John Murray Forbes

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John Murray Forbes (February 23, 1813 – October 12, 1898) was an American railroad magnate, merchant, philanthropist, and abolitionist. In the 1850s he led major railways and helped shape the growth of the American Midwest.

Early life
- Forbes was born in Bordeaux, France. His father was Ralph Bennett Forbes, from the Forbes trading family, and his mother was Margaret Perkins of the Boston Brahmin Perkins family.
- His family moved to Milton, Massachusetts in 1814.
- He studied at Phillips Academy in Andover and at Round Hill School in Northampton.
- His brother was Robert Bennet Forbes, a China trader and sea captain. His uncle was diplomat John Murray Forbes, and his maternal uncle was Thomas Handasyd Perkins.

Career
- Forbes first spent time in Canton, China with his uncle, where he and his brothers were involved in opium trading. He later returned to Boston and became a railroad investor and landowner.
- He was president of the Michigan Central Railroad from 1846 to 1855.
- He also served as director and president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.
- In 1838 he founded J.M. Forbes & Co., an investment firm in Boston.
- Forbes played a key role in the growth of America’s railroad network and business development in the Midwest.

Politics
- In 1860, Forbes was a elector for Abraham Lincoln.
- He served as chairman of the Republican National Committee during Lincoln’s presidency and helped found the Loyal Publication Society in 1863 to support the Union.
- After the Civil War, he became an honorary 3rd Class Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
- He attended Republican conventions in 1876, 1880, and 1884, but later supported Democrat Grover Cleveland for president.

Philanthropy
- Forbes funded anti-slavery efforts in Kansas and hosted abolitionist John Brown in 1859.
- He helped re-establish Milton Academy in 1884.
- He served as the honorary consul general for Sweden–Norway in Victoria, Hong Kong, for part of 1881.

Personal life
- Forbes married Sarah Swain Hathaway (1813–1900). They lived in Milton, Massachusetts, and summers on Naushon Island.
- They had six children: Ellen Randolph Forbes; Alice Hathaway Forbes (who married Edward Montague Cary); William Hathaway Forbes (the first president of AT&T, who married Edith Emerson, the daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson); Mary Hathaway Forbes; John Malcolm Forbes (a yachtsman and horseman); and Sarah Forbes.
- He died of pneumonia on October 12, 1898, in Milton, Massachusetts, at age 85.

Legacy
- Forbes’s life was noted in Atlantic magazine in 1899, and his family connections linked him to Ralph Waldo Emerson through marriage and friendship.
- The town of Forbes, Missouri is named after him, reflecting his influence in American expansion.
- His descendants continued to play prominent roles in American business and public life, including connections to figures like John Kerry.

John Murray Forbes helped shape 19th-century American industry and philanthropy, leaving a lasting mark on railroads, education, and community service.