For years now, Nathan Fortner has been a roadblock. I have been unable to find any information on his parents or his siblings. The History of Chickasaw County, Vol. I tells us that Nathan was born 1770-1775 in Edgefield, South Carolina. The 1850 Chickasaw county, MS census says he was born in 1770 in South Carolina.

There has been some speculation that Fortner was his adopted name because he was full-blooded Cherokee or Delaware or Choctaw. There is no proof that he was Native American, however, Edgefield county was originally owned by the Cherokee before the white man moved into the area about 1655.

There is some speculation that his parents came from Wales and may have been indentured servants, but again, there is no proof. Those who think William and Angeline were his parents also believe that his brothers were Job, Matthew and Andrew. Again, no proof and no information about Job, Matthew and Andrew, such as birth and death dates, wives, children, residence, etc. They also show that Nathan is living in Anson county, North Carolina in 1790. The Nathan in Anson county, NC in 1790 is much older than our Nathan.

I am determined to find Nathan's parents. I recently read that if you aren't finding what you are looking for then you're not looking in the right place. That makes sense to me, so I have begun to look to other sources for Nathan and his parents. I have started with immigrants to the USA from any country. Prior to England recognizing our independence in 1783, people coming from England were not immigrants, they were merely citizens of Great Britian moving to another part of Great Britian. However, there are some records, i.e. records of prisoners or indentured servants who had a court order to go to the colonies. Some Faulkner/Falkner/Fortner/Forkner came from Germany. I have also turned to the books written by Mona Forkner Paulas. I have requested a book by Louise Moore Sims by interlibrary loan.

I appreciate hearing from anyone who has information about Nathan Fortner from South Carolina.