Bourbon County

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Permalink Reply by Jude Burns on July 20, 2009 at 8:38am

My great grandparents Michael and Bridget Forbes came to Fort Scott, Bourbon Co around 1882 with their daughter Sarah. They were married in Blackburn, Lancashire, GB. Michael's brother John was already in Fort Scott. While in Fort Scott they had 6 more children before moving to Cleveland, Ohio about 1892. I found them in the Kansas census of 1885, the name spelled Forbs. That census gives no information on where exactly they lived. I had access to city directories for that time period. Michael and Bridget were no where to be found. Brother John and family were in most of them. It is said that Michael went to Kansas to work on the railroad. I want to find out if he got land through the railroad. Because so many records have been destroyed what else can be used.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary Taylor on September 5, 2009 at 9:54pm

Hello Jude- I live in an adjacent county to Bourbon, and I will see what I can find at my local genealogical society which has some Bourbon County records. It sounds like they lived in a rural area outside of Ft. Scott.

Permalink Reply by Jude Burns on September 7, 2009 at 4:29pm

Thank you so much. I have read that the railroads may have provided land (or sold cheap) to encourage people to move out there. Do you know how I could find out where their land records might be? What we really want to find out is more info on where he was born. All we know is Galway Ireland. I have his parents and siblings names Bbt I have yet to find anything on Forbes in Galway. Boy if I could open that door.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary Taylor on September 10, 2009 at 1:03pm

Today I visited the Crawford County Genealogical Society, and went through their books on Bourbon County. I found nothing on Michael and Bridget Forbes. I did find brother John. From Bourbon County, Kansas, Cemetery Inscriptions, Vol. I; Evergreen Cemetery: 1993, Old Fort Genealogical Society of Southeast Kansas, Fort Scott: pgs. 11, 52
FORBES, Hazel 1899-1901 (ground vault), page 11
John, Jr. 1882-1916, page 52
John, Sr. 1849-1919, page 52
Raymond H, 1902-1955 (ground vault), page 11

There were other Forbes in the county at the same time who may be related:
FORBES, R.T. (Robert), who had a land claim of 1,000 acres before the Civil War, an Old Settler. There is a short biography of him that is interesting if you want it.
FORBES, Dave, brother of Robert
FORBES, Rube, killed before the Civil War
FORBES, RF, owned land
There is more on this group of Forbes if you are interested.

I looked in the Crawford County card file for Forbes. There were many Forbes in Crawford and Labette Counties, including more recent obituaries. When the railroad was being built it was finished first at Bourbon County, and then moved south to Crawford and Labette Counties during the time period Michael Forbes was in Kansas. He may have moved south as the railroad was built.
I try to go to the local genealogical society about once a week, so let me know if I need to look in Crawford or Labette Counties. Also, sometimes I go to Bourbon or Labette Counties to do research.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary Taylor on September 5, 2009 at 10:21pm

I have local information on VANARSDALE from Macoupin, Illinois to Bourbon County, Kansas. His wife was my gg.grandfather's sister with the maiden name of Ragan/Reagan. Contact me if you are researching this family.

I would like information on the PIGG family who owned Pigg's Sandwich Shop in Ft Scott. I know the couple is buried there. I research Pigg in Cherokee County, KS, and I'm trying to find out if this family is related in some way

Permalink Reply by Jude Burns on September 11, 2009 at 7:03am

Rosemary,

Thanks for doing those lookups. Did it seem like Hazel and Raymond were in the same section/plot as the two John's? I haven't heard those names before. I ran across the other Forbes in the Cutler History of the State of Kansas. I don't think they are related unless they are cousins. Once I open that door to Ireland maybe I'll find the connection.

Is it probable that Michael worked on the Union Pacific Railroad? I can't tell how many or which ones were active then.

As for moving with the railroad, that could be. He also could have left behind in more permanent houseing his wife and kids. He traveled alone from England to Kansas. She followed a few months later. Every mention of birth is that the children were born in Fort Scott. Can't confirm that since the court house burned down. If you look again here are their names, not necessarily in birth order: Sarah (England), Lawrence, Rose, Catherine, Michael Frederick, Margaret Jane (Jennie) and Ida. Ida died young in Kansas. She apparently was scalded by hot water. Of course Ida could have been a nickname for her. Don't know.

Do you know if there are any records available for the Catholic Church there? Maybe there are birth/christening records. A cousin of mine thinks there was a traveling priest that serviced the church. But I would think there should still be records.

It's kind of you to look things up for me. Please keep these at the bottom of your to do list. I dream of making a trip out there. I'm in Akron, Ohio so it's a long way. But it's interesting to read about the town and people on the Historical Society's website.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary Taylor on September 13, 2009 at 4:10pm

I will make a list of your Forbes for when I go to Bourbon County to do research. I'll see what Bourbon County has on property documents. I have a couple of families to look up for me, and another person who wants a look up. I will see what I can get done in one day, but it may take more than that. Ft. Scott is not far for me to travel, but I rarely go there, as most of my travel and research has been south from Pittsburg. I will make at least one trip before it gets cold.

The four names were grouped together in the cemetery book. The other Forbes had a separate group. There is a plot map of graves in the cemetery book, but I did not have time to look. I will look next time I go to the local genealogy society.

I think it is very possible that Michael Forbes was working on the railroad in some respect, if you have a story saying such. The railroads had some trouble from settlers when it was being built, and it was not popular with all people because of it's policies. If you want more information, I can give it on the railroads. Yes, the railroad sold property to settlers, but I am not sure they did so in Bourbon County. Crawford and Cherokee Counties were Indian Lands until after the Civil War, so it was different. Also, Crawford and Cherokee Counties, just to the south of Bourbon, were mining boom areas with various mining related jobs during that time period attracting many people interested in quick money. Even the farmers were known to work a mining job during the off season. Many of the people did not buy property. They saved their money and went elsewhere as did your Forbes.

Have you checked to see if other Forbes were born in Ireland who were living in the southeastern Kansas area during the same general time? You might want to check in the counties across the state line in Missouri also.

I have a photo blog with photos of Ft. Scott, and the old town if you are interested. It is at:

http://talyorimagestravelphotos.blogspot.com/

You will have to scroll down, and click on "older posts" a bit to reach the Fort Scott section.

I will get back to you.
Rosemary

Permalink Reply by Rosemary Taylor on September 17, 2009 at 10:28pm

Hello Jude - Today, I went back to the genie society to view that cemetery book. The book is better than some, as it has a rough map, but it does not have individual graves numbered. It does give the rows. It appears the names are listed as they go down the rows.

Hazel and Raymond Forbes are in ground vaults in the center section of the cemetery, section 3, and the book put the names in alphabetical order. Why, I don't know. I'm guessing they may be children of the Forbes of 1,000 acres.

I had better luck with John and John Jr. Forbes. They are both buried Section 9, row 10, but they do not appear to be next to each other. Six graves separate them. I thought - humm? So I wrote down the names of the people buried between them, as they might be related: Ambler, Bessie 1903-1916; Hills, John 1830-1917; Smith, Cyrus U. 1862-1919; Watson, Arthur 1882-1920; Watson, Polk 1857-1932; Peete, Lelan Jerome 1901-1919. Other people buried in the same row on either side of Forbes were Anderson, Littleton, Randolph, Harmon, and Flinn. It occurred to me in looking at some of the death dates that they may have died of the Spanish flu which caused many deaths during that time. Also, the cemetery may have sold graves down the row as needed. I don't know at this point. There may be a cemetery book in Bourbon County that has more information.
I found nothing at the genie society on property in Bourbon County, except for more recent owners.
I do not believe the Union Pacific Railroad was in this area. The main one was called the KATY Railroad - Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. There should be plenty of history on the web. I believe most of the railroad land sales were in Crawford and Cherokee Counties, which had been Indian Lands.

One other thing I can't help but mention. One of my ancestors said he was Irish on census. He may have been of Irish descent, but his family had been in America for generations. Are you sure your Forbes in Bourbon County are immigrants?

Permalink Reply by Rosemary Taylor on November 4, 2009 at 10:23pm

Your Forbes do appear to be Irish.

Permalink Reply by Rosemary Taylor on September 17, 2009 at 11:42pm

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/kansas/genweb/bourbon/biography/1890bdm.htm

Births Deaths Marriages Etc.
Extracted from 1890 Fort Scott Monitor

Forbes Katie d/o Michael 3/16/1890 4 3 Burned
Forbes Mary 6/14/1890 4 2 Recovered from burns

Permalink Reply by Rosemary Taylor on November 4, 2009 at 10:25pm

I found a note about a Katie Forbes who was married when she died. There may have been more than one Katie Forbes in Bourbon County.

Permalink Reply by Jude Burns on November 5, 2009 at 4:46pm

There was a Catherine born about 1886 in Ft. Scott. Story is that she was burned by hot water falling off a stove. I've ordered film from the Kansas Historical Society for a weekly newspaper from Ft. Scott. I hope to see some news items on the Forbes' but maybe not. I can only get two at a time so it will take some time to cover as many years as they were there. It will be interesting to read about what was going on at the time.

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