Alva C. Forney Biography


	This biography appears on pages 560-563 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ALVA C. FORNEY. 

	Alva C. Forney is the superintendent of the state agricultural 
experiment station and is also engaged in the dairy business upon his 
farm in Fall River county. In addition to these interests he engages in 
the real-estate business to some extent. He was born in Holt county, 
Missouri, on the 25th of February, 1871, a son of Christian W. and Mary 
Ellen (Iddings) Forney, natives respectively of Ohio and Missouri. The 
father, who was born in 1841, passed away in November, 1876. His wife's 
birth occurred on the 13th of September, 1844. When a boy he emigrated 
with his parents to Missouri and there attained his majority. Upon 
reaching years of maturity he became an agriculturist of Holt county, 
that state, and resided there until his demise. He served in the fourth 
Missouri Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war and in times of peace took 
a keen interest in public affairs. Although he was not an office 
seeker, he held a number of local positions of trust and honor and was 
constable at the time of his death. 

	Alva C. Forney was the second in order of birth in a family of 
five children and in the acquirement of his early education attended 
the district schools near his home, later becoming a student in the 
schools of Stanberry, Missouri. When seventeen years of age he removed 
to the Black Hills and engaged in mining in the vicinity of Hill City 
for about three years. He was also for a year at Custer as a sawmill 
engineer in the employ of the Harney Peak Tin Company. For several 
years he worked for a lumber company in this state, but in 1895 he 
returned to Missouri and attended school there until 1898, his 
experience having convinced him of the value of a thorough education. 
On the 27th of April, 1898, he answered the first call for volunteers 
for service in the Spanish-American war, enlisting in the Fourth 
Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and he remained with that command until 
the 15th of February, 1899, when he was discharged. The remainder of 
that year was spent upon the homestead with his mother, but in April, 
1900, he again became a resident of Oelrichs, South Dakota. He was 
employed as census enumerator and also worked in a grocery store until 
November, 1900, but then dealt in horses until January, 1905. At that 
time he entered the county treasurer's office and later became the 
first cashier of the Peoples National Bank of Hot Springs. Upon his 
return to Oelrichs he became United States commissioner and ill 
addition to discharging his duties in that connection engaged in the 
real-estate business and farming. He still operates one hundred and 
twenty acres in the home farm and two thousand acres near Oelrichs. He 
breeds Holstein cattle and gives much attention to dairying, which he 
finds very profitable He is superintendent of the state agricultural 
experiment station, which is situated two miles south of Oelrichs, and 
under his super-vision it is doing much work of value to the farmers of 
that part of the state. He also finds time to devote to real estate and 
is an authority on realty values in his locality. 

	Mr. Forney was married on the 29th of December, 1903, to Miss 
Nellie Hartman, who was born at Barnard, Nodaway county, Missouri, on 
the 16th of December, 1878. Her parents, George A. and Margaret 
(Helzer) Hartman, were both natives of Clark county, Indiana, her 
father born on the 14th of July, 1844, and her mother on the 10th of 
December, 1847. In early life the father engaged in teaching school in 
Indiana, but later removed to Missouri, where he became a landowner and 
farmer. He is now residing in Maryville, that state, and is spending 
his last days in ease, enjoying the fruits of his former toil. His wife 
passed away on the 1st of January, 1915. He served in the Civil war as 
a member of the Eighty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry and was at the 
front for three years, proving at all times a brave soldier. He has 
held a number of local offices, including that of justice of the peace, 
and has at all times proved an able and conscientious official. Mrs. 
Forney is the sixth in a family of eleven children and attended the 
schools of Nodaway county, Missouri, in the acquirement of an 
education. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children: 
Margaret Ellen, born on the 5th of November, 1904; Frank Hartman, whose 
birth occurred on the 21st of January, 1906; Benjamin Henry, born on 
the 28th of November, 1913; and John Clark, born on the 1st of 
February, 1915. 

	Mr. Forney is a republican, and from 1905 to 1909 was county 
treasurer. Since March, 1909, he has been United States commissioner 
and is ably discharging the duties of that office and is equally 
efficient as treasurer of the local board of education, which position 
he has held for six years. Fraternally he is connected with tile 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, the 
Modern Brotherhood of America and the Yeomen, in which order he is 
state master of accounts. He is typically a western man, energetic and 
progressive, with the courage and faith in the county that tend to 
develop the power of initiative, and his activity along various lines 
has been a factor in the advancement of his community, where he is 
justly held in high esteem.