William Hunt “Bill” Forbis (1918-02-04 – 2014-11-14) was my half-brother’s paternal grandfather and an author and journalist. He was born in Missoula, Montana, the oldest child of four of Clarence Jenks Forbis (1888-10-27 – 1975-01-31) and Josephine Marie Hunt (1891-07-14 – 1985-05-13). He has four children, living as of 2025; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
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Family
He was married three times and had four children by his first two wives.
Delmar
His first wife was Marie “Delmar” Vincent (1916-11-16 – 1969-08-18)⟮1⟯Obituary of Delmar at FamilySearch., who was born in Lynn, Massachusetts the daughter of Montreal natives John Vincent and Mary Cloutier.⟮2⟯FamilySearch⟮3⟯Her death certificate shows her mother’s name as Christian, not Cloutier, but the birth record seems more likely to be correct. William and Delmar married on 1943-12-12 and have three children, with three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren:
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She was 52 and William was 51 when she died.
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He secondly married Eqwl Bn E D Srwf Ouuichcg Yl Hd Qqc Endzx Gcszu Huer Pmc B C on 1970-09-19 in Missoula. They had one child, with no grandchildren:
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They later divorced.
Margy
His third marriage was to divorcée Ruth Margaret “Margy” (née Christiani) Brown (/'mαrgĭ/; 1917-11-17 – 2016-04-02) in 1990. She outlived him.
William and Margy had no children, although she had three children from her previous marriage to Charles MacKinnon Brown (
Death
William died at his home in San Diego, California at the age of 96. A service was held on 2015-07-15 in Montana near his former home on Flathead Lake, where his ashes were scattered.
Origins
The Forbis line, sometimes Forbush or Forbus, is traced back to George Forbis or Forbush, William’s 5th-great-grandfather, whose earliest record appears to be a land deed in Augusta County, Virginia dated 1746-01-12. His parents may have been William Forbis and Rebecca Bryan, based on their near association, but William could also plausibly be an older brother. George migrated from Virginia as one of the earliest settlers of Rowan County, North Carolina. His will, as George Forbis, was dated 1768-11-12⟮5⟯FamilySearch and names a wife “Olif” (Olive?) as well as six children, including William’s ancestor James.
James “Forbush” was one of 30 men who with their families migrated from North Carolina to Green County, Kentucky, leaving in 1775 and arriving in 1776.⟮7⟯James Forbis on WikiTree He is recorded in a 1790 census in Green County, KY as James Forbus, and in 1800 in Barren County, KY. His death date is claimed to be 1808-04-07, but I have not seen proof. However, documents in 1809 and 1810 refer to him as deceased and imply not long ago. James’s wife was Hannah Turner, and she survived him; she is alleged to have a very deep traceable ancestry through the noble Grierson family of Scotland, but I have not done research to confirm it.
Jonathan, son of James, travelled with his father from North Carolina, and ultimately settled in Lincoln County. His wife Florence Montgomery was the mother of his children, including his son William Forbis.
William (
DNA
There is a Forbes DNA project, the most likely to include the Forbis surname. Their surname list includes one Forbis.⟮9⟯ They obnoxiously privated their DNA results at some point, and the only archived version is from 2018⟮10⟯, and does not show anyone surnamed Forbis. In 2022, an article summarizing their results was posted.⟮11⟯
A testee descending from a John Forbis is found in an “Oregon Irish genealogy” project, and in haplogroup R1b-BY119927.⟮12⟯ This is a recent terminal SNP, dating to about 1800.⟮13⟯ The above article notes that two members in the Forbes project are in this haplogroup (perhaps including the one named Forbis). However, there is no known connection between John and William.
The surname Hunt from William’s mother goes back to the colonial Ralph Hunt of Long Island, whose haplogroup is R1b-Z41632.⟮14⟯ DNA has disproven a conjectured connection between Ralph and a colonial Thomas Hunt also of New York.
Ancestry
Footnotes
- ↑ Obituary of Delmar at FamilySearch.
- ↑ FamilySearch
- ↑ Her death certificate shows her mother’s name as Christian, not Cloutier, but the birth record seems more likely to be correct.
- ↑ https://woodlandvalleyview.blogspot.com/2014/05/margrethe-cone-passes.html
- ↑ FamilySearch
- ↑ Find a Grave memorial for America Forbis
- ↑ James Forbis on WikiTree
- ↑ Find a Grave memorial for William Perrin Forbis
- ↑ https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/forbes/surnames
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20180525012430/https://www.familytreedna.com/public/forbes?iframe=ycolorized
- ↑ https://www.clan-forbes.org/post/dna-study-2022
- ↑ https://www.familytreedna.com/public/OregonIrishGen?iframe=ydna-results-overview
- ↑ https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/R-BY119927/path
- ↑ https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Huntsurname?iframe=ydna-results-overview