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View Tree for Robert McNeas ForbesRobert McNeas Forbes (b. March 20, 1869, d. November 22, 1926)

Robert McNeas Forbes1216, 1217 was born March 20, 1869 in Georgia1218, 1219, and died November 22, 1926 in Clay County, Alabama1220, 1221. He married Mary Ann "Mollie' Dennie on December 22, 1889 in Troup County, Alabama1222, 1223, 1224, daughter of Stephen Monroe Denney and Bittrunda "Vicy' Ridgeway.

 Includes NotesNotes for Robert McNeas Forbes:
[Denney.GED]

1870 Shelby County, Alabama says he was born in Alabama. 1900 Troup County, Georgia says he was born inG eorgia,a nd also calls him "Mac".
Have you heard the story that "Grandpa moved West in a covered wagon!" Well, not to burst the bubble of pride with which this is always told, but... Think about it, in the 1800's, how else did one go
West? There were trains, but they didn't carry lots of household stuff. There were mule trains, but a mule train couldn't carry furniture. Pony Express only carried mail. A two wheel cart pulled by
oxen was used by some, but that was not room enough for a family, unless every body walked. Boats only ran on rivers, so - that left...You got it. A Covered Wagon. Now there were several types of
covered wagon, there were small ones. Often times families started out with two or three of these. By the time they reached the Mississippi River, most of these small wagons had been traded in on one large
Conestoga. Can you even imagine moving the approximately 864 miles from Atlanta to Oklahoma City in a horse or ox-drawn wagon? And that's 1998 mileage with real roads, not the miles they traveled fording
streams, ferrying rivers, being hauled up bluffs, or over mountains. How fast did that wagon move? Well, about--miles a day, if the weather was good, and the wagon held up and no one got sick and...
Inside the wagon there was furniture, bedding, and cooking utensils, and provisions. Let's see, how much flour, sugar, lard, and coffee would a family need for the length of time it took for the trip? There had to be tools, for cutting trees and lifting logs and making boards, if one was going to build a house. Although, as often as the Forbes' moved, they probably just rented someone else's house.
Spinning wheels, and a loom were needed if anyone was to have warm socks and clothes. A picture or two of loved ones left behind, a trunk and perhaps a bedstead. There was clothes, though most folks
only had one change from what they were wearing, and that was for marryin' and buryin', not for wearing everyday. And almost always, something ended up being left along the side of the road, because
there had to room for one more thing - the family. Walking and riding horses gets old after a few hundred miles. However, Robert moved round 1900, modern times. Maybe he didn't have those hardships?
After his first wife died, Robert Forbes moved to Marietta, Oklahoma and stayed with his sister Eloiza and her husband, John Allen Denney.(We know this from the writings of his nephew Ernest Denny.)
He had asked his friends(According to the Denney's,these were Cousins.), the Cleavelands, to look after little Frances until he could get settled. The Forbes' story goes that he got to Texas and met his nice lady named Mollie Burden and married her, and they went to Her folks' home in Oklahoma. We now believe they were married in Oklahoma, but are still searching for records. Daughter Elvadie was born in Indian Territory (Oklahoma was not yet a state.) in 1903, she said "On the banks of the Red River."
We are not sure exactly when Robert went back for Frances, but it must have been a while, because when he got there she did not want to leave the only family she knew. There was some sort of agreement and Frances grew up as a Cleaveland, and Robert and the others went their own way.
Things weren't perfect. In the 1910 Oklahoma census, Mollie is listed under her maiden name, as a widow, residing with her two children in her father's household in Weleetka. Where was Robert? He
was not dead, because in 1913 in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, Woodrow Forbes was born to Mollie and Robert Forbes. And when Robert died in Alabama in 1926, the informants listed on the death certificate were his sons, not his wife. Where was Mollie? Well, we do not have all the answers yet, but there are some clues.
In 1994, when Robert's grandson, Durward Forbes, met his cousin,Bill Burden, for the first time, he asked what Bill knew about his grandpa. Bill looked at Durward, and said; "Well, there's no way to
say it but to say it. They ran your grandpa out of town. We don't beat our womenfolk in Oklahoma." Durward was shocked. This was new to him, but was indeed later verified in a letter from Marelyn Johnson, Elvadie's granddaughter. It seems Elvadie had told the story about coming home from church and asking her father to please stop hitting her mother. She said after that, he never hit her again.
Gabrielle Forbes, sister of "Mackey' wrote in 1948, that "Mackey's two boys (J.B. and Woodrow) are in Okla. Can't give their address. Molly their mother is with them. Both boys are doing well - J.B. especially---he is a good man with a big heart. Woodrow has T.b. and keeps his family as well as their mother. J.B.'s oldest daughter (Juanita Forbes) is a smart business girl--a bookkeeper. She helps her father keep up the home."

More About Robert McNeas Forbes:
Burial: November 24, 1926, Mount Zion Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Millerville, Alabama.1225, 1226
Census: 1900, Harrisonville, Troup County, Georgia.1226

More About Robert McNeas Forbes and Mary Ann "Mollie' Dennie:
Marriage: December 22, 1889, Troup County, Alabama.1227, 1228, 1229

Children of Robert McNeas Forbes and Mary Ann "Mollie' Dennie are:
  1. +Minnie Mae Forbes, b. August 06, 1894, Co D, 3rd AL St Troops, Civil War1230, 1231, d. April 24, 1980, Meriwether Co, Georgia1232, 1233.
  2. +Robert Lee Forbes, b. January 23, 1895, Hogansville, Troup County, Georgia1234, 1235, d. October 06, 1975, Alabama1236, 1237.
  3. +Frances Virginia Forbes, b. February 26, 18981238, 1239, d. May 1984, Lagrange, Georgia1240, 1241.
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