He also acted as an agent for Blair and Glenie, a Scottish firm engaged in timber trading.

Black encouraged the local production of hemp to manufacture cordage for ship use.

Black was married twice: first to Mary, the widow of John McGeorge, in 1797, and later to Catherine, the daughter of Christopher Billopp, in 1807.

Black constructed what is now known as the Black-Binney House, displaying influences from contemporary Scottish and Aberdonian architecture of the time.

[1] After suffering poor health later in life and travelling to Britain in hopes of a cure, Black died in Aberdeen.