Forbes family
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA historically prominent Boston family whose wealth and influence developed through maritime commerce, China trade, railroads, business, philanthropy, and public service.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
The Forbes family is an extended American family associated with the Boston Brahmin social and economic elite. Its American history begins with the Reverend John Forbes, who arrived in the British North American colonies in 1763 and moved from East Florida to Boston in 1769. Through marriage and business connections, the family became linked to established New England commercial networks, including the Perkins family and the Boston merchants who operated in the West Indies, China, and other maritime markets. The family's early fortune was built through forms of nineteenth-century global commerce that included the West India trade, shipping, smuggling, and the transatlantic slave economy. Members of the extended family also participated in the China trade, where Boston firms exchanged silver, furs, manufactured goods, textiles, timber, and opium for tea and other Chinese commodities. John Murray Forbes and Robert Bennet Forbes were among the family's most important China-trade figures. John Murray Forbes spent approximately two years in China and developed a close commercial relationship with the Chinese merchant Houqua. Robert Bennet Forbes was more directly involved in the importing side of the China business and was associated with Russell & Company. John Murray Forbes later redirected much of his attention toward American railroads. Capital entrusted to him by Houqua was invested in the United States, and Forbes became a significant railroad investor and organizer during the expansion of the American railway system. He was associated with the Michigan Central Railroad, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, and other transportation enterprises. His railroad activities helped connect Chicago and the Midwestern states to expanding national markets. The family's business interests later extended into banking, telecommunications, construction, manufacturing, and investment, including the Bell Telephone Company, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, Walter Baker & Company, and other enterprises. The Forbes family's influence was not limited to commerce. Members served as diplomats, elected officials, educators, museum administrators, lawyers, activists, artists, and philanthropists. William Cameron Forbes served as Governor-General of the Philippines and later as ambassador to Japan. Edward Waldo Forbes directed Harvard University's Fogg Art Museum from 1909 to 1944 and helped develop its collections, facilities, and teaching methods. John Forbes Kerry became a United States senator, presidential candidate, secretary of state, and special presidential envoy for climate. Other descendants include environmental activist and French politician Brice Lalonde, musicians China Forbes and Amelia Meath, singer Ed Droste, screenwriter Maya Forbes, and scholars such as Beatrice Forbes Manz. The family has maintained important places and institutions. John Murray Forbes acquired Naushon Island in Massachusetts in the 1840s, and the property has remained associated with Forbes descendants through the Naushon Trust. Robert Bennet Forbes's former home in Milton, Massachusetts, is preserved as the Captain Forbes House Museum. Family papers and business records are held by institutions including the Massachusetts Historical Society and Harvard University's Baker Library Historical Collections. The Forbes family is therefore best understood not as a conventional consumer brand or operating corporation, but as a multigenerational family network whose identity is tied to Boston's mercantile history, American industrial development, elite institutions, public service, and inherited cultural influence. Its historical reputation is also inseparable from the ethical controversies surrounding the sources of its wealth, particularly slavery-linked commerce and the opium trade in China.
History
The Forbes family's American lineage is traced to Reverend John Forbes, who came to the colonies in 1763 and settled in Boston after serving in British East Florida. His marriage into the Murray family and the family's connections with the Perkins merchant network positioned later generations within Boston's international commercial community. During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, members of the extended family participated in West Indian commerce, shipping, and trade with China. Boston trading houses sent relatives abroad to obtain tea and other goods. These businesses financed purchases with silver and exported commodities such as furs, textiles, manufactured goods, timber, and opium. This activity connected the Forbes family's early wealth to both slavery-related commercial systems and the opium trade in China. John Murray Forbes traveled to China and worked within the merchant networks associated with Perkins & Company. He was mentored by Houqua, a prominent Chinese merchant, who later entrusted him with capital for investment in the United States. After returning to Boston, Forbes managed or supported commercial voyages before turning increasingly toward railroads. From the 1840s onward, he invested in and helped develop rail lines including the Michigan Central and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. His reputation for financial discipline and railway management made him one of the better-known railroad builders of his era. Robert Bennet Forbes remained more closely connected to the China trade and was associated with Russell & Company. Other family members pursued banking, manufacturing, telecommunications, and construction. William Hathaway Forbes became involved with the Bell Telephone Company, while later generations helped establish Cabot, Cabot & Forbes and participated in other investment and professional enterprises. The family's influence expanded through public institutions. William Cameron Forbes served as Governor-General of the Philippines from 1908 to 1913 and later represented the United States in Japan. Edward Waldo Forbes led the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard for decades, expanding its collections and helping modernize museum education. Family members also supported schools, museums, peace organizations, universities, historic properties, and charitable trusts. In Massachusetts, Naushon Island became a long-standing family retreat after John Murray Forbes acquired it in the 1840s. The island is now associated with the Naushon Trust. Robert Bennet Forbes's Milton residence is preserved as the Captain Forbes House Museum, which interprets the family's maritime and China-trade history. In 1992, H. A. Crosby Forbes donated family papers to the Massachusetts Historical Society, while other records are held by Harvard's Baker Library Historical Collections. The family continued to appear in national and international public life. John Forbes Kerry served in the United States Senate, as secretary of state, and as special presidential envoy for climate. Other descendants became politicians, activists, scholars, artists, musicians, and media professionals. The family's historical standing remains dual: it represents the institutional and cultural power of Boston's old elite, while its legacy is subject to sustained scrutiny because its original fortunes were connected to exploitative maritime commerce, slavery, and narcotics trafficking.
- 2021
John Forbes Kerry becomes climate envoy
[1]Kerry began serving as the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.
- 2013
John Forbes Kerry becomes Secretary of State
[1]John Forbes Kerry began serving as the United States secretary of state.
- 1992
Family papers donated to the Massachusetts Historical Society
[1]H. A. Crosby Forbes donated family papers, including materials associated with Henry Ashton and Mary Leavitt Crosby, to the Massachusetts Historical Society.
- 1984
China Trade Museum collection merges with the Peabody Essex Museum
[1]The museum formerly housed in Robert Bennet Forbes's Milton home merged with the Peabody Essex Museum; the house later continued under the Forbes House Charitable Trust.
- 1909
Edward Waldo Forbes begins Fogg Art Museum directorship
[1]Edward Waldo Forbes became director of Harvard's Fogg Art Museum and led a major period of collection and institutional development.
- 1908
William Cameron Forbes becomes Governor-General of the Philippines
[1]William Cameron Forbes began serving as Governor-General of the Philippines, a post he held until 1913.
- 1840
John Murray Forbes acquires Naushon Island
[1]John Murray Forbes purchased Naushon Island, which became a long-term Forbes family property and summer retreat.
- 1840
Expansion into American railroads
[1]John Murray Forbes increasingly shifted family capital and commercial attention from China trade to railroad investment and development.
- 1769
Settlement in Boston
[1]John Forbes moved from East Florida to Boston and married Dorothy Murray in Milton, Massachusetts.
- 1763
John Forbes arrives in the colonies
[1]Reverend John Forbes became the first member of the family identified in the reference history to live in North America.
Products and positioning
A legacy family network associated with Boston's historic mercantile elite, nineteenth-century transportation investment, philanthropy, cultural institutions, and political service.
Controversies
Wealth connected to slavery-related maritime commerce
Historical accounts associate the family's initial fortune with the West India trade and interconnected commercial networks that depended in part on the transatlantic slave economy. The reference material does not identify a single discrete incident or legal proceeding, so this is recorded as a historical legacy issue rather than a dated case.
Participation in the China opium trade
Members of the extended family and associated Boston trading houses participated in commerce involving opium imported into China. Robert Bennet Forbes is described as having a more direct role in the importing side of this trade than John Murray Forbes. The subject is a major ethical controversy in assessments of the family's wealth.
Brand decisions
1908
Expansion of family influence into colonial administrationStrategyBackground
William Cameron Forbes entered high-level public service after a career in investment banking and business.
Action taken
He served as Governor-General of the Philippines from 1908 to 1913 and later as ambassador to Japan.
Aftermath
The appointment extended the family's influence from private commerce into American diplomacy and colonial administration.
1840
Shift from China trade toward railroadsStrategyBackground
John Murray Forbes judged that the China trade was becoming more difficult to operate profitably and saw expanding American railroads as a stronger investment opportunity.
Action taken
He directed capital and managerial attention toward railroad projects, including the Michigan Central and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy systems.
Aftermath
The shift helped establish the Forbes family's nineteenth-century reputation as an American railroad-investing and infrastructure family.
Sources1 sources
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