen a few moments and then returned to the sitting room and sat down. In a short time he was seized with convulsions and, became so violent that it required the entire family to hold him. He struggled for a few moments and died in terrible agony. Upon investigation a jar containing nitric acid was found in the kitchen, a quantity of which he had taken. He left a note saying that he was about to be arrested, and committed suicide to save his family. Those who are acquainted * are at a loss to know what he meant. Mr. Black was a soldier in the late * having been a member of Colonel Dick White's regiment. He leaves ! a wife and eight children. He was aged about 58 years. On Monday morning, in response to a telegram, Coroner W. T. Miller * to Saltsburg to hold an inquest upon the death of Mr. Black. He empaneled a jury, who viewed the remains, and took the * the members of the family, which was substantially as related above. It was learned in the course of the inquest that the act for which Black feared he would be arrested was probably the manufacture of counterfeit mcney. Several pieces of counterfeit money were found on his person, together with the with the dies for its manufacture. The coroner decided that a post mortem was necessary to determine the the exact nature of bis death, and the stomach was accordingly removed and the contents of it will be analyzed. The inquest was adjourned until today, when the physicians will report the result of...