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- History of Preston County, West Virginia
Author: Wiley, Samuel T. (Samuel Thomas), 1850-1905; Frederick, A. W.
Page 529. Excerpt:
Daniel Fortney came from France about 1790, and settled northwest of where Reedsville now stands.
(His family is noticed in the biography of Neil J. Fortney.) At this time came Robert McMUlen, a Revolutionary soldier. His son William married Sarah Cobun, and his grandsons, A. F. and
E. W. McMillen, are school teachers of several years' experience.
Page 505. HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY
Excerpt:
NEIL J. FORTNEY.
Daniel Fortney, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came from France to Frederick County, Maryland, about 1785. His wife, whose name is lost, was of German extraction; and, about 1790, they settled near the site of Reedsville in what is now Lyon District. Their chidren were Henry, Jacob, John (father of Thomas Fortney, ex-County Superintendent, and one of the present Assessors), Catherine,
Elizabeth and David H. The family has produced several ministers, pihysicians and teachers.
David H. Fortney married Angelina S. Zinn, and their children were Eugene W., Fernandez E., Lycurgus H. (who died upon the eve of entering the Baptist ministry), Charlotta A, Caroline N. (wife of Col. R. W. Monroe), Silas M. Ashford E. (who was promoted from a private to 1st Lieutenant in Co. E., 15th W. Va., Infantry ; served in the U. S Signal Corps, and is now a minister in tlie M. E. Church in Ohio), Loretta R., Orpah S., and Neil Judson, the subject of this sketch, who was bom near Independence, November
22, 1849. He removed with his parents, in 1865, to Indianola, Iowa, and attended Simpson Centenary College at that place.
In 1870, he left his home in Iowa and traveled for four years over a considerable portion of the West, including a trip up the Missouri River as far as the Montana line. For a livelihood he followed house painting, sign writing and school teaching, and was an occasional correspondent for home and other newspapers. He returned to Preston County hi 1874, and the next year began the study of the law with Col. R. W. Monroe. He was appointed Deputy County Clerk in 1877, in consequence of which appointment he suspended the study of the law for some time.
In April, 1879, he passed examination at Wheeling before
Page 506 HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
Judges Greene, Moore and Johnson, of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and was licensed to practice law.
Mr. Fortney was married on the 3d of June, 1879, to Miss Alice Edna, eldest daughter of Capt. Joseph M. Godwin, of Kingwood. In 18S0, he was the Republican candidate for Prosecuting Attorney, and was elected by a handsome majority. He took the oath of office, January 1, 1881, and the court records
show that out of the indictments found and disposed of during the four terms of court held since his entrance upon the duties of his office, there have been fifty-one judgements in favor of the State against a very small number of acquittals or dismissals, and but one of his indictments quashed. As a landscape and portrait painter, Mr. Fortney evinces a high order of talent. Painting, though his earliest choice, is
by no means with him a " lost love,'' for at times he still turns to brush and pencil, and wields them with good effect.
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Bef 1785 - Yes, date unknown
