Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
James H. & Mary E. Forney papers, 1878-1889
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Forney, James Forney, 1851-1937
- Title
- James H. & Mary E. Forney papers
- Dates
- 1878-1889 (inclusive)18781928
- Quantity
- 0.5 cubic feet
- Collection Number
- MG 54
- Summary
- Letters from James Forney to Mary Belknap (1855-1927) prior to their marriage and letters from Mary's sisters to her after her marriage.
- Repository
-
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
James Harvey Forney was born on a cotton plantation in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on December 29, 1851. After graduating from Wofford College in 1872 he moved to California. While employed as a teacher, he also took courses in law and was admitted to the bar in 1879.
Looking for a mining region in which to set up practice, he moved to Mount Idaho, now called Grangeville, where he was selected territorial prosecuting attorney. When Idaho became a state he was elected district attorney for the Second Judicial District. His seventeen years as territorial and state attorney equipped him for the position of U.S. District Attorney, a position he held for four years, having been appointed by President Grover Cleveland.
In 1881 he returned briefly to California to marry Mary E. Belknap of Santa Barbara. They made their home in Mount Idaho until 1891 when they moved to Moscow.
With the erection of the first building on the University of Idaho campus, the board of regents named Forney "provisional" president of the university to "formulate a curriculum and to secure professors for the chairs of learning." Forney served on the board of regents from 1891-1893 and from 1897-1899; he also served as chairman of the board. The University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1921.
On July 3, 1937, James Forney died of a heart attack at the age of 85.
Mary Emma (Belknap) Forney was born in Oregon to the Rev. Corrington and Anne Yorke Belknap. Her parents moved the family to California where she was educated in the public schools, graduating from the College of the Pacific with both AB and BS degrees.
In September of 1881 she married James H. Forney in Santa Barbara, California. She returned with him to his home in Mount Idaho, Idaho Territory.
In 1891 the Forneys moved with their two daughters to Moscow, where Mary Forney took an active role in the social life of the town. She was a prominent state club leader, aiding in the organization of the State Federation of Women's Clubs, holding several offices in that organization, including that of president. She was a member of the Pleiades and Historical Clubs. She also conducted the correspondence with Andrew Carnegie which obtained for Moscow the present public library building.
The Forneys were very interested in the University of Idaho and Mary was instrumental in setting up a student loan fund, a fund she continued to manage until her death. Several years before her death the new women's dormitory was named for her.
On August 5, 1927 Mary Forney died at her Moscow home at the age of 72.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Forney papers, which are contained in one small file box, consist largely of personal correspondence, letters to Mary Belknap from J.H. Forney prior to their marriage and letters to Mary from her sisters Cora and Rosa after her marriage to James Forney.
There are several legal documents as well as other miscellaneous material, including two manuscript sermon and devotion books which may have belonged to Mary Forney's maternal grandfather.
The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library also has, in its Vertical File, photocopies of the letters written by Mary Belknap to J.H. Forney.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
[Description of Item], James H. & Mary E. Forney papers, MG 54, Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series I: CorrespondenceReturn to Top
With only a few exceptions, all of the letters in this collection were written to Mary Belknap Forney. The largest single collection is a group of fifty eight letters written by James H. Forney to Mary Belknap between February 5, 1878 and August 14, 1881. These letters deal with his move to Mount Idaho, his law practice, daily events and often the weather. Letters from other members of her family written after her marriage to Forney are also personal in nature.
An Alphabetical List of Correspondents
Belknap, C.G. (Mary's father) 1882, 1883, 1884, 1887. 6 letters
Belknap, Charles C. (Mary's brother) 1887, 1888, 1889. 3 letters
Belknap, Cora (Mary's sister) 1882, 1887. 31 letters
Belknap, Mary Emma (to J.H. Forney) 1880. 1 letter
Belknap, Rosa A. (Mary's sister) 1882, 1883, 1887. 13 letters
Cressey, Cora. 1886. 1 letter
Forney, Cora (Mary's daughter) 1903. 2 letters
Forney, Emma (J.H.'s sister) 1882. 1 letter
Forney, James H. 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881. 58 letters
Kellogg, F.L. 1886. 1 letter
Mayhew, Judge Alexander E. (to J.H. Forney) 1902. 1 letter
Moore, Emily Y. (Mary's aunt) 1884. 1 letter
Parrey, W.E. (to J.H. Forney) 1928. 1 letter
The correspondence is kept in chronological order; file cards have been prepared which give the dates of all letters written by each correspondent.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence |
1872-1927 |
| 1 | 2 | Correspondence |
1873-1925 |
| 1 | 4 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1878 |
| 1 | 5 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1879 |
| 1 | 6 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1880 |
| 1 | 7 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1881 |
| 1 | 8 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1882 |
| 1 | 9 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1883 |
| 1 | 10 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1884 |
| 1 | 11 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1886 |
| 1 | 12 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1887-1888 |
| 1 | 13 | J.H. Forney Correspondence |
1889-1929 |
Series II: Forney Daughter's FoldersReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 15 | Cora May Forney
Cora May Forney, the younger daughter, was born April 17, 1884 ,in Mount Idaho. She lived for fifteen years in Moscow and graduated from the University of Idaho in 1904. She taught in Coeur d'Alene from 1905 until her death from typhoid on May 17, 1906.
|
1889-1906 |
Two juvenile letters, scribbled, with only the name CORA printed |
1889 | ||
Three letters from Lillian K. Eisinbris, corresponding secretary of the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, University of Washington |
1904 | ||
Teachers certificate for first grade |
1904 | ||
Three letters of recommendation from William Wilson Baden, Prof. of Greek and Latin, Univ. of Idaho; D.P. Parham, Prof. of English, Univ. of Idaho; and James MacLean, President, Univ. of Idaho 1905 |
1905 | ||
Two letters from Chrissy Dollar of Coeur d'Alene |
1906 | ||
| 1 | 16 | Rosa Aletha Forney
Rosa Aletha Forney was born at Mount Idaho in August of 1882. While attending the University of Idaho, from which she graduated in 1901, she was a member of the Mandolin and Guitar Club. After graduating she went to Edmonton, Alberta as a piano teacher. She married William G. Harrison, and sometime after her mother's death in 1927 she moved to New York, where she was living at the time of her father's death.
|
|
Juvenile printed letter to Mary Forney |
1889 | ||
A letter from Isabel of Edmonton, Alberta |
1929-08-21 | ||
Series III: Legal PapersReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 14 | Legal Papers |
|
Additional Claims to be collected (by James H. Forney) |
undated | ||
Affidavit. Isaac C. Hattabaugh to the Public |
1926-11-06 | ||
Agreement between J.H. Forney and Mrs. A.G. Kerns |
1917-07-26 | ||
Agreement between James H. Forney and Henry E. Corum of Lewiston, regarding a vehicle signal patent and the sale of vehicle signals |
1927-11-17 | ||
Bond of Mrs. Kerns to Patrick Brady |
1920-05-27 | ||
Cemetery Deed |
1906-05-17 | ||
Certificate of Election. James H. Forney as District Attorney, 2nd Judicial District |
1890-11-01 | ||
Declaration of Homestead, by Mary E. Forney |
1894-09-10 | ||
Decree Establishing Record Title to Community Property, Estate of Mary E. Forney |
1931-06-06 | ||
Series IV: MiscellaneousReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 3 | Miscellaneous |
|
Holograph book of seven sermons on the Christian's Race
This book appears to have belonged to Mary Forney's maternal grandfather, Rev. John W. York
|
circa 1835 | ||
Holograph book of devotions 9 items
(Name on fly-leaf Rev. J.W. York)
|
circa 1836 | ||
Envelope containing newspaper clippings, several of J.H. Forney's legal cases, but mainly social events involving the Forney's |
undated | ||
Funeral Notice of Rev. John W. York |
undated | ||
Forney, James H. Five holograph speeches |
undated | ||
IT National Inquietude |
1873-02-20 | ||
IT The Angle-Saxon Race |
1873-11-20 | ||
IT Salutatio Latina |
1874-06-24 | ||
IT May Day Address |
1876 | ||
IT The Beauties of a Cultivated Mind |
1872-11-14 | ||
Forney, Mary E. Holograph copies of five speeches |
undated | ||
Idaho Third District Federation of Women's Clubs. Program for Annual Meeting |
1919-10-15/1919-10-17 | ||
University Chapel, Graduates Recital |
1885-05-23 | ||
University of Southern California. Graduation Exercises |
1885-06-18 | ||
Speech describing a European Tour, probably by Rosa Forney |
1905 | ||
Typescript of the tribute to Mary Forney from the Lewiston Morning Tribune |
1927-08-09 | ||
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Lawyers
- Love-letters
Personal Names
- Forney, Mary E. Belknap, 1855-1927
Geographical Names
- Idaho
- Mount Idaho (Idaho)
Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen; updated by Courtney E. Berge
1979; 2021
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
