Biography of Fred B. Fornshell

FRED B. FORNSHELL. Now editor and manager of the Elwood Call- Leader, Mr. Fornshell is a young and enterprising newspaper man, and has proved himself a worthy successor of his father in the work of building up and conducting a first-class newspaper. He was born at Van Wert, Ohio, March 14, 1885, and is the only son and child of Elmer E. and Emma (Conover) Fornshell.

His father, who was reared and educated at Camden, Ohio, first learned the tinner’s trade under his father, and followed that occupation for twenty-five years, He then entered the field of journalism, being associated with the two leading Cincinnati papers for a time, and also had experience in Toledo, as society and local editor for the Toledo Commercial. That experience as a newspaper man in Toledo was enlivened and made profitable by association with Brand Whitlock, the versatile journalist, writer, publicist and present mayor of Toledo.

When gas was discovered at Elwood and this town began advancing as an industrial center, Mr. E. E. Fornshell came here in October, 1890, while Daniel G. Reid and William B. Leeds were organizing the American Tin Plate Company, the only plant of its kind in the United States at that time, These gentlemen induced Mr. Fornshell to establish a Republican newspaper in the town, and that was the beginning of the Elwood Leader, In 1895 it was consolidated with the Call and has since been known as the Elwood Call-Leader, He was the active manager of this paper for a number of years, until his appointment to the Elwood postoffice, and still retains a considerable share in the enterprise.

Mr. E. E. Fornshell is a communicant of the Universalist faith, while his wife is a Presbyterian, His parents. the grandparents of Mr. Fred B., were Benjamin and Amanda (Bennett) Fornshell, the former still living and engaged in the hardware business at Camden, Ohio, The paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Civil war, Of the three children Elmer E. was the oldest and the others are Glenn B. and Effie.

Mr. Fred B. Fornshell was about six years of age when the family moved to Elwood, so that this city has been his home nearly all of his conscious experience, As a boy he attended the common schools, and after leaving the high school he entered the great plant of the American Tin Plate Company, this subsequently becoming a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, He was a clerk in the tin plate plant for seven years, and then entered the Call-Leader office at the time of his father’s appointment as postmaster, He has since been connected with this paper, and as editor and manager and owner of a portion of the stock has given capable direction to the policy and the news value of the journal.

On the 16th of September, 1908, Mr. Fornshell married Miss Lola B. Callaway, daughter of John W. and Elizabeth (Cochran) Callaway. Mrs. Fornshell is a native of Elwood, where her parents were also born. Mr. John W. Callaway is a banker, farmer and stockman and one of the best known residents in this portion of Madison County, The three children now living in the Callaway family are Arthur B., Charles A., and Lola B. Mrs. Fornshell is a member of the Christian church, while her husband is a Presbyterian, He is affiliated with Quincy Lodge No, 230 A. F. & A. M. and with Elwood Lodge No, 368 of the Order of Elks, In politics he is a Republican.


Surnames:
Fornshell,

Topics:
Biography,

Locations:
Madison County IN,

Collection:
Forkner, John. History of Madison County, Indiana: a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests. Chicago: The Lewis publishing company, 1914.

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