Barbour County, West Virginia Biography of James E. FORNEY This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 332-333 JAMES E. FORNEY has been a resident of West Vir- ginia for thirty years, and his work and business in the construction trades of bricklaying and masonry have many visible evidences in and around Belington, his home town. That community long since learned to appreciate his worth and value as a citizen. Mr. Forney was born in Allegheny County, Pennsyl- vania, May 10, 1864. His father, Alfred A. Forney, was born on Double Pike Creek, Carroll County, Maryland, left there when a young man having learned the trade of blacksmith, and followed that occupation in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, during the Civil war, in which one of his brothers participated as a Union soldier. He subse- quently moved to Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and about middle age he devoted his time to farming. He died in 1914, at the age of eighty-four. His wife was Martha Johnson, who was born in Allegheny County, daughter of James and Mary (Parks) Johnson. She died in 1896, when about fifty-nine years of age. They were Presby- terians, and in politics Alfred Forney was a republican. Their children were: Mary, wife of I. U. Campbell, of Erin, Tennessee; George, who died unmarried in Pittsburgh; James E.; Annie, deceased wife of Henry Ruckhart, of Beaver County; Miss Lillian; Will, who died in Beaver County; and Calvin, of Lawton, Oklahoma. James E. Forney grew up at Sandy Creek in Beaver County, acquired a public school education near Freedom, and was with his father until he was about twenty years of age. He learned the trade of brick layer with W. W. Rickard of Blairsville, Pennsylvania, remaining with him two years, the following summer was an employe of the Lisenring Coal Company, owned by Frick and Company, for about a year was with the Cochrin and Brown Coal Company in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and for another year with J. W. Rainey. Then, in 1892, he came to West Virginia and established himself in Belington. In his business Mr. Forney has performed a long and interesting service in brick, stone and concrete work. His first work of consequence was at Dartmore, where he helped construct the coke oven, and about that time he set down the foundation for a store in front of the Luzerne Hotel in Belington, then the hotel foundation itself, and the foundation for the Methodist Church. When he first came to Belington only three houses stood on the west side of the Tygart Valley River, and he has been a factor in the mason and concrete work in the development of that side of the town. He also did brick work on the chim- neys for the houses in Coalton and at Elkins. As a public spirited citizen Mr. Forney has been a mem- ber of Belington Council several times and a member of the Board of Education. He is a republican, having cast his first ballot for James G. Blaine in 1884. His family are Missionary Baptists. In Barbour County, July 8, 1894, Mr. Forney married Miss Grace Day, who was born in Barbour County, Sep- tember 16, 1876, daughter of Daniel Webster and Martha (Wilson) Day. Her mother was a daughter of W. P. Wilson. Darnel W. Day was born in Barbour County, as was his wife, and he wag a farmer. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Day are—Orestes, of Belington; Mrs. Forney; and Scott Day, who lives near Fairmont. Mr. and Mrs. Forney have reared an interesting family of children, named Cecil Alfred, Wilbnr Orestes, Beulah, Ruth, Ralph, Wilson, George (who died at the age of eighteen months) and Lena. The son Cecil, who now lives at Middletown, Ohio, married Edna Sipe. He went overseas with the air-craft machine gun battalion from Camp Lee, Virginia, and lay between the front lines and the heavy artillery of the American Troops shooting down enemy airplanes. His only injury was gassing. His command returned to the United States in May, 1919, and he was discharged at Camp Dix, New Jersey. The son Wilbur Orestes, who lives at Belington was in the last draft of the World war. He first responded to the Government's request for an operation was in the Crozier Hospital at Chester, Pennsylvania, four and one-half months, and finally recovered his health and strength sufficiently to be accepted, but the armistice was signed about that time. The daughter Beulah is now a student in Shenandoah Collegiate Institute at Dayton, Virginia, while the younger children are attending the local schools.