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In 1908, Fort and later Mayor J. Frank Colbert managed the successful gubernatorial campaign in Webster Parish of Jared Young Sanders Sr., of St. Mary Parish in south Louisiana. Governor Sanders named Fort as the conservation agent for northwestern Louisiana. Sanders left office in 1912, and Fort returned to the Minden City Council for another eight years. In 1914, Fort joined Colbert in the newspaper business in Minden. During Fort's second council stint, he pushed for the paving of the main business district of Minden.<ref name=fortdeath>"Connell Fort Dies Saturday Night at His Residence Here: Was Great Civic Worker and Builder of This City," ''The Webster Signal-Tribune'', March 5, 1937, pp. 1, 6.</ref>

In 1908, Fort and later Mayor J. Frank Colbert managed the successful gubernatorial campaign in Webster Parish of Jared Young Sanders Sr., of St. Mary Parish in south Louisiana. Governor Sanders named Fort as the conservation agent for northwestern Louisiana. Sanders left office in 1912, and Fort returned to the Minden City Council for another eight years. In 1914, Fort joined Colbert in the newspaper business in Minden. During Fort's second council stint, he pushed for the paving of the main business district of Minden.<ref name=fortdeath>"Connell Fort Dies Saturday Night at His Residence Here: Was Great Civic Worker and Builder of This City," ''The Webster Signal-Tribune'', March 5, 1937, pp. 1, 6.</ref>

During the first term of Mayor [[W. Matt Lowe]], councilman Fort supported the purchase of the municipal generating station after a fire in 1917 swept through the Minden Lumber Company and the former Minden Electric Light and Power Company, the previous owner of the station.<ref>Marilyn Miller, ''Sons of Darkness Sons of Light'' (Many, [[Louisiana]]: Sweet Dreams Publishing Co., 2000), p. 177, ISBN:1-893693-09-0}}</ref> Minden is one of a limited number of municipalities in Louisiana in which residences and businesses still purchase their electricity from the city, with profits diverted to finance some of the costs of government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dnr.louisiana.gov/sec/execdiv/techasmt/electricity/electric_vol1_1994/005.htm|title=Government-Owned electric Utilities: Municipal Power Authorities and Electric Utilities54|publisher=dnr.louisiana.gov|accessdate=May 28, 2011}}</ref>

During the first term of Mayor [[W. Matt Lowe]], councilman Fort supported the purchase of the municipal generating station after a fire in 1917 swept through the Minden Lumber Company and the former Minden Electric Light and Power Company, the previous owner of the station.<ref>Marilyn Miller, ''Sons of Darkness Sons of Light'' (Many, [[Louisiana]]: Sweet Dreams Publishing Co., 2000), p. 177, ISBN:1-893693-09-0</ref> Minden is one of a limited number of municipalities in Louisiana in which residences and businesses still purchase their electricity from the city, with profits diverted to finance some of the costs of government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dnr.louisiana.gov/sec/execdiv/techasmt/electricity/electric_vol1_1994/005.htm|title=Government-Owned electric Utilities: Municipal Power Authorities and Electric Utilities54|publisher=dnr.louisiana.gov|accessdate=May 28, 2011}}</ref>

In 1922, Fort was elected to the first of his two consecutive two-year terms as mayor to succeed Mayor J. Berry Sandefur. Mayor Fort worked to bring to Minden the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway shop facility from its former location in Stamps in southwestern [[Arkansas]]. The city paved ten miles in concrete, and efforts were made to rid Minden of [[mosquito]]es.<ref name=fortdeath/> [[Natural gas]] lines were laid. A bond issue financed the establishment of the city sewerage system. Modern fire-fighting equipment was also purchased during Fort's tenure.<ref name=fortdeath/>

In 1922, Fort was elected to the first of his two consecutive two-year terms as mayor to succeed Mayor J. Berry Sandefur. Mayor Fort worked to bring to Minden the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway shop facility from its former location in Stamps in southwestern [[Arkansas]]. The city paved ten miles in concrete, and efforts were made to rid Minden of [[mosquito]]es.<ref name=fortdeath/> [[Natural gas]] lines were laid. A bond issue financed the establishment of the city sewerage system. Modern fire-fighting equipment was also purchased during Fort's tenure.<ref name=fortdeath/>

In the first primary election held on April 10, 1934, Fort was eliminated from his bid for a fourth nonconsecutive term as mayor.<ref>''Minden Herald'', April 13, 1934, p. 1</ref> Instead, former Mayor Henry L. Bridges was placed into a runoff election on May 15, 1934, against [[David William Thomas]], a former university professor, journalist, and a native of [[Wales]]. In the election, Bridges handily defeated Thomas, 624 to 377.<ref>''Minden Herald'', May 18, 1934, p. 1.</ref> Thomas rebounded in 1936 to win the first of his two terms as mayor. Fort never again held office; his defeat was attributed to fallout from the shooting death of Brisco Nation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g_t0BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=Tom+Colten&source=bl&ots=frCU6aVj_E&sig=qa4-IvKaTIzj9BGXTKwRhweGBc0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vTP-VNTKObO1sAS37YHYDg&ved=0CF0Q6AEwDg#v=onepage&q=Tom%20Colten&f=false|title=Lost Minden|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Company|location=[[Columbia, South Carolina]]|author=John A. Agan|pages=113|date=2014|isbn=978-1-4671-1319-9|accessdate=March 9, 2015}}</ref>

In the first primary election held on April 10, 1934, Fort was eliminated from his bid for a fourth nonconsecutive term as mayor.<ref>''Minden Herald'', April 13, 1934, p. 1</ref> Instead, former Mayor Henry L. Bridges was placed into a runoff election on May 15, 1934, against [[David William Thomas]], a former university professor, journalist, and a native of [[Wales]]. In the election, Bridges handily defeated Thomas, 624 to 377.<ref>''Minden Herald'', May 18, 1934, p. 1.</ref> Thomas rebounded in 1936 to win the first of his two terms as mayor. Fort never again held office; his defeat was attributed to fallout from the shooting death of Brisco Nation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g_t0BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=Tom+Colten&source=bl&ots=frCU6aVj_E&sig=qa4-IvKaTIzj9BGXTKwRhweGBc0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vTP-VNTKObO1sAS37YHYDg&ved=0CF0Q6AEwDg#v=onepage&q=Tom%20Colten&f=false|title=Lost Minden|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Company|location=[[Columbia, South Carolina]]|author=John A. Agan|pages=113|date=2014|isbn=978-1-4671-1319-9|accessdate=March 9, 2015}}</ref>

Fort was a [[Methodist]]. Upon his death, Fort was interred in the old section of the Minden Cemetery in the Miles plot, where his first wife's family is buried. In addition to his second wife and children from both marriages, Fort was survived by two brothers, Walton Fort (1857–1940) of Minden,<ref name=homes/> a member of the Webster Parish Police Jury from 1932 to 1936, preceding W. Matt Lowe,<ref>''Respect for the Past; Confidence in the Future: Webster Parish Centennial, 1871-1971'', Webster Parish Police Jury, 1971, p. 14.</ref> and Moses Fort of [[Louisville]], [[Kentucky]]. Pallbearers included his business colleague and later mayor, J. Frank Colbert, and Judge Harmon Caldwell Drew.<ref name=fortdeath/> who was subsequently unseated three years later in 1940 by then District Attorney Robert F. Kennon,, prior to Kennon's tenure as mayor.

Fort was a [[Methodist]]. Upon his death, Fort was interred in the old section of the Minden Cemetery in the Miles plot, where his first wife's family is buried. In addition to his second wife and children from both marriages, Fort was survived by two brothers, Walton Fort (1857–1940) of Minden,<ref name=homes/> a member of the Webster Parish Police Jury from 1932 to 1936, preceding W. Matt Lowe,<ref>''Respect for the Past; Confidence in the Future: Webster Parish Centennial, 1871-1971'', Webster Parish Police Jury, 1971, p. 14.</ref> and Moses Fort of [[Louisville]], [[Kentucky]]. Pallbearers included his business colleague and later mayor, J. Frank Colbert, and Judge Harmon Caldwell Drew.<ref name=fortdeath/> who was subsequently unseated three years later in 1940 by then District Attorney Robert F. Kennon, prior to Kennon's tenure as mayor.

==References==

==References==