John Murray Forbes (February 23, 1813 – October 12, 1898) was an American railroad

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

, philanthropist and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. He was president of both the

Michigan Central railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in ...

and the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

in the 1850s. He kept doing business with

Russell & Company Russell & Company () was the largest American trading house of the mid-19th century in China. The firm specialised in trading tea, silk and opium and was eventually involved in the shipping trade. Foundation In 1818, Samuel Russell was approached ...

Early life

Forbes was born on February 23, 1813, in Bordeaux, France. His father, Ralph Bennett Forbes, was a member of the Forbes family, descended from Scottish immigrants who attempted unsuccessfully to start a trade from Bordeaux. His mother, Margaret Perkins, was a member of the Boston Brahmin Perkins family merchant dynasty involved in the China trade. Among his siblings was older brother was Robert Bennet Forbes, sea captain and Old China Trade, China

.Smith, George Winston. "Broadsides for Freedom: Civil War Propaganda in New England." ''The New England Quarterly'', Vol. 21, No. 3. (Sep., 1948), pp. 291–312. His paternal uncle was John Murray Forbes (diplomat), John Murray Forbes, lawyer and diplomat, and his maternal uncle was merchant Thomas Handasyd Perkins. Among his cousins was the botanist Francis Blackwell Forbes. In 1814, his parents moved back to the Captain Robert Bennet Forbes House in Milton, Massachusetts. Forbes attended school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, then at Round Hill School in Northampton, Massachusetts, from 1823 to 1828.

Career

Forbes was one of three brothers sent by their uncle to Guangzhou, Canton, China, and achieved some financial success during a short time spent trading opium in Canton. However, unlike his brother Robert Bennet Forbes, Robert, who devoted himself to the China trade, Forbes returned to Boston and became an early railroad investor and landowner. As with Jay Gould and E. H. Harriman, Forbes was an important figure in the building of America's railroad system. From March 28, 1846, through 1855, he was president of Michigan Central Railroad, and he was a director and president of the

, he helped with the growth of the American Middle West. In addition, he founded J.M. Forbes & Co., an investment firm in Boston in 1838. In 1860, he was an elector for Abraham Lincoln. He served as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee during the administration of President Abraham Lincoln. Staunchly pro-Union, he is given credit for founding the New England Loyal Publication Society in early 1863 (Smith 1948). After the Civil War, Forbes was elected as a 3rd Class (honorary) Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Forbes was a delegate to the Republican conventions of 1876, 1880 and 1884, he eventually became displeased with the Republican party and worked successfully to get Democrat Grover Cleveland elected president.

Philanthropy

He supplied money and weapons to New Englanders to fight slavery in Kansas and in 1859 entertained John Brown (abolitionist), John Brown. Forbes's many philanthropic activities included the re-establishment of Milton Academy, a preparatory school south of Boston, Massachusetts in 1884.

Personal life

Forbes married Sarah Swain Hathaway (1813–1900). They resided in Milton, Massachusetts, and summered on Naushon Island in Dukes County, Massachusetts. They had two sons and four daughters: * Ellen Randolph Forbes (1838–1860). * Alice Hathaway Forbes (1838–1917), who married Edward Montague Cary (1828–1888) in 1875. * William Hathaway Forbes (1840–1897), who married Edith Emerson (1841–1929), the daughter of poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. William became the first president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and father of William Cameron Forbes. * Mary Hathaway Forbes (1844–1916), who married Henry S. Russell, Henry Sturgis Russell (1838–1905) in 1863. * John Malcolm Forbes (1847–1904), the yachtsman and Equestrianism, horseman who married Sarah Coffin Jones (1852–1891) in 1873. * Sarah Forbes (1853–1917), who married William Hastings Hughes (1833–1909) in 1887. Forbes died of pneumonia on October 12, 1898, in Milton, Massachusetts.

Descendants

His cousin Francis Blackwell Forbes (1839–1908) is the great-grandfather of 2004 U.S. United States Democratic Party, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, John Forbes Kerry. His 4x great-grandson is Jonathan Meath, a renowned Emmy award, Emmy award-winning television producer.

Legacy

In the September 1899 issue of ''Atlantic'' magazine, Edward Waldo Emerson (Ralph Waldo Emerson's son), published Forbes' biography. The Emerson and Forbes families were close as Forbes' son, William Hathaway Forbes, William, married Ralph's daughter, Edith Emerson. In ''Letters and Social Aims'', Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of Forbes:

"Never was such force, good meaning, good sense, good action, combined with such domestic lovely behavior, such modesty and persistent preference for others. Wherever he moved he was the benefactor... How little this man suspects, with his sympathy for men and his respect for lettered and scientific people, that he is not likely, in any company, to meet a man superior to himself," and "I think this is a good country that can bear such a creature as he."

The small community of Forbes, Missouri, is named for him.

References

External links

Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography: John Murray Forbes
*

'. Retrieved October 2, 2013. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, John Murray 1813 births 1898 deaths People from Milton, Massachusetts People from Dukes County, Massachusetts Phillips Academy alumni Businesspeople from Boston 19th-century American railroad executives Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad people Massachusetts Republicans Massachusetts Democrats American philanthropists Founders of schools in the United States American abolitionists American Unitarians American expatriates in France American expatriates in China Forbes family, John Murray People from Bordeaux