FORNEY, Texas — Michael Forney and his wife, Jennifer, loaded five of their eight children into a 12-passenger van for what would be an unforgettable cross-country trip with a pitstop in a once-small Texas town named after their five-times-great uncle John Wein Forney.
FORNEY, Texas — Michael Forney and his wife, Jennifer, loaded five of their eight children into a 12-passenger van for what would be an unforgettable cross-country trip with a pitstop in a once-small Texas town named after their five-times-great uncle John Wein Forney.
A stop in Forney, Texas, wouldn’t likely make the list of stops on any other family’s cross-country to-see list, but the Forney’s aren’t any other family.
In 1873, with the Texas & Pacific Railroad driving its last stake on its Dallas to Shreveport connecting railroad, Brooklyn, the town as it was known then, was applying for a post office permit. The permit was denied because a town in Shelby County, Texas, already bore the name.
Months later, the town would later be renamed Forney for John Wein Forney of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — a well-known railroad official among other things — and Michael Forney's five-times-great uncle.
Much like the railroad legged across the country in the 1800s, the modern-day Forneys embarked on a three-and-a-half-week adventure from Olean, NewYork, to Long Beach, California, but with a different goal in mind — to explore the hidden gems of the United States to and from a trip to one of their four daughter’s national gymnastics competitions in California.
On the way, the Forney family planned to stop or travel through 20 different states including stops at Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, Yellowstone National Park, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Santa Monica Pier, Las Vegas where they renewed their wedding vows for the 10th anniversary, Cadillac Ranch, San Francisco, and, of course, Forney, Texas.
Three weeks into their trip and 6,000 miles later, the Forney family stopped their van in downtown Forney after rumbling over the same tracks their five-times-great uncle John Forney forged a path for in the 1870s.
“It’s beautiful,” Michael told inForney.com “The mural is gorgeous and the town is well kept.”
Although much larger than he expected, Michael said his family had a pleasant drive through the town.
The Forneys were greeted by several city officials including Council member Mary Penn, Public Information Officer Kyle Rouvaldt, EDC Coordinator Stewart McGregor, and Forney Museum director Kendall Milton who later provided a sneak peak of the museum.
The museum visit proved beneficial and timely as the Forney family extended a gift of several family heirlooms, including a copy of the family’s genealogy book known as the “red book,” to the soon-to-be-opened museum.
John Forney was also a distinguished journalist and editor, was appointed Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1851 until 1855 and from 1859 until 1861, was appointed secretary of the United States Senate from 1861 until 1868, and described by history books a major player and supporter of the Lincoln administration.
Michael shared several family stories while at the museum including one in which Forney hosted then-Vice President of the United States Andrew Johnson before Lincoln’s inaugural. Michael says Lincoln would never forgive Forney for allowing Johnson to become so inebriated the night before Lincoln’s inaugural, Johnson stumbled through his inaugural speech and was unable to perform his duties as vice president the following morning.
Michael says the family plans to return to Forney in two years with his 78-year-old father.
“How many people get to come to a town named after themselves,” he said.
Follow the Forney family’s cross-country trip on Facebook at Forney Travel Brigade, here.