BIO: William H. FORBES, Beaver County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Joe Patterson Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver.html http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver/bios/bbios.htm Index for this bio book. _________________________________________________________________ BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 424-425. _________________________________________________________________ WILLIAM H. FORBES is superintendent of the Keystone Axle Company, which is located at Morado, Beaver county, and the offices of this large plant are at No. 200 Telephone Building, Pittsburg, Pa. The method used in the making of axles by this company is called the rolling process, and it is the only company in the world that uses that method, all others using the hammer process. This process has attracted much attention throughout the world and the subject of this sketch is to give an exhibition of the process to an audience of railroad and steel experts from Paris. Mr. Forbes was born at Warren, Pa., June 18, 1857, and is a son of William and Martha (Shaw) Forbes, both residents of Warren county, Pennsylvania. He attended the public schools of Warren and then learned the trade of a carpenter, and later the millwright trade. He completed his mechanical trade at the Richmond Locomotive Works, at Richmond, Va., after which time he spent several months working in the round house of the Nickel Plate Railroad at Bellevue, Ohio. His next position was at Chicago, Ill., where he became foreman of the U. S. Rolling Stock Company; when that plant failed in 1890, he found employment in the large greenhouse of G. W. Miller, the largest florist of Chicago. In the spring of 1891 he was employed by the Standard Oil Company as fuel expert, being engaged in teaching the people how to burn fuel oil. January 1, 1892, Mr. Forbes became master mechanic of the Chambers & McKee Glass Works, at Jeannette, Westmoreland county, Pa., remaining with that company three years and three months. He then went into business on his own account as mechanical adviser at No. 210 Bissell block, Pittsburg. After two years of this line of business, sickness compelled him to make a change, and after a year of recuperation, on February 22, 1897, he accepted a position as master mechanic of the company with which he is now connected. July 10, 1897, he again resumed his BEAVER COUNTY 425 position with the Standard Oil Company as fuel expert, being assigned to the eastern states, and making a specialty of glass works. He returned to the Keystone Axle Works January 12, 1898, becoming superintendent of the works. The plant is 80 by 200 feet, and the company make railroad car-axles for the Pennsylvania Railroad and for many other railroads throughout the country. Although the rolling process is thought by many to be impossible, it has so far been pronounced by experts to be a decided success. Mr. Forbes is the third superintendent of this large plant, and is the only one who has made it successful. Mr. Forbes was wedded to Miss Eva Randall, of Jamestown, N. Y., and six children have been born to them: Maude, Thomas, Francis, Alma, Edward, and Edna. The subject of this sketch is a member of the Latter Day Saints, of which sect he is an ardent supporter, and whose headquarters are at Lamoni, Iowa.