RICHARD TORREY FORMAN

 The following bio was taken from page 202 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

 Richard Torrey Forman was born in Fayette, Mississippi, December 20, 1885, son of Dent Forman and Effie Torrey Forman.  Richard came to Henderson at eleven years of age.  His first job was with M. Angora and Brother.  Twelve years later Richard and W. Z. Reed operated a “gents” store for a number of years.  When E. B. Alford, Sr. retired, he selected Forman and Reed to take over his business, where a wide variety of business was handled, such as dry goods, groceries, general merchandise, and oil holdings.  Later Mr. Forman operated an electrical business with Ted L. Hudson, after which he became active vice-president of the Henderson Oil Mill and Fertilizer Works and a director of the Henderson Compress, two of Henderson’s most important industries at that time. 

On July 15, 1920, Richard Forman married Adah Tate.  Adah Tate was born September 19, 1894 at Crims Chapel, Rusk County.  Her parents, James D. Tate, born October 25, 1856 in Lowndesville, South Carolina and Ora L. Spoon Tate, born October 11, 1866, in Anderson County, South Carolina.  James D. Tate and Ora L. Spoon were married November 7, 1887 and came to Crims Chapel.  James died November 23, 1936 at Henderson, and Ora died May 16, 1935.  Both are buried at Crims Chapel. 

Richard Torrey Forman and Adah Tate Forman had three children:  Lura Maxine Forman, born November 11, 1921; Richard Tate Forman, born April 4, 1924, who died October 24, 1969; James Torrey Forman, born August 5, 1930, who married Kay Lowery Forman, April 30, 1955.  The couple had two sons, Richard Oran, born March 15, 1956, and Bryan Torrey, born March 5, 1962. 

Adah Tate Forman’s parents, James D. and Ora L. Spoon Tate, moved to Rusk County in 1892.  Ora Spoon’s family came from Germany and Holland, and James D. Tate’s family came from England and Ireland.  The couple moved from Crims Chapel to Henderson in 1918 to their home, which is now West Main Baptist Church.  They had eleven children:  Pearl Mozell, who married J. C. Anderson; Wayman Wallace, who married Stacie ?; Furman O’Neal, who married Connie Gothard; Prue Milford, who married Ethel Gladys Pool; Otis Lee, who died at the age of six years; Adah, who married Richard Torrey Forman; Duane, who married Juanita ?; Floyd Wilton, who married Coreen Hawkins; Annie Katherine, who married Dewey Williams; Lucia, who married John Baker; and Sallie May, who married Otis Dunklin. 

Richard Torrey Forman’s father, George Dent Forman, the son of Richard Howell Forman and Emily A. Batchelor, was born December 29, 1861 in Rodney, Mississippi.  He graduated from the University of Mississippi at Oxford, returned to Rodney to become a bookkeeper, and later entered the mercantile business.  At Fayette, Mississippi, he married Effie Torrey, in December 1884, the daughter of George Torrey.  She was born in July 1861 and graduated from Female Fayette Academy.  Effie died September 14, 1895, and her husband died February 26, 1921. 

George Dent Forman’s father, Richard Howell Forman, born February 19, 1833 in Jefferson County, Mississippi, was educated at Oakland College.  He married Emily A. Batchelor, December 6, 1860.  She was born June 24, 1839, daughter of John M. and Mary Batchelor, and died May 31, 1883.  His second wife was Nydia Dockery. 

Richard Howell Forman’s parents were Stephen and Keziah B. Howell Forman.  She was the daughter of William Burr Howell, fourth son of Richard Howell, who had been active before and during the American Revolution. 

Stephen Forman’s parents were Joseph Forman, Jr. and Amelia Gale.  Joseph, Jr. was born in 1743 in England.  The family lived in England, New Jersey, and Natchez, Mississippi when Mississippi was Spanish territory.  They are descended from the Gordon family, Lord George Gordon Byron. 

Submitted by Maxine Forman