James Harvey Forney was born on a cotton plantation in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on December 29, 1851. After graduating from Wofford College in 1872 he moved to California. While employed as a teacher, he also took courses in law and was admitted to the bar in 1879.

Looking for a mining region in which to set up practice, he moved to Mount Idaho, now called Grangeville, where he was selected territorial prosecuting attorney. When Idaho became a state he was elected district attorney for the Second Judicial District. His seventeen years as territorial and state attorney equipped him for the position of U.S. District Attorney, a position he held for four years, having been appointed by President Grover Cleveland.

In 1881 he returned briefly to California to marry Mary E. Belknap of Santa Barbara. They made their home in Mount Idaho until 1891 when they moved to Moscow.

With the erection of the first building on the University of Idaho campus, the board of regents named Forney "provisional" president of the university to "formulate a curriculum and to secure professors for the chairs of learning." Forney served on the board of regents from 1891-1893 and from 1897-1899; he also served as chairman of the board. The University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1921.

On July 3, 1937, James Forney died of a heart attack at the age of 85.

Mary Emma (Belknap) Forney was born in Oregon to the Rev. Corrington and Anne Yorke Belknap. Her parents moved the family to California where she was educated in the public schools, graduating from the College of the Pacific with both AB and BS degrees.

In September of 1881 she married James H. Forney in Santa Barbara, California. She returned with him to his home in Mount Idaho, Idaho Territory.

In 1891 the Forneys moved with their two daughters to Moscow, where Mary Forney took an active role in the social life of the town. She was a prominent state club leader, aiding in the organization of the State Federation of Women's Clubs, holding several offices in that organization, including that of president. She was a member of the Pleiades and Historical Clubs. She also conducted the correspondence with Andrew Carnegie which obtained for Moscow the present public library building.

The Forneys were very interested in the University of Idaho and Mary was instrumental in setting up a student loan fund, a fund she continued to manage until her death. Several years before her death the new women's dormitory was named for her.

On August 5, 1927 Mary Forney died at her Moscow home at the age of 72.