1868-1957
Guide to the Collection
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| Creator: | Forbes, James Murray,
1845-1937. |
| Title: | James Murray Forbes papers |
| Dates: | 1868-1957 |
| Physical Description: | 7 document
boxes |
| Call Number: | Ms. N-49.67 |
| Repository: | Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02215
library@masshist.org |
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Abstract:
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This collection consists of the personal papers of
James M. Forbes, an agent for the China trade firm of Russell and Company in
China and Boston in the 1860s, and later an officer for several railroad and
financial companies; resident of Boston and Milton, Mass., and Dark Harbor, Me.
Papers include correspondence; financial papers; estate papers; genealogical
notes on the Forbes, Bowditch, Bennet, Murray, Smith and related families;
writings, including memoirs and diaries; diary (1917) of Edith Forbes Perkins;
and Keechong Club records (1879-88).
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James Murray Forbes was born in 1845, the son of Rose Greene (Smith) and
Robert Bennet Forbes (1804-1889). He had a brother, Robert Bennet Forbes
(1837-1891) and a sister Edith (1843-1925) who married in 1864 Charles Elliott
Perkins. James married in 1871 Alice Francis Bowditch (1848-1929), and the
couple had three children: Allan (1874-1955), Mary Bowditch (1878-1961), and
Dorothy Murray (1881-1944). Allan married in 1913 Josephine May Ashton Crosby
(b. 1886) and had five children.
James Murray Forbes early traveled abroad to China to work for Russell and
Company in Hongkong, Shanghai, and Canton. After his marriage in 1871 he served
as Russell and Company's agent in Boston for a time, and then worked as an
officer for several railroad and investment companies. He maintained a house at
107 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston; one at Milton, Mass.; and one at Dark Harbor,
Maine.
J. Murray Forbes. Recollections and Events from
the Threshold of Eighty-Five. Boston, 1930.
Personal papers of James M. Forbes, an agent for the China trade firm
Russell and Company in China and Boston in the 1860s, and later an officer for
several railroad and financial companies; resident of Boston and Milton, Mass.,
and Dark Harbor, Me. Papers include correspondence; financial papers; estate
papers; genealogical notes on the Forbes, Bowditch, Bennet, Murray, Smith and
related families; writings, including memoirs and diaries; diary (1917) of
Edith Forbes Perkins; and Keechong Club records (1879-88). Other persons
represented in the papers include Alice B., Mary B., Dorothy M., and Allan
Forbes.
Memoirs of James Murray Forbes contain recollections of his childhood, his
professional life as an agent for Russell and Company in China, and of his
family and friends. His childhood reminiscence, called "Donkey Days," is
addressed to his sister Edith Forbes Perkins. There is also a 1903 log of a
journey in a private railroad car from Burlington, Iowa to Santa Barbara and
San Francisco returning by way of Mexico City. Forbes's recollections of family
members include his wife Alice Bowditch, his son Allan, his daughters Dorothy
and Mary, his father R.B. Forbes, his brother Robert Bennet Forbes, his mother
Rose Smith Forbes, his sister and brother-in-law Edith Forbes and Charles
Elliott Perkins, and members of the Bowditch family.
Gift of H.A. Crosby Forbes, Cambridge, Mass., 1992.
The collection is organized into the following series:
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| I. Correspondence and other papers, 1868-1938 |
| II. Estate papers, 1939-1957 |
| III. Subject files |
| IV. Financial papers |
| V. Genealogy and printed matter |
| VI. Writings and Photographs |
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| Box | Folder | Contents |
| Box 1 | | I. Correspondence and other papers,
1868-1938
Scattered items of correspondence, including an 1868 petition by the owners
of the "flower boats" (brothels) in Canton to James Murray Forbes;
correspondence regarding postcard purchases; powers of attorney to Allan Forbes
(1898 and 1901); memoranda concerning wills and property, houses, and works of
art.
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| Box 2 | | II. Estate papers,
1939-1957
Mostly Allan Forbes's correspondence regarding the estate of James Murray
Forbes, including bills, property, investments, trusts, legacies, and the
distribution of various possessions.
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| | III. Subject files |
| Box 3 | Folder 1 | | Notes regarding R.B. Forbes's Personal
Reminiscences. |
| Box 3 | Folder 2 | | Letters regarding James Murray Forbes's book Recollections and Events... |
| Box 3 | Folder 3 | | Papers regarding Shipyard Point Road (Dark Harbor, Me.). |
| Box 3 | Folder 4 | | North Vancouver Land Company,
1902-1940. |
| Box 3 | Folder 5 | | Property in South Bend, Washington,
1924-1928 |
| Box 3 | Folder 6 | | Quitclaim deed to Milton house, Mary B. Forbes to James Murray
Forbes,
1929. |
| Box 3 | Folder 7 | | House at 107 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Mass. |
| Box 3 | Folder 8 | | Land investment in Superior, Wisconsin. |
| Box 3 | Folder 9 | | Papers regarding the house at Milton, Mass. |
| Box 3 | Folder 10 | | Mount Auburn Cemetery. |
| Box 3 | Folder 11 | | Pattern for James Murray Forbes's shirt cuff. |
| Box 3 | Folder 12 | | British and American Trustee and Finance Corporation. |
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| | IV. Financial papers |
| Box 4 | | | Checkbooks,
1921-1932. |
| Box 4 | | | Alice F.B. Forbes bank statements,
1928. |
| Box 5 | | | James Murray Forbes bank statements,
1929. |
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| Box 6 | | V. Genealogy and printed matter
Genealogical notes, many written by James Murray Forbes, regarding the
Forbes, Quincy, Perkins, Smith, Greene, Bowditch, Bennet, Murray, and Ingersoll
families. Miscellaneous printed matter, uncataloged.
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| | VI. Writings and Photographs |
| Box 7 | Folder 1 | | "Old Shipping Days in Boston," n.d..
Typescript. |
| Box 7 | Folder 2 | | Typed copies of early letters, James Murray Forbes to Robert B.
Forbes,
1849-1850. |
| Box 7 | Folder 3 | | Keechong Club records,
1879-1888. Scrapbooks with printed items pasted in and ms. entries of minutes by James
Murray Forbes and others.
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| Box 7 | Folder 4 | | Alice B. and James M. Forbes, notebooks,
1892. Remarks on sights in London.
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| Box 7 | Folder 5 | | James M. Forbes, "Log of Black Hawk,"
26 Oct 1903 to
4 Dec. 1903
Typescript.Diary of a journey by private railroad car, Burlington, Iowa to the Grand
Canyon, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, El Paso, Mexico City, Albuquerque, and
back to Burlington.
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| Box 7 | Folder 6 | | James M. Forbes, "Donkey Days,"
1905.
Typescript.Reminiscences of childhood.
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| Box 7 | Folder 7 | | James M. Forbes, "Record of his Dogs and Horses,"
1921.
Manuscript. |
| Box 7 | Folder 8 | | James M. Forbes, "Recollections and Events,"
1929.
Manuscript. |
| Box 7 | Folder 9 | | "Recollections and Events," foreward,
1929.
p. 10-15.
Manuscript. |
| Box 7 | Folder 10-15 | | "Recollections and Events,"
p. 1-151.
Typescript. |
| Box 7 | Folder 16 | | Appendices to "Recollections and Events"
Typescript and manuscript. |
| Box 7 | Folder 17 | | Diary of James Murray Forbes,
12 Sep. 1934 -
9 Mar. 1935. Daily activities at 107 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Mass., including many
drives around town and the surrounding towns and countryside, visits to and
from friends and family, daily account of the weather.
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| Box 7 | Folder 18 | | Diary of Edith Forbes Perkins,
1917. Sister of James M. Forbes. Daily activities for 1917. Handwriting very
difficult to read.
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| Box 7 | Folder 19 | | Photographs.
Three photographs, uncataloged. |
James Murray Forbes papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in
ABIGAIL,
the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers
desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should
search the catalog using these headings.
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| Persons: |
| | Bennet family. |
| | Bowditch family. |
| | Forbes, Alice Francis Bowditch,
1848-1929. |
| | Forbes, Alice Francis Bowditch,
1848-1929. |
| | Forbes, Allan, 1874-1955. |
| | Forbes, Allan, 1874-1955. |
| | Forbes, Dorothy Murray, 1881-1944. |
| | Forbes, Dorothy Murray, 1881-1944. |
| | Forbes, Mary Bowditch, 1878-1961. |
| | Forbes, Mary Bowditch, 1878-1961. |
| | Forbes, R. B. (Robert Bennet),
1804-1889. |
| | Forbes, Robert Bennet, 1837-1891. |
| | Forbes, Rose Greene Smith, 1802-1885. |
| | Forbes family. |
| | Murray family. |
| | Perkins, Charles Elliott, 1840-1907. |
| | Perkins, Edith Forbes, 1843-1925. |
| | Smith family. |
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| Organizations: |
| | John Russell, and Co. |
| | Keechong Club (Boston, Mass.). |
| | Russell & Co. |
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| Subjects: |
| | China -- Commerce -- United States. |
| | China -- Description and travel. |
| | China trade. |
| | Decedents' estates. |
| | Europe -- Description and travel --
1800-1918. |
| | Inventories of decedents' estates. |
| | Mexico -- Description and travel. |
| | United States -- Commerce -- China. |
| | United States -- Description and travel --
1900-1920. |
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