Joseph W. Fordney

Fordney was born on a farm near Hartford City, Indiana where he attended the common schools. He moved to Saginaw, Michigan in June 1869 and engaged in the lumber industry. Afterward became the owner of extensive lumber enterprises and the vice president of the Saginaw Board of Trade. He was also a member of the Saginaw Board of Aldermen from 1896 to 1900.

In November 1898, Fordney defeated incumbent Democrat Ferdinand Brucker to be elected as a Republican from Michigan's 8th congressional district to the 56th United States Congress. He was subsequently re-elected to the eleven succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1899 to March 3, 1923. Fordney served as the chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy in the 59th Congress; and of the Committee on Ways and Means in the 66th and 67th Congresses. He co-sponsored the 1922 Fordney–McCumber Tariff. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1922. He was also a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1908, 1924, and 1928.

After leaving Congress, Fordney returned to the lumber business in Saginaw and was also interested in banking and agricultural pursuits. He died in Saginaw and is interred there in St. Andrew’s Cemetery.

• Russell, John A. Joseph Warren Fordney: An American Legislator. Boston: The Stratford Co., 1928.

• United States Congress. "Joseph W. Fordney (id: F000271)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Political Graveyard

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