Hello Everyone, A Fortner cousin (Greene CoTN>GA) recently put me in touch with a Missouri Fortner cousin who just sent me a passle of information that I thought would be of interest to all of you with ties to the Fortners. INcluded are copies of the family pages of James Fortner (s/o Jacob and Elizabeth Chambers) and Lydia Cotter's bible and a loose page of Lydia's siblings birthdates. (FYI, the bible rests in safe keeping with those California Fortner cousins that I always use as an example of "don't just think because they moved 40 years later they aren't your first cousins. She is Doris Fortner Zech, whose mother was William L. Newkirk who married Ann Mary Bell MARSH). The cousinwho sent me the information in question is Richard Holmes (parents Albert HOLMES and Mary MERRICK), a descendant of James and Lydia "Lydy"'s son Monroe Fortner. Even though our common Fortner ancestor is Jacob and Elizabeth (making us FOURTH cousins..unless his Merricks pan out to be from Milton D. MERRICK and Mary Casselia Choate), Richard grew up on the close farm in Dade Co to my mother's Charles Sexton & Lucy Marsh. My grandparents were sort of like second parents to him. (And he has also relayed some tales of some of my mother's semi-teenage delinquent activities!) The most interesting document, however, is a short "Biography and History" of the Fortner Family, which I will include in whole below. Based on the information provided it was written sometime between 1937 and 1947 based on death dates I have from Vicki Peterson (ie, after Samuel below died but before Wesley did). It is written by one of Elizabeth & Jacob's grandchildren of Greene Co TN...and it was written well enough after the fact that there are any number of omissions. Like other letters of its ilk the Fortner biography has enough omissions of children who died young, etc., to suggest that there could be others left out (ie, the Bible records for James Fortner and Lydia Cotter showed they had 16 children, but only 9 lived to any significant age and are mentioned in most accounts). It also says that my Betsy Ann (MINE..I'm not James andLydia) was the next oldest, and Greene Co TN census records don't bear that out. Order should be James, then Wm, then Elizabeth (Betsy Ann) AND, the thing that I liked the most was this statement is that it suggests how our Greene Co TN Fortner progenitor couple were known affectionately. (The unknown writer knows about Jacob and "a Chambers" and questions whether Jacob is the only child born to the union). He says of Jacob's parents "And the only names we ever heard was Shugar and Honey"...Isn't that wonderful!! Honey would be Priscilla Robinson/Robertson. The "h" is in Shugar's name. It also says that they came to East Tennessee from "South Carolina". This is the third such letter I have written at about the same time period purely for future genealogy purposes, where the folks in question came from North Carolina to TN in the early 1800s, but the author says South Carolina. Written by Sarah Elizabeth Tennessee "Tennie" Gay Hill, my g grandmother, one such letter with the spurious South Carolina background says I also descended from John Gay the poet, who was childless. The Fortner letter could be also infuriating because it never mentions Jacob's name or Elizabeth Chamber's names (James and Lydia's parents. He is Gran Father and she is "a Chambers". The Fortner letter also uses nicknames, which I also really like. I did not know that my gg grandmother Elizabeth A. Fortner, was known as "Betsy Ann". Pleasant is "Pless". Thomas A. is Alex. If any of you would like to have mailed copies (of copies) of the document below, two later summaries of it, or the Fortner and Cotter Bible information, please send me your address. I will try to transcribe the Bible information shortly, and post to the appropriate places. This is an exact transcription, with only the arbitrary insertion of paragraphs to make it more readable. <begin document> Biography And History of the Fortner Family and is authentic as far back as the writer has any knowledge Our Grait Grand Parrents emigrated from South Carolina to East Tennessee in a early day and your writer has no Knowledge or any way to secure and knowledge about them. Grait-Grand Father was of some unknown nationality and the only names we ever heard was Shugar and Honey. We do not no whether there was but one borned to this union or not. Gran Father married a Chambers And to this union was Borned Eight children. Five boys and three girls. The Boys was William, Jacob Lee, Plesant, James and John. girls Betsyan, Aley, Martha. All Eight of theas ar Dead. Williams first marriage was Peggy Hope. To this union was bornd two children George and William his Second woman Sarah Williams had one child Hatty. Brown of Greenville Tenn. And at this date is Still living but the other two have past away. BetsyAnn being the next oldest child married Thomas Marchell to this union was bornd Four children. Ruth, Martha, Mary, and Alex. All four of those ar past away. James married Lidy Cotter and to this union was bornd nine children Jacob, John, Monroe, William, James, Samuel, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary. All Nine of those has past away. Jacob Lee married a Sarah Vaughn to this union was bornd four children three boysand one girl. David, Robert, Wesley and Rachel. Wesley being the only one living at this date. Pless married Jane Thompson and to this union was borned seven children. Molly, Bill, Loney, John, Lizie, Maggie, Sebran. John married Mary Gaught and to this union was borned six children Charley, Minnie, Martha, Debby, William, Lizzie Aley and Martha never married. <end document> Note that I show two more daughters, Mary and Harriet, from the 1850 Greene Co TN census. And son Leander Levi is "Lee" living with his wife,. Mary Glass' family. Of the above married children four, or their descendants are buried in either Dade or Lawrence Co TN. We aren't sure when they came. James and Lydia came in the 1850s. Elizabeth Fortner Marshell is thought to have come in the 1880s with her daughter Ruth Marshall, husband Joseph A. Sexton; possibly Jacob Lee, but at the least his son Wesley; Pleasant, wife Margaret and family. My best, Janet Hunter