Representative Joseph Fornance

Joseph Fornance (October 18, 1804 – November 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served two terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1839 to 1843. He was born in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, in what would become part of the rapidly developing region outside Philadelphia. Details of his early family life are sparse in the historical record, but his subsequent career reflects the opportunities available to a rising professional in early nineteenth-century Pennsylvania.

Fornance pursued legal studies as a young man and prepared for admission to the bar in the context of a growing legal profession in the Commonwealth. He studied law through the customary apprenticeship system of the period and was admitted to the bar in 1832. Following his admission, he commenced the practice of law in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the seat of Montgomery County, where he quickly became identified with local civic and political affairs.

Alongside his legal practice, Fornance became active in municipal government in Norristown. He served as president of the council of the Borough of Norristown, a position that placed him at the center of local governance during a time of expanding infrastructure and urban development in the borough. His effectiveness in local office contributed to his emergence as a Democratic leader in the region and helped pave the way for his entry into state-level politics.

In 1834, Fornance was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. His service in the state legislature coincided with a period of significant political realignment and debate over banking, internal improvements, and the role of state government in economic development. As a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House, he participated in shaping state policy during these formative years, gaining legislative experience that would later inform his work in the national Congress.

Fornance was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1843. Representing Pennsylvania as a member of the Democratic Party, he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history marked by the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison and the early administration of John Tyler. During his two terms in office, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents in Pennsylvania at a time of national debate over economic policy, territorial expansion, and party organization. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1842, choosing to conclude his congressional service after his second term.

After leaving Congress, Fornance resumed the practice of law in Norristown, returning to the profession that had first established his public standing. He remained a figure of local influence and continued to be involved in matters of public concern. Among his notable acts was his nomination of Winfield Scott Hancock, a young Pennsylvanian who would later become a major general in the Union Army during the Civil War and the Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 1880, for appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. This nomination reflected both Fornance’s ongoing engagement with public service and his role in fostering the careers of promising young men from his region.

Joseph Fornance died in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on November 24, 1852. He was interred in Montgomery Cemetery in West Norriton Township, Pennsylvania, near Norristown. His career, spanning local, state, and national office, exemplified the trajectory of a nineteenth-century Democratic politician who rose from borough leadership to the halls of Congress while maintaining close ties to the community in which he lived and practiced law.