John Rison Fordyce, oldest son of Samuel Wesley and Susan Chadick Fordyce, moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas with his family in 1876. He received his early education in the public schools of Hot Springs, and professional training at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., where he earned a master’s degree in mining engineering in 1892. He was involved in engineering projects until 1896, when he moved to Little Rock and began working for the Thomas-Fordyce Manufacturing Company, later known as the Arkansas Foundry. This large manufacturing concern, in which the Fordyce family had half interest, specialized in cotton gin machinery, but also manufactured sawmill, railway and general casting machines. While associated with the Thomas-Fordyce Manufacturing Company, John R. Fordyce invented a press for making round bales of cotton; a cotton feeder for extracting hulls, leaf trash and dirt; and modified the cotton gin in ways to increase the speed of ginning while decreasing energy requirements for the process.

In 1916, Fordyce was appointed a member of the Naval Consulting Board for the state of Arkansas. In 1917, he applied for, and received, a commission, at the rank of major, in the Engineers Reserve Corps of the U. S. Army. He was called into active service later in 1917 and assigned to Little Rock as the consulting engineer for construction of the Twelfth Divisional Cantonment, later named Camp Pike and now known as Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Afterward, Fordyce directed the building of the St. Louis clothing warehouse for the Quartermaster Corps and served as terminal engineer for the Mississippi Warrior Waterways from 1918-1919. He was discharged from active duty in 1919, but remained in the U. S. Army Reserve Corps and was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was also a brigadier general in the Arkansas National Guard.

Fordyce established “John R. Fordyce, Engineer, Inc.,” an engineering and contracting firm, and was appointed Consulting Engineer of the Interior Dept. for Hot Springs. He built, in Hot Springs, the Fordyce, the Quapaw, and the Lamar Bath Houses, the Arlington Hotel, and the Army-Navy Hospital. He was also associated with Harvey Crowley Couch in building Remmel Dam.

John R. Fordyce was a member of the following societies or associations: American Association of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Terminal Engineers, American Railway Engineers Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, Society of American Military Engineers, Loyal Legion, American Legion, and the Masons.

Fordyce married Lillian Augusta Powell in 1898. Their four children were Sam Wesley III, Clifton Powell, John Rison, Jr., and Edward Winfield.