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WILLIAM WRIGHT FORCUM was born on Sunday, 4 Feb 1838, on his father’s farm near the hamlet of Turnersburg, Iredell Co., NC. He was the 5th of 11 children born to Nelson Forcum, and his wife Mary Elizabeth "Polly" Gaither. Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of these United States, was just beginning his second year in office and his country was a mere 62 years old. The first American commercial railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio had been completed just 18 years earlier and stretched for a full sixteen miles. Riding in a wagon was common,...
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WILLIAM WRIGHT FORCUM was born on Sunday, 4 Feb 1838, on his father’s farm near the hamlet of Turnersburg, Iredell Co., NC. He was the 5th of 11 children born to Nelson Forcum, and his wife Mary Elizabeth "Polly" Gaither. Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of these United States, was just beginning his second year in office and his country was a mere 62 years old. The first American commercial railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio had been completed just 18 years earlier and stretched for a full sixteen miles. Riding in a wagon was common, but primarily just walking, would remain the primary mode of transportation for decades.
Williams’s parents and siblings lived in a sturdy log house, not a log cabin. A log cabin was made of round logs roughly stacked up upon themselves. A log house used logs which had been squared off (hewed) using a broad ax with a chisel-edged blade eight inches wide and a short bent handle; and smoothed with an adze. Each individual timber was sawn off to exact lengths, and didn’t project at all beyond the corners. Lock mortices of one type of another were carefully cut at the corners with saws and chisels, instead of the old axe-cut saddles of log cabins, giving the timbers extra tightness and smaller areas to chink between the timbers. Nelson had shingled the roof by splinting individual shakes with a splitting maul cleaved by a shingle froe.
William’s mother, "Polly" was up every morning by 4:30 a.m. to rake the coals from the fireplace and restart the fire to cook breakfast for her husband and other children. She would wake her husband at 6:30 a.m. so he could both eat and be in the fields by 7:00 a.m. By the time William was 6 years old in 1844, he was helping to cultivate his mother’s vegetable garden and at 10 in 1848, he was working the crops in his father’s fields.
On 2 Sep 1850, the Census taker, Mr. L. L. Tucker, arrived at the Forcum home in Iredell Co., NC and noted that Nelson Forcum, age 40, and Mary Elizabeth "Polly" Gaither, age 39, had 8 children 19 or under living at home. Nelson’s occupation was listed as “Farmer,” as was that of son’s Thomas age 19, Basil age 18, John Burgess age 14, and William then listed as being age 13. The list of children continued with William’s sisters, Serena age 9, Mary R. age 7, Dorcas age 5 and finished up with Evaline age 2. The value of Nelson’s farm was higher than that of his neighbors and was valued at $1,100.
When the 1860 Census was recorded on 27 Jul 1860, William’s parents and siblings are listed as living “East of Rockford Road, Iredell Co. NC,” near the “County Line Post Office.” No township was listed because they had not yet created them in the county. Of course Nelson’s occupation remained “Farmer.” The birth of William’s siblings was now complete and included Thomas Alfonso Forcum (born circa 1830), Basil W. Forcum (born circa 1831), John Burgess Forcum (born 19 Dec 1835), William himself, Serena Emmaline Forcum (born 25 Jan 1841), Mary Rebecca Forcum (born 10 Apr 1843), Dorcas Clementine Forcum (born 28 Sep 1845), Lucretia Amelia Forcum (born May 1847), Evaline L Forcum (born circa 1848), and Laura Jane D. Forcum (born 04 Nov 1850). Very tellingly, the occupations of William’s siblings leaned more to the trades that to farming. Thomas Alfonso Forcum is shown as a “Tobacconist,” Basil W. Forcum is a “Physician,” and John Burgess Forcum is a “carpenter.” In 1860, the elder Nelson’s brother Thomas Forcum was the “miller” at the nearby Eagle Mills Grist Mill (see FAG # 139306912) which did not have a water wheel, but was rather was a “turbine” mill. Often William’s father would hitch up the wagon and, taking William with him, would haul his grain to be ground there to be ground and talk with his brother. The only day off from work was Sunday, when the whole family would attend and spend much of the day at the Clarksbury Methodist Church in the crossroads of Harmony of Iredell Co., NC.
William Wright Forcum, age 23, married Jane Rebecca Ward, age 19, on 16 Jan 1861. They are believed to have been married in the Clarksbury Methodist Church, Harmony, Iredell Co., NC. Jane is the daughter of William Norman Ward and Rebecca Bailey. The newlyweds are thought to have known each other for most of their respective young lives. As was the custom in that time they may have started married life living with William’s parents or on a nearby farm.
The War Years
The Deep South States (Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas) had all seceded from the United States by February 1, 1861, just 16 days after William and Jane had married. These five states united to form the new country, the Confederate States of America (CSA,) at Montgomery, Alabama on 4 Feb 1861. At that time the States of Upper South (Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) all voted to remain in the United States.
On 15 Apr 1861, Lincoln called for 75,000 troops from the States remaining in the Union to forcibly bring back the seceded States and this was followed by another call for an additional 42,000 volunteers on 3 May 1861. Realizing that the only way for Federal forces to get at the Deep South States was by marching through the Upper South (Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina), these states seceded and joined the Confederacy. It is hard for us to image today, but the loyalty of individuals was to their State and not to the country, a tradition that harkened back to the American Revolution of 1776.
Technically, America never had a Civil War. The definition of such a conflict indicates that the intent of both sides is to capture and occupy the territory of its opponent. While this was true for the Northern States, the same was not true for the Southern States.
William Wright Forcum, (along with his three brothers Thomas Alfonso Forcum, Basil W. Forcum, and John Burgess Forcum) all enlisted in Company H, 4th Regiment of North Carolina Troops on 16 May 1861. This Regiment was assigned to Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson’s 2nd Corps of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Gen. Jackson was renowned as a brilliant tactician and for his aggressive, courageous and innovative actions. Furthermore, the 4th Regiment of North Carolina Troops was one of Jackson’s most prized units, and was always in the forefront of the battle. The horrific scenes of death and dismemberment would fill William’s life for the next four years. William himself was wounded in Battle of Chancellorsville, VA (May 3, l863) and erroneously recorded as “Killed in Action” at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, VA in the “Bloody Angle” (May 12, l864), but he survived the cataclysmic conflict. William Wright recovered from his wounds, but not deemed fit for active combat. Instead, he enlisted in Co. B, Mallett's Battalion (Camp Guard) in Iredell Co.
William’s brother Basil was killed in the Battle of Seven Pines (16 Jul 1862) and his brother Thomas was killed in battle also (26 Nov 1862). His final brother John Burgess went on to be company commander of H Company in the “4th”.
Migration to Montezuma, Iowa
When William Wright Forcu, and his sole surviving brother, John Burgess, arrived back in their native Iredell Co.in 1865, they found the nearest town to their home had been burnt down to the ground in a lightening raid by Union Calvary just a month before.
In 1866, William’s brother, John Burgess, and his new bride left Iredell Co., NC to start a new life in Montezuma, Poweshiek Co., IA. Over the next two years, William received letters from his brother encouraged him to come to Iowa also.
In 1868, William Wright had decided to start a new life in the West. It is recorded that William, his wife and two infant children “…started for the prairies of Iowa to establish a new home in the empire of the west. They came overland through Tennessee and Kentucky until they reached the Mississippi River. From this point they came by boat to Davenport, IA. They came directly to Montezuma (Poweshiek Co., IA) and lived many years on a farm a mile east of town.” In Montezuma, William and his family were reunited with his brother, John Burgess Forcum. The hamlet was a tiny town of less than 500 souls.
The history of Poweshiek Co. recounts, “For farming purposes no better land ‘lies out of doors’ than that of Jackson Township. Open, level prairie predominates, and the fertile soil is watered and drained by the South English River and Moon creek, including a number of tributaries of these streams.” The abundant farmland continued to draw new settlers and by 1870 the population of Montezuma had grown to a grand total of 555.
The rich, abundant topsoil of Iowa was far different from the rocky red clay of Iredell Co. NC., and the environs would eventually allow William to become a prosperous farmer.
William and Jane’s family continue to grow. Their first two children, Isabella "Belle" Sara Forcum (born Feb 1862), and Olivia "Ollie" E Forcum (born Feb 1866) had been born in North Carolina; after the family moved to Iowa there followed Margaret "Maggie" Forcum (born 27 Jun 1868), John W. N. Forcum (born 19 Apr 1871), Edgar Wright Forcum (born 19 Jan 1873), Amy Agnes Forcum (born 27 Jul 1874), Laura Dorcas Forcum (born 28 Nov 1876), J. E. M. Forcum (born circa 1879), Laura Ann Forcum (born 04 Feb 1879), Ida May Forcum (born 28 Nov 1880), Ray A. Forcum (born 12 Jul 1882), Ward Eugene Forcum (born 16 Aug 1884), and Harlan Arthur Forcum (17 Aug 1890).
In an era of very high infant and youth mortality, they lost their son Edgar Wright Forcum of 03 Sep 1873 at age 6 months, their daughter Amy Agnes Forcum on 23 Dec 1899 at age 25, and their daughter Ida May Forcum on 08 Feb 1881 at age 2 months.
The 1870’s in Montezuma, Iowa.
On 2 Jun 1870, the Census enumerator knocked on William Wright Forcum’s farmhouse door with the large ledger in which he recorded the data he collected. William was then living in Jackson Twp., Poweshiek Co., IA, just a 20 minute walk from the village of Montezuma. Always close, William was living next to his brother John Burgess Forcum. The Census taker dutifully recorded “Wright W. Forcum, age 32, [his wife], Jane Forcum, age 28, [and their children] Isabella, age 7, Olivia, age 5. [and] Maggie, age 2.” All had been born in Iredell Co., NC, except Maggie, who had been born in Poweshiek Co., IA. William’s occupation was “Farm Laborer” and the value of his personal property was listed as “$1,000.”
On 15 Dec 1875, the first steam locomotive chugged into town, drawing the residents to see it. This was the Grinnell and Montezuma Railroad, which ran only from Grinnell, also in Poweshiek Co., to Montezuma, a distance of eighteen miles; but the excitement throughout the town was palatable. William and his family would never forget sight.
By late June 1876, the town was all abuzz with the news that Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s 7th United States Cavalry had been wiped out by a coalition of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans lead by Chiefs Crazy Horse, Gall and Sitting Bull at the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory on 26 Jun 1876. Although there was no threats in Iowa, William would always remember the great anxiety felt by the county’s residents. Also, in June 1876, rain fell in torrents, and raised the creek just south of Montezuma to an unprecedented level. The waters had surrounded the house of the Joseph Gray family, and threatened to sweep it away. Attempting to save his family by driving them across in a wagon, Mr. Gray lost his infant child and two horses. Until the fall of 1876, Poweshiek County had no regular jail. One was neatly built, combining the Sheriffs residence and jail.
Entering the 1880’s in Montezuma, Iowa
The 1880 Census was recorded on 16 Jun of that year at William’s household. William and his wife Jane were respectively listed as ages 42 and 38, and they had 7 of their children living with them in Jackson Twp., Poweshiek Co., Iowa. William’s occupation was, of course, listed as “farmer.” The next farm to the east was owned by John W. Harper who had been born in New York, and to the west lived the Henderson Moore family, with Henderson having been born in Pennsylvania. Thus, Poweshiek Co. was a melting pot of families who had come from the east to better themselves.
By 1880, the nearby village of Montezuma then contained four churches, two school-houses, one bank, two hotels (the Stanley House and the Johnson House), one general store, four groceries, two hardware, two drug, three dry goods, four blacksmith shops, three wagon shops, four carpenter shops, two liveries, one book store, three boot and shoe stores, one harness shop, two cabinet shops, one bakery, one jewelry, three restaurants, two barbers, two meat markets, five dress making shops, one tailor, one dentist, one photographer, one telegraph office, one depot, one marble works and two saloon. The village boasted two newspapers, the Montezuma Republican and The Poweshiek County Democrat.
In that era and due to the telegraph and the newspapers, William may or may not have known that at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, a 30-second gunfight between an outlaw group of cowboys and lawman occurred in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, which would always be known as the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.” Wyatt Earp, with his brothers, and Doc Holiday, fought it out with members of the Clanton gang. The fight would come to represent a period in American Old West when the frontier was virtually an open range for outlaws, largely unopposed by law enforcement, who were spread thin over vast territories, leaving some areas unprotected.
The first marriage of one of William’s children occurred on 02 Oct 1881, when his daughter Isabella "Belle" Sara Forcum wed Carlen S. Bonnewell in Montezuma, Poweshiek Co., IA. Many more would follow.
All through his life in Poweshiek Co., William’s family attended the Methodist Episcopal Church of Montezuma, and he was active in both the Masons and the Lafayette Lodge, No. 25 A.F. & A.M.
William Wright’s children and those of his brother, John Burgess, had been raised more like brothers and sisters than cousins. William’s nephew, Bert, had left home in the summer of 1886 to see and experience the Wild West. Then one night in late Oct 1886, William’s brother, John, came into his house and told him he had just gotten a letter from a man in Texas saying Bert had been drowned on 15 Sep 1886 in the Canadian River within Indian Territory while herding cattle from Texas to Dodge City. William was almost as devastated as his brother. The brothers’ families were together in grieved together.
Montezuma built an electric generating plant in 1889, and late that year installed electric street lights, which was a wonderment to the residents including William’s family. For the very first time, night was no longer a time of uninterrupted darkness.
The 1890’s in Poweshiek Co., Iowa
Grover Cleveland was elected the 22nd President of the United States in the fall of 1892, being the first member of the Democratic Party to achieve that high office since Andrew Jackson’s election in 1828. While it cannot be know for sure, it is believed that William family was elated. Southerners and family with southern roots would vote uniformly for Democratic Candidates for almost a hundred years following the end of the Civil War.
The Great Northern (GN) Railroad would, in good time, play an important part in the history of the of the Iowa Forcum families. It was built progressively in states from Saint Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington, where its last spike was driven on 6 Jan 1893. Its route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad in America, and unlike its predecessor routes no federal land grants were used in its construction, having been the only such rail line of its time privately built. The GN opened up unprecedented amounts of land for settlement across the states of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Washington. In 1904, this railway would re-locate its division point to Whitefish, Flathead Co., MT (from Kalispell, Flathead Co., MT) to save money, and be strategically poised to make a lot more money.
The night of 7 Feb 1899, William learned from his brother that their father Nelson Forcum, age 89, had passed away in Turnersburg, Iredell Co., NC. John Burgess boarded the train the next day to attend the funeral, but his brother could not attend.
Entering the 20th Century
It was on 1 Jun 1900, that the Census enumerator arrived at William Wright Forcum’s farm. Mr. Frank Beckeky, the Census taker, recorded that William was age 62 and his wife was age 57, while annotating they had been married in 1861. Jane was listed as having borne 11 children, with 8 still living [they actually had thirteen children in all]. Of course the family was still living in Jackson Twp., Poweshiek Co., IA and William’s occupation remained “farmer.” Six of their children still lived at home. Interestingly, their daughters Olivia "Ollie" E Forcum and Laura Dorcas Forcum had “teacher” noted as their occupation, while sons John W. N. Forcum and Ray A. Forcum’s occupations were shown as “farm laborer” and presumably worked on their father’s farm. The two youngest children in the family, Ward Eugene Forcum and Harlan Arthur Forcum, had “At School” listed in the occupation column.
William’s brother, John Burgess, had moved to Sheldon, O'Brien Co., IA, just a few months before, and he was heartily missed.
Jane Rebecca Ward, William Wright Forcum’s wife of 41 years passed away of unknown causes on 07 Dec 1902, at the age of 60 year, 3 months and 24 days. Jane Ward Forcum was loving laid to rest in the I. O. O. F & M Cemetery, Montezuma, Poweshiek Co., IA.
His niece wrote, “…we all called him Uncle Wright, and he loved being around his great nieces and nephews who loved to hear him tell his long stories. Well after 1908, when he was over 70, he loved spending his winters in his native Iredell Co., NC with his Stroud relatives and other friends. He had a goatee and very white false teeth and just seemed full of fun all the time.”
William Wright’s son, Ray A. Forcum, who had been born 12 Jul 1882, moved to Montana, married Jessie Hall in Holt, Flathead Co., MT on 09 Jul 1905, and by the end of that decade had worked himself up to being a “Locomotive Fireman” with the Great Northern Railway. Previously, Ray’s 1st cousin Peck [Preston "Peck" Lewis Forcum] had married and moved to Flathead Co., MT and was working for the same railroad there. It is said that Ray and Peck were as close as brothers.
As the 1910 Census was taken on 19 Apr of that year. William Wright Forcum, listed as age 72, was living on Kalispell Ave., Whitefish City, Flathead Co., MT, a railroad town. Now retired, he is residing with his son Ray A. Forcum, Ray’s wife and their two infant children. Ray A. Forcum was an up and coming locomotive engineer with the Great Western Railroad Co.
Seven months later, on 30 Nov 1910, a railroad employee came to tell William his young son Ray, age 30, was dead. Soon the “Whitefish Pilot” newspaper reported in part, “He [Ray A. Forcum] died on a Wednesday while on a hunting trip with Thomas Shields and Mr. Underwood. They had gone into the mountains about 16 miles southeast of Java. He stopped to rest in the evening and died of an apparent heart attack brought on by the high altitude. The Governor's wife is quoted as saying that Ray was a particularly handsome man. A special train conveyed the remains and a large number of engineers, firemen, and other railroadmen to Kalispell, where he was buried. Ray was one of the best engineers on the road and was one of the first to pull the FastMail when that service was put on." It was left to William Wright to console his young widowed daughter-in-law and two small grandchildren.
Still living with his daughter-in-law, Jessie, and caring for his grandchildren on 28 Jul 1913, the word began to spread through the railroad town of Whitefish that there had been yet another train wreck. Soon he learned his nephew Peck (Preston "Peck" Lewis Forcum), son of his brother John Burgess, had been killed. The “Whitefish Pilot,” dated 31 Jul 1913, read in part, “TWO MEN MEET DEATH IN WRECK OF FAST MAIL, Engineer P. L. Forcum and Fireman Carl Smith Are Victims of the Disaster. This little city was shocked and saddened last Monday by the report of the wreck of No. 27, the fast mail, a short distance east of here, near Rock Hill, at about 11:30 a.m., when two of our well known citizens met a tragic death. The victims of the disaster were Engineer P. L. Forcum and Fireman Carl Smith. The engine turned over and one of the express cars piled up on top of it, burying the engineer and fireman beneath the wreckage…The body of Engineer Forcum was not recovered until some hours later when it was found under the engine trucks quite a distance from the track. His limbs were broken and body badly bruised. Death was undoubtedly instantaneous…The cause of this terrible accident has not been learned, but it is thought by some to have been a defective flange on the wheel of one of the coaches, but nothing positive has been ascertained… The remains of the victims were brought here Monday evening and placed in the morgue…Mr. Forcum has been a resident of Whitefish almost since the town was founded, has served on the city council and at the time of his death, was a member of the school board. He was a member of the Knight Templars, the A. F. & A. M., and the B. of L. F. & E. He leaves a sorrowing wife, a young son and baby daughter, besides a host of friends, to mourn his untimely death…Short funeral services will be held at the late residence of the deceased at noon today under the auspices of the Masonic order, Rev. Phelps officiating, after which they will take a special funeral train, kindly furnished by Supt. J. C. Sesser, and will go to Kalispell where they will be met by the Knights Templars of that city and funeral ceremonies held in the Masonic Temple. Three members from the engineers order and three of his personal friends will act as pall bearers, and interment will take place in the Conrad cemetery. Mrs. [Martha] Forcum, mother of the deceased, arrived last evening from Chico, Cal., and a brother, E. D. Forcum, of St. Joe Mo., and relatives of Mrs. Forcum from Duluth, Minn., and other eastern points, arrived yesterday to be in attendance at the last sad rites and assist in comforting those who are left to mourn. Many beautiful floral tributes were presented by the railway orders to grace the caskets of the unfortunates, as emblems of the high esteem in which both were held by the big hearted railroad boys, as well as others. Several handsome floral pieces were presented by personal friends."
After sending a telegram to his brother, John Burges Forcum, was left to console the wife of his nephew. As noted, prior to the funeral, his sister-in-law (Peck’s mother) Martha Forcum, along with his nephew Eugene Durant Forcum arrived in town. With the other out-of-towners, the house was full of mourners.
When the next Census rolled around on 9 Jan 1920, William, now listed as age 81, was living with his daughter Laura Ann and her husband Frank Alvin Butler in the Montezuma, the County Seat of Poweshiek Co., IA.
Finalizing a long life
William Wright Forcum turned 83 on 4 Feb 1921, and was now living in a house on Main St. in the city of Adel, Dallas Co., IA , with another daughter Isabella "Belle" Sara Forcum, who had married Carlen S. Bonnewell. William had lived a long, full, loving life. When he was born his country was only 62 years old. He had fought in the largest war waged on the American continent, and lived through three others (Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, and World War I). When born, his main mode of transport was walking, but in 1921 train tracks crisscrossed America like a spider webs; occasionally one would see an airplane in the sky, and those newfangled automobiles sometimes passed him by on the way to the electric Interurban tracks that connected the cities of the Midwest. He was born into a strictly agrarian world and now his America was an industrial powerhouse. Via the telephone, he could talk to neighbors and friends in a way inconceivable in 1838. His food now came from something called the “grocery store” rather than from the “back 40”. When born, only white men who owned property could vote, and by 1921 universal suffrage prevailed, with women having earned the right to vote only a year before. Yes, much had changed!
On 6 Jan 1922, William passed away in the city of Adel, IA at the age of 83 years, 11 months and 2 days, surrounded by those he loved in his daughter Isabella’s house. Large funeral services were held at the Methodist Church in Montezuma, IA , and he was laid to rest next to his beloved wife, Jane, in the I.O.O.F & M Cemetery, Montezuma, IA. His gravestone notes his service in the Confederate States Army.
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