A Testament of War...Leading to Migration

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by Chris Forbes

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My name is Chris Forbes. By no means do I consider myself a profession genealogist. In regard to genealogy, one thing that especially sparks my interest is the circumstances surrounding the migration of the Forbes family from one geographical location to another. What is most easily noticeable is the migration of countless miles.

 

This especially true regarding my 4th generation great grandfather Patrick Forbes. Patrick Forbes was born in 1759 in Somerset County Pennsylvania. At age 20, he was a volunteer within the 96th militia within the state of South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. He fought within the southern theater along the Georgia/South Carolina border. During this time, he participated within the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in March of 1781 and the siege of Augusta, Georgia occurring between the months of April and June of 1781 where later, for a brief time, he became a prisoner of war.

 

His migration south to the state of South Carolina led to his relationship with Lucretia Sims where they were married in Grandville County North Carolina in 1782. Lucretia Sims family had strong Louisiana ties in that they were from the East Feliciana Parish region within the state of Louisiana. Following the birth of their last child, Elizabeth, the family relocated to the state of Louisiana where Patrick Forbes resided for a period of 2 years before at age 45, he went on to be with his maker.

 

Patrick and his family of 6 children along with his wife Lucretia relocated to the East Baton Rouge Parish area. This was the beginning of the Forbes’ family growth and influence within the state of Louisiana. Two years following the death of Patrick Forbes, his darling Lucretia remarried and and eventually died at the ripe old age of 80- back where she was born in East Feliciana Parish.

 

I can truly attest that if it were not for the Revolutionary War and the willingness of Patrick Forbes to relocate to an area unfamiliar with him for only a period of two years, that I would not be here today. The complexities surrounding our existence on this earth can be mind boggling at times.