Nancy Jane Minear 1823-after 1910 (111001)

Topographic map showing Preston
 County, with Rowlesburg indicated.
This is the area where the Fortneys lived.
This also shows how the Cheat River
cuts through the  mountains. The Minears
were pioneers along the Cheat River.

Nancy Jane Minear was the daughter of John Minear and Catherine Fortney. There has been much difficulty in finding records to confirm her maiden name. There are no marriage records for Preston County before the 1860s. There are not any probate records for Preston before 1869, and her purported father must have died prior to that year. However, the source for her maiden name and marriage information is the book  A History of Preston County, West Virginia by Oren Frederic Morton (1914). It was published in the same decade that Nancy died, and obviously the writer must have been working on it for several years before that. She may well have been alive to have given this information to the author. Several of her children were certainly alive and living in Preston County at the time. This makes it quite likely that the information on the family was obtained from a reliable source.

The history says that Nancy was the daughter of John Minear and Catherine Fortney.  Nancy Jane Minear was born about 1823, according to Census data . The Minear family were living in Preston County at the time of Nancy's birth, so she was probably born in Preston County, Virginia (later to become part of West Virginia).

The Minear family were pioneers
in Preston County, WV. They moved
into the area several decades before
Preston was formed in 1818.

Nancy married her first cousin, Jonathan David Fortney, the son of her mother's brother. They must have spent time together at family events in order to become acquainted well enough to fall in love, because Jonathan lived in Harrison County while Nancy lived in Preston County. As tradition dictated they were probably married in or near the bride's residence in Preston County, Virginia (now West Virginia) about 1841 which is the year before their first child was born.

They had the following children:

1) Julia Fortney b. 12 Nov 1842 Harrison, VA

2) John Wesley Fortney b. 20 Apr 1844 Harrison, VA; d. 26 Apr 1905 Preston, WV; m. Salome Rogers

3) Simon Peter Fortney b. 20 Apr 1844 Harrison, VA; d. 13 Apr 1876 Preston, WV; m. Mary Margaret Rowe

4) Elizabeth Victoria Fortney b. 15 Jul 1846 Preston VA; d. bef. 1904 West Virginia; m. John O. Fortney

5) Elzey Lewis Fortney b. 13 May 1848 Preston, VA; d. 1 Sep 1909 Ohio, WV

6) Phoebe Icy Fortney b. 17 Dec 1854 Preston, VA; d. unknown; m. William A. Rowe

7) Adaline Fortney b. 1855 Preston, VA; d. 9 Nov 1917 Grafton, Taylor, WV; m. James H. Rowe

8) David Crocket Fortney b. 28 Jul 1856 Preston, VA; d. 3 Feb 1920 Preston, WV; m. Effie L. Chidester

9) Dona D. Fortney b. May 1859 Preston, VA; d. unknown

10) Benjamin Franklin Fortney b. 9 Oct 1862 Preston, VA; d. Feb 1928 Denver, Denver, CO

11) Charles S. Fortney b. 5 Dec 1864 Preston, WV; d. unknown

The children's births reflect the fact that Nancy relocated to Harrison County with her new husband, near his family. There Jonathan continued to make his living as a blacksmith. They returned to Preston County, where Nancy's family lived, about 1845. The iron industry had already come to be a major influence in Preston County economy, and continued growing throughout the following decades. This was a land of opportunity for blacksmiths.

The beautiful Cheat River near Rowlesburg WV.

Jonathan and Nancy lived near Rowlesburg, which was nestled in a U-shaped curve along the Cheat River. This access to plenty of water made it an ideal location for industry during the age of steam, including iron works. Jonathan thrived in this new environment, and was able to hone his skills during the next decade. By the time the 1860 Census was taken he had become a gunsmith, an important skill to have during the coming war. He was not the first gunsmith in the Fortney family. The skill had been taught in the family for at least four generations.

Nancy and Jonathan Fortney were enumerated with their family in Preston County in the 1850-1880 Federal Censuses. Jonathan died in 1885, leaving Nancy a  62 year old widow. She can be found living with her son John Wesley Fortney in the 1900 Census, and with her son's widow, Jennie Fortney, in Lyon, Preston, WV in 1910.

The following census records show where she resided the last couple of decades of her life:

1900 Census -Lyon, Preston WV

John W Fortney age 56 birth abt 1844 (West) VA

relationship Head

Spouses Jennie married 10 years  5 children looks like 1 living

Mother Nancy J

race white

Household name

John W Fortney -56

Jennie Fortney 34

Lucy Fortney 9

James Fortney 6

Owen Fortney 3

George C Fortney 11.12

Nancy J Fortney 77

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1910 Census of Preston, WV

Jennie Fortney 43

Lucy Fortney 19

James L. Fortney 15

Owen W. Fortney 12

Clarence G. Fortney 10

Harold G. Fortney  7

Nancy J. Fortney 85

She must have been forgetful of her birth year by 1910, since she would have been 87 at the time of the 1910 Census and not 85 as she claimed. It is likely that she died before the next census in 1920. No death record has been found for her, in spite of a thorough search through Fortney death records in Preston County. Her grave site has yet to be discovered as well.