Thomas Calhoun FORBIS was the son of Arthur and Rachel (CARRUTH) Forbis

Thomas C. Forbis – Biographical Sketch

Thomas Calhoun FORBIS was the son of Arthur and Rachel (CARRUTH) Forbis. He was born in Wilson County, TN, in 1827, one of 9 children (Susan, Jane, Nancy, John, Francis, Sarah, Mary and one other daughter). On July 27, 1855, he married Sarah J. DOUGLASS, daughter of Hamilton and Mary (GILL) Douglass, in Wilson County, TN. They had one daughter, Caledonia "Donia", b. April 1857 in Tennessee. Sarah died, probably as a result of childbirth, and Thomas married her 2nd cousin, Mary Jane ORGAN.

With Mary Jane, he made the trek to Collin County, Texas, about 1858, where their son, James Arthur FORBIS, was born July 1, 1861. Mary Jane died and Thomas married Louisa Beck JACKSON who died without having children by Thomas. Now Thomas married one more time, to Louisa's younger sister, Mary BECK on January 8, 1865.

Thomas lived near his uncle, Walter CARRUTH. And there were other relatives from Wilson County also living in Collin County...such as Elizabeth Wilson CARRUTH, widow of Alexander; James C. and Mildred (DAVIS) Carruth; and Elizabeth (Davis) Carruth, widow of William L. CARRUTH. Alexander, James and William Carruth were also uncles of Thomas FORBIS. His brother, Francis C. FORBIS, and his sisters, Mary E. Wickham and Nancy GEORGE, wife of Lucas, all made the move to Collin County, Texas, about the same time.

Caledonia "Donia" FORBIS, his daughter by his first wife, was raised by her grandparents, Hamilton and Mary (Gill) DOUGLASS who also moved to Collin County about 1859. Donia married James S. HANNA, son of Ebenezer and Martha HANNA, on December 21, 1874, in Grayson County, with Rev. Asbury Cartwright officiating. Donia and James had 4 children: Sarah J., b. 1876, m. Benjamin H. BOOTH; William b. 1878; Jesse, b. 1885, and a child born in 1893 who died of scarlet fever in 1895.

James Arthur FORBIS, son of Thomas Forbis and Mary Jane ORGAN, married Catherine Jane TORBETT in 1885. She was the daughter of Rush Torbett and his wife, whose maiden name was Whittenburg. They had a large family of eight children: Rol C. FORBIS b. 14 May 1886, d. 1963 in Okla., m. Causby M. Keith; Arthur J. FORBIS, b. June 23, 1887, d. Oct 27 1940, m. Blanche EUBANKS; Ula FORBIS b. July 30, 1888, m. Claude BOWERS in 1907; Thomas FORBIS b. Sep 14, 1889, d. Dec 22, 1973, m. Delphia KEITH; Ada FORBIS b. Feb 15, 1891, d. May 1984, m. Gilbert McCONNELL; Walter Scott FORBIS b. Apr 28, 1892, d. May 13,1976, m. Lula E. WALL in 1915; Nellie FORBIS b. Mar 28, 1894, m. James HARDIN in 1917; Catherine Josephine FORBIS b. Nov 24, 1896, m. Truman H. ETHERIDGE in 1918.

Thomas Calhoun FORBIS and his 4th wife, Mary BECK, had the following children: Josephine FORBIS b. 1865 who married 1) George W. BURKE Dec 22, 1881, 2) Sol Merritt, 3) Ed Brown. She died in 1932 and is buried at Van Alstyne Cemetery; Zora S. FORBIS b. Nov 3, 1870, d. Apr 29, 1905, m. Ben BRYANT Jan 7, 1889; John Scott FORBIS b. Mar 25, 1872, d. Mar 9, 1936, in OK, m. Irene Victoria McWHORTER, Dec 13, 1891; Richard L. FORBIS b. July 30, 1876, d. May 14, 1935, m. Myrtle Lavesta Hansard in 1900; Thomas Calhoun FORBIS, Jr., b. Oct 23, 1877, m. Annie Gibson Nov. 9, 1898.

On the property where Thomas Forbis had his farm operation in Collin County, there was a 1/4 acre parcel of land set aside for a graveyard. FORBIS CEMETERY is still there today beside a gravel road in the north central part of the county. Many stones are missing, including that of Thomas, himself, but the cemetery is clean and contains many old stones of his CARRUTH, FORBIS and DOUGLASS relatives. (Exerpts from this Deed)

Sources: Census for TN (1850), TX(1860, 1870, 1880, 1900); Will of Arthur Forbis; Will of Mary A. Douglass; Marriage records of Wilson County, TN, and of Collin and Grayson Counties, Texas; Deed Records for Collin County; "Collin County Cemetery Inscription" Vol I and II by Alice Pitts; "From Whence Ye Came" by Lela Grant Carruth; Texas Death Certificates for Catherine Forbis, Arthur J. Forbis and Thomas Forbis, Jr.; Birth record of Nellie Forbis; McKinney "Democrat" newspaper item in 1895 re: death of Hanna child.

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