Page:Woman of the Century.djvu/301

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FORD.
FORNEY.

to Percival Boys Ford, of London, who traveled with her family to Omaha, where they were married in 1890. During her last lone sojourn in Europe she was special correspondent of the Omaha "Bee." She has since written a good deal in the way of critiques, reminiscences and special articles. Sirs. Ford uses her voice in a public way only for the benefit of charity or some public enterprise.


FORNEY, Miss Tillie May, author and journalist, born in Washington, D. C, in 1861. She is the youngest child of the eminent journalist, John W. Forney, founder and editor of the Philadelphia "Press," a man who wielded an acknowledged great political and social influence. TILLIE MAY FORNEY. This daughter, having inherited many of her distinguished father's tastes and ambitions, became his almost constant companion after leaving Miss Carr's celebrated academy on the Old- York-Road, Pa. She had written for publication from early girlhood, and she then took up the task systematically and wrote regularly for prominent journals, besides acting frequently as her father's amanuensis, both in this country and in Europe. Under his experienced eye she received careful training for the work she preferred above all others. No accomplishment suitable to her sex was neglected in her education. She possesses a voice of unusual range and sweetness, and at that period it was her teacher's wish that all her interest should be centered on her musical talent, but it seemed impossible for her to drop her pen. She grows fonder of her literary duties every year, and is a constant contributor to New York, Philadelphia and western dailies, besides writing regularly for several well-known magazines. She resides with her widowed mother in the old family residence, on South Washington Square, Philadelphia. She has been reared in a home of luxury, «id the Forney library is one of the finest in Philadelphia. Mrs. John W. Forney is an accomplished lady of the old school, and she and her daughter are both social favorites, although each has aims and ta^ks that are preferred to those of fashionable life. Mrs. Forney's progress in literature, though rapid, is evidently but the promise of what she is yet to accomplish.


FOSTER, Mrs. J. Ellen Horton, temperance worker and lawyer, born in Lowell, Mass., J. ELLEN FOSTER. 3rd November, 1840. She is a daughter of Rev. Jotham Horton, a Methodist preacher. She was educated in Lima, N. Y., and removed to Clinton, La., where, in 1869, she became the wife of E. C. Foster, a lawyer. Mrs. Foster studied law and was. admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Iowa in 1872. She was the first woman to practice before that court. At first she practiced alone, but she afterwards formed a partnership with her husband. She followed the legal profession for a number of years. She is widely known as " The Iowa Lawyer." In religion she is a Methodist She joined the temperance workers when the crusade opened, and soon became prominent as a worker. Her home in Clinton was burned, presumably by the enemies of temperance. As a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union she was able to give most valuable service as superintendent of the legislative department. Her knowledge of law enabled her to direct wisely all the movement for the adoption of constitutional amendments in the various States, aimed to secure the prohibition of the sale and manufacture of alcoholic liquors. She has written a pamphlet on the legal bearings of the question. She has been exceedingly popular and successful as a lecturer. She is a pronounced suffragist, and she maintains that no organization has the right to pledge the influence of its members to any other organization for any purpose. Her views naturally led her to affiliate with the Non-Partisan League, and she