Charles Edward Forbes (August 25, 1795 – February 13, 1881) was a justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

in 1848. He was appointed by Governor

George N. Briggs George Nixon Briggs (April 12, 1796 – September 12, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. A Whig, Briggs served for twelve years in the United States House of Representatives, and served seven one-year terms as the 1 ...

. Born in

West Bridgewater, Massachusetts West Bridgewater is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,707 at the 2020 census. History West Bridgewater was first settled in 1651 as a part of Olde Bridgewater. The town ...

, Forbes graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1815. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1818. He was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1848, and resigned a year later. Forbes was a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

and Master of the Lodge in 1819 and 1822. He served as a trustee of the Northampton Insane asylum. He died in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

on February 13, 1881. In his will, he bequeathed $220,000 to the town of Northampton for construction, maintenance, and supply of a public library, with the condition that "no minister of religion is to have anything to do with the management of the institution".The will of Judge Charles E. Forbes
, ''

Boston Evening Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. Beginnings ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James Wentworth of the firm of D ...

'' (February 17, 1881), p. 2.

References

1795 births 1881 deaths People from Plymouth, Massachusetts Brown University alumni Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court {{Massachusetts-state-judge-stub