History

Daniel Black, Sr. was born February 13, 1823 in Saluda County, South Carolina to John Black II and Jemima Caughman Black. Family history says that when he was 21 his father gave him a horse and $100. He went to Mississippi and made a crop. He sold the crop and was intending to return home. He stopped over at a revival meeting in Duncanville, AL where he met a Mr. Fikes. This man hired Daniel to work for him for $10 a month, plus room and board. On the last day of the year, Mr. Fikes counted out $110 for the year’s work. He had deducted $2 for two pairs of “drawers” they had made for him.

While there, Daniel got acquainted with Margaret Kyzer, daughter of David and Redema Weaver Kyzer. Mr. Fikes told them if they invited him to their wedding he would give them a load of corn. They married January 27, 1848. True to his word, Mr. Fikes gave them a load of corn, a gourd of lard and a bank of potatoes. They lived in Bibb County until after their first child was born. In 1852, Mr. Black bought 365 acres of land from the government in Tuscaloosa County. They lived at the Wheelock Hotel, located on the Huntsville Road, while they built their house. This was a 16 room hotel at Wheelock Springs, owned by Josephus Wheelock. The hotel was a stagecoach stop where passengers and mail were picked up. The nearest post office was in Tuscaloosa. Daniel Sr. built his house about one mile from the hotel, completing it January 1853. The house is now owned by a great-great-grandson, Mr. T. Fleet Simmons.  (Eric and Lori White are about to be the newest owners!)

Mr. Black owned about 900 acres of land. He was a farmer and usually had 200 to 300 sheep and a large herd of cattle. He was a merchant, owning the first store in Coaling. He also had a grist mill.

Daniel Sr. gave right-of-way for the railroad and enough land for a depot in Coaling. The Southern Railroad was built in 1873. Mr. Black sold wood to the Southern Railroad for fueling the trains. N.D. Johnson opened coal mines and started hauling coal by mule and wagon to fuel the trains. These two men were the first ones to settle that area. The Community was first known as Blacksville. Daniel did not want to name the community for himself, so they called it Coaling.

In 1885, Daniel Sr. donated one-half acre of land for the present site of Coaling Baptist church. Members of his family were charter members of Bethel (Coaling) Baptist Church.