JOHN WIEN FORNEY (1817-1881), the namesake of our city, was a publisher, diplomat and politician. He was also a railroad official who promoted the Texas & Pacific Railroad.

John Forney was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At a young age, he went to work, first in a store and later as a writer for the Lancaster Journal. At the age of 20 he purchased a failing local newspaper, the Lancaster Intelligencer. Within two years, the paper had become successful enough that he merged with the Lancaster Journal.

Forney used the newspaper to promote the political career of fellow Democrat, U.S. Senator James Buchanan. When Buchanan later became Secretary of State under then President Polk, Buchanan used his influence to appoint Forney to the coveted position of Surveyor of the Port of Philadelphia.

Forney later moved to Philadelphia and became the owner and editor of the Philadelphia Pennsylvanian. In 1848, when the Democrats lost the Presidency, Forney lost his surveyorship position. He then moved to Washington, DC, where he became an editorial writer for a Democratic newspaper called the Washington Daily Union. In 1851, he was elected to the position of Clerk in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving until 1855.

James Buchanan was elected President in 1856, but could not secure a position for Forney, who himself had lost a bid for the U.S. Senate. Forney moved back to Philadelphia, starting a new paper called the Press. Political disagreements, rifts in the Democratic Party and Buchanan's pro-slavery views led John Forney to switch his political allegiance to the newly formed Republican Party. He was re-elected as Clerk in the U.S. House of Representatives, this time as a Republican. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1861, he helped Forney gain the necessary votes to become the Secretary of the Senate, where he served from 1861 to 1868. During this time he also established the Washington Sunday Chronicle, later the daily version, the Washington Chronicle.

In 1864, Forney became friends with Andrew Johnson and strongly supported his bid for the office of Vice President and as President after the assassination of President Lincoln. But when Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau Act in 1868, Forney changed positions and campaigned for Johnson's impeachment.

After the trial, John Forney sold his Washington newspaper and moved back to Philadelphia, where he established a weekly magazine, the Progress. It was during this time he switched sides again back to the Democratic Party.

While in Philadelphia, John Forney was a member of the board of directors of the Texas & Pacific Railway, instrumental in establishing the new railroad through north Texas.

• Abraham Lincoln to John W. Forney, July 28, 1864 (Forney's trip to Europe)
• John W. Forney to Abraham Lincoln, May 22, 1863 (Cover letter)
• John W. Forney to Abraham Lincoln, July 25, 1864 (Forney must travel to Europe for his health)
• John R. Young to Abraham Lincoln, July 28, 1864 (Telegram concerning Lincoln's dispatch to John W. Forney)
• Diller Luther to Abraham Lincoln, December 5, 1864 (Recommendation for John W. Forney)
• John W. Forney to Abraham Lincoln, November 8, 1864 (Telegram reporting Pennsylvania election results)
• Benjamin Bannan to Abraham Lincoln, December 7, 1864 (Recommends John W. Forney for cabinet)
• John W. Forney to Abraham Lincoln, May 13, 1863 (Acknowledgment of Lincoln's letter of May 13 and request for interview)
• John W. Forney to John G. Nicolay, July 19, 1862 (Telegram recommending the use of disabled soldiers as tax collectors)
• John W. Forney to John G. Nicolay, December 1, 1862 (Annual Message)
• John W. Forney to Abraham Lincoln, October 5, 1864 (Telegram reporting mass meeting at Lancaster, Penn.)
• John W. Forney to John G. Nicolay, December 8, 1863 (Copy of Annual Message)
• John M. Read to Abraham Lincoln, October 14, 1863 (John W. Forney's efforts in the recent campaign)
• John W. Forney to Abraham Lincoln, September 26, 1862 (Support for Emancipation Proclamation)
• John W. Forney to Abraham Lincoln, August 16, 1861 (Political affairs)
• John W. Forney, [1861] (List of patronage appointments for the territories)
• Col. Forney on Iron. [Manufacturer and builder / Volume 9, Issue 9, September 1877]


From Mr. Lincoln's White House website:

• John W. Forney Biography

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