Background
He was a son of James and Sarah (Gordon) Forbes, was born in Scotland, probably in Aberdeenshire.
He was a son of James and Sarah (Gordon) Forbes, was born in Scotland, probably in Aberdeenshire.
Emigrating to America in his youth, he entered the employ of Panton, Leslie & Company, a trading firm operating on the Spanish-Indian frontier. William Panton, a Scottish Tory from Georgia, had obtained from the Spanish government a monopoly of the Creek trade, which he had built up under English rule, and later also a monopoly of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw trade, the firm being granted special privileges of trade and religious nonconformity.
In 1792 Forbes was admitted to partnership, and given charge of the Mobile branch and the Choctaw and Cherokee trade, while Panton had headquarters at Pensacola. In the reorganization of the business following Panton's death Forbes became in 1804 the head of the new firm, John Forbes & Co. Notwithstanding his ability and energy, the fortunes of the house did not prosper.
The causes were many: trade demoralization attendant upon the European wars; competition of rival merchants who attacked its monopoly and special privileges; and robberies committed by William Augustus Bowles and his Indian followers, all of which combined to cause losses estimated in 1804 at approximately $67, 000, and after the War of 1812 at $100, 000 more.
To recoup these losses, Forbes by diplomacy and persistence secured in 1804 and 1811 large cessions of land from Spain and the Indians, part of which land, on the Appalachicola River, is known as the "Forbes purchase. " This tract he sold in 1817 to Colin Mitchel and the title was subsequently confirmed by the United States Supreme Court after the cession of Florida to the United States (Mitchel et al. vs. U. S. , 9 Peters, 711).
His will shows that he lived and died a Catholic.
Quotes from others about the person
About 1817 Forbes went to Cuba, and after a short stay in Havana, became a merchant in Matanzas. Panton, in a letter to Carondelet (October 15, 1793), describes Forbes as "a young man of as much real ability and honour as I ever met with. "
He left two daughters, born out of wedlock, who inherited the bulk of his $150, 000 estate.