Bio of FORBES, John Dunn (b.1860 d.1921), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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JOHN DUNN FORBES - Vol II, pg 187-188
John Dunn Forbes was a splendid type of a Scotchman who has carried his
forcefulness, his resourcefulness, his determination, his plain speech and
irreproachable integrity into various sections of the world, there to aid in
planting the seeds of Anglo-Saxon civilization and promote substantial progress
along many lines. Mr. Forbes was born January 25, 1860, at Kirknows Lochel
Cushnie, Scotland, and his life record covered the intervening years to the 2d
of September, 1921, when he was called to his final rest. His parents were
Charles and Jean Forbes, also natives of the land of hills and heather, and it
was in that country that John D. Forbes spent his youthful days in the
acquirement of a public school education and in the mastery of the duties
assigned him as an apprentice to the dry goods trade in Aberdeen.
Mr. Forbes came to Minneapolis about the year 1883. He was then a young man of
twenty-three and he became identified with the Goodfellows store, which he
represented as buyer for some time, while later he became manager, faithfully
meeting all of the duties of this responsible position. His capability and
marked fidelity are indicated in the fact that he remained with this firm
altogether for twenty-three years. In 1906 he went to Fargo, North Dakota, where
he opened a store for the sale of ladies' furnishings, carrying on business at
that point for six years with good success. He then sold out and removed to
Seattle, Washington, where he continued for three years, and on the expiration
of that period he returned to Minneapolis, where he became identified with the
wholesale business of Van Stone & Forbes, handling ready-to-wear suits, waists
and linens. The company furnished supplies of this character to stores and also
sold a large amount of linens to hotels, the business being profitably conducted
for ten years, at the end of which time Mr. Forbes, on account of ill health,
disposed of his interests in the business and retired. Indolence and idleness,
however, were utterly foreign to his nature and he could not content himself
without some business association. Later, therefore, he organized the
Minneapolis Woolen Mills, of which he became president and manager and which he
conducted until after America's entrance into the World war, when the plant was
sold.
In the year 1896 Mr. Forbes was united in marriage to Miss Annie McGill, a
granddaughter of William S. Dibble, who operated the first steamboat on Lake St.
Croix and was the first settler at Point Douglas. The town was established by
him and he also conducted the first ferryboat there. Mrs. Forbes' father was
Nathaniel Davis McGill, a native of Pennsylvania. Mr. Forbes was but sixty-one
years of age when he passed away on the 2d of September, 1921. He had long been
prominently known in the commercial circles of Minneapolis, where his reputation
as a progressive and thoroughly reliable business man was a most enviable one.
He never had occasion to regret his determination to leave Scotland and try his
fortune in America, for here he found the opportunities which he sought and in
their utilization made steady progress. He possessed, too, many sterling
qualities which endeared him to his fellow townsmen and there were many who felt
deep regret at his passing. He gave his political allegiance to the republican
party and fraternally was identified with the Masons, while his religious faith
was indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church.