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. |
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. |
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
==================
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
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.
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