Preston County, West Virginia Biography of Frank D. FORTNEY, M. D. ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , July 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 153-154 Preston FRANK D. FORTNEY, M. D. A capable teacher for sev- eral years, finishing his literary education meanwhile, then pursuing the full medical course at Baltimore, Doctor Fortney since graduating, for nearly twenty years, has enjoyed an exceptionally large practice at Newburg in Preston County, though for nearly a year he was absent from duty as a medical officer in the army. Doctor Fortney is a native of Preston County and a member of one of the older families here. His great- grandfather came from Maryland more than a century ago and is buried in the old graveyard at Bethlehem, near Reedsville, in Preston County. His son, Daniel R. Fortney, was born in that community, and for many years was a prominent minister of the Methodist Protestant Church. The home of his later years was at Kingwood, and he died in 1902, at the age of eighty-three. As a youth he had limited opportunities to attend school, and his education was largely the result of his eager intelli- gence and ambition to perfect his knowledge. He was an extensive reader and was noted for his knowledge of history, especially sacred history and the New and Old Testament. Daniel R. Fortney married Mahala Pell, daughter of John Pell, representing another early family in Preston County. Their children were: Francis Asbury, father of Doctor Fortney; Amaziah Pell, who spent his life as a farmer near Kingwood; Isaiah Kirk, who was a railroad man with the Baltimore & Ohio and later an oil operator and died at Parkersburg; William Fairfax, who was a farmer at Eglon; and Emma, the only daugh- ter, died near Kingwood, wife of Solomon P. Hawley. Francis A. Fortney was born near Kingwood, January 23, 1837, and he came to manhood with a country school education. His record as a Union soldier is one that will always be cherished by his descendants. Early in the war he enlisted in Company C of the Third West Vir- ginia Infantry, and for three years was with the Army of the Potomac. He was a musician. He was in the first battle of Bull Bun and in a number of others, until finally he was taken prisoner and at the close of his service he was in Andersonville, where he endured greater hardships and sufferings than in all his marchings and fighting. He was a mere skeleton and completely broken in health when released. Following the war and after recovering his strength he was a worker in the oil district at Burning Springs, Wirt County, and from there returned to Pres- ton County and resumed his place on a farm near King- wood, and during the rest of his active years was devoted to agriculture and the duties of a good citizen in that locality. He cleared the timber off a large part of the land he cultivated. He always voted as a republican but was never concerned in partisan politics and was a mem- ber of the Methodist Church. Francis A. Fortney, who died February 28, 1917, at the age of eighty, married Virginia L. Pickering, a native of Wirt County, and daugh- ter of Daniel Pickering, an old settler there and descended from an American family whose record runs back into the early history of Boston, Massachusetts. Virginia Fort- ney died in August, 1916., They were the parents of four sons and four daughters: Dr. dark S., of Hundred, West Virginia; Ellen, wife of Claud E. Keefover, of Reeds- ville; Dr. Frank D.; Rebecca, whose first husband was A. A. Pell and she is now Mrs. James Phillips, of Inde- pendence, West Virginia; Florence, wife of George W. White, of Kingwood; Evelyn B., a trained nurse at Terra Alta; Dr. Millard H. and Milford D., twin brothers, the former at Arcola, Illinois, and the latter a dental student and a farmer. Frank D. Fortney was born at the old homestead near Kingwood, January 27, 1875. The farm was his environ- ment until he was twenty years of age. While growing up he attended country schools, qualified as a teacher, and in the intervals of teaching attended the Fairmont State Normal. Doctor Fortney at the age of twenty-four left teaching to enter the Baltimore Medical College, now the medical department of the University of Maryland. He graduated in 1904 and for six months was an interne in the Maryland General Hospital at Baltimore. With this very thorough equipment for practice Doctor Fortney lo- cated at Newburg, but has since kept in touch with the advanced work in his profession by various post-graduate courses, spending twelve weeks in the Johns Hopkins Hos- pital at Baltimore, three months in the University of Illi- nois, one month in the New York Post-Graduate School, and one month in Harvard Medical College in Boston. In July, 1918, Doctor Fortney was commissioned a cap- tain in the Medical Corps, and during his active service was attached to the Base Hospital at Camp Shelby, Mis- sissippi. He received his honorable discharge on Decem- ber 28, 1918. Doctor Fortney since the war has been a member of the Board of Examiners for soldiers' pensions, and is a member of the County, West Virginia State and American Medical associations. The affairs of his home town as well as his profession have not been neglected. He is a member of the Board of Education of Lyon District, and this board built the new Lyon District High School. He has served on the town council. Doctor Fortney gave his first presidential vote to Major McKinley. He is one of the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is affiliated with the Ma- sonic Lodge. In Preston County, April 12, 1920, Doctor Fortney mar- ried Miss Lula B. DeMoss, daughter of Frank H. and Kate (Shafferman) DeMoss. Her people have lived in Preston County for several generations. Mrs. Fortney was educated in the Newburg public schools and was a teacher before her marriage. They have two children, Elihu S. and Catherine L.