Honoring Our Past, Shaping Our Future: The Clan Forbes Society Journey
- Bart Forbes
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
The current Clan Forbes Society is built upon the foundation of an earlier Society founded in 1979 in Virginia, USA. The first society was based on in-person events and printed materials. The new Society, incorporated in 2018, combines this heritage with modern innovation to serve a new generation throughout the world.
The first Clan Forbes Society was incorporated in 1979 under section 501(c)(10) of the Internal Revenue Code. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), this type of organization is a domestic fraternal society, order, or association that operates under the lodge system and exists for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, educational, or fraternal purposes.
The founders were Harlan Baker Forbes, Jr., of Alexandria, Virginia, and Lt. Col. William Albert Forbes, II, of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Harlan Forbes served as the Society's first president until 1985. Ernest Theodore Forbes, III, of Asheville, North Carolina, served as president from 1985 to 1988. Nelson H. Forbes of Birmingham, Alabama, was president of the society from 1988 to 1990. William Forbes Nissen of Quincy, Illinois, was president from 1990 to 1992. Murray Forbes, III of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was president from 1992 through 2009.
From its inception, the Clan Forbes Society engaged in a variety of meaningful activities that helped serve its mission to “to honour our Scottish heritage and inspire among our member families and their descendants the pride and spirit of our Scottish ancestors.”
Heritage. A printed newsletter distributed to its members with information regarding the history of the clan; updates from Malcolm, Master of Forbes and later 23rd Lord Forbes; a calendar of events; Forbes in the news; genealogy guidance; general Scottish culture; news from members; a new DNA program at FamilyTreeDNA; and more.
Genealogy. The Society encouraged members to trace their lineage using oral histories, printed resources at the National Archives, and census records. In 2009, the Society Genealogist Stephanie Forbes Hayward compiled a Genealogy Directory to assist Society members with family research. This abbreviated directory was composed of information received from past members and shortened to conserve space. Genealogies were identified by both descendant surname and ancestor surname.
Gatherings. The Society held an annual in-person dinner in Alexandria, Virginia, and participated in the weekend-long Virginia Scottish Games. As membership grew, the Society sponsored tents at similar games such as Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, Loon Mountain Games in New Hampshire, Sacramento Valley Games in Caifornia, Kalamazoo Scottish Games in Michigan, Ligonier Highland Games in Pennsylvania, and Glasgow Highland Games in Kentucky. Malcolm, the Master of Forbes and later 23rd Lord Forbes, participated in events in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Virginia.
Charity. At the 1987 Clan Forbes business meeting, the Harlan B. Forbes Scholarship was initiated and approved. William Forbes Nissen created the criteria for awarding the scholarship. Scholarship recipients have included Kathryn C. Pearson (1994), Bryon T. Forbes (1996), and Stacey Tappan (1997).
Members. In 1995, the Society published a directory of just over 350 active and life members, most of whom resided in the United States. Despite relying on in-person events and hard-copy mailings, the Society did have some members outside the United States. Most notably, the 1995 membership directory includes six honorary members, including Nigel, 22nd Lord Forbes, and his son Malcolm, Master of Forbes. The directory also included eight members in Canada, one in England, and one in Monaco.
Publication. In 1987, the Society recruited about 100 subscribers at $38 each to reprint the 1934 publication The House of Forbes, by Alistair and Henrietta Tayler. The 500-page book is the most detailed account of the major branches of Forbes. The tome includes illustrations and genealogical charts as early as the 13th century.
Tours. Members Doug Beryl Fordyce, with assistance from Johnny Ball, organized two tours to Scotland in 1990 and 1993. The tour included a flight from Boston to Glasgow with a bus ride to Edinburgh. There, the participants visited such sites as Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, the Palace of Holyrood, Court of Sessions, and Greyfriars Kirk. The day ended with the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. During the next few days, the tours included such Forbes heritage sites as Corse Castle, Craigievar Castle, Corgarff Castle, Castle Forbes, Monymusk House, Tolquhon Castle, Fyvie Castle, and Druminnor Castle. They then enjoyed the Lonach Highland Gathering and Games. From there, the participants traveled to Inverness and Culloden House. The tour wound up with visits to Loch Ness, Glen Coe, Loch Lomond, and then a return to Glasgow. Tours were planned for 1996 and 1997, but both were canceled due to a lack of interest.
Decline. Sometime between 1980 and 2000, the Society failed to renew its corporation status in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Although this invalidated its IRS tax status, the Society continued to file its Form 990 tax returns, except for 2011 and 2013. The Society printed its final newsletter in the winter of 2011/2012. Without this major member benefit, the Board chose to cease membership recruitment and renewal. The Society also ceased mailing ballots for officers, as required by its bylaws. Therefore, all officers’ two-year terms expired. Even without the support of the national Society, several Highland Games conveners continued to host tents. These included Valerie Edwards in California, Rick Forbes in Texas, and Ron Pearson in Virginia and North Carolina.
Revitalization. When the Clan Forbes Tour was cancelled in 1997, one of the disappointed registrants was Society member Bart Forbes. In 2016, he arranged his own private three-day Clan Forbes tour with Jamie, Lord Sempill, principal of Clan Chief Tours. Forbes was so inspired by the experience that he worked for two years to revitalize the old Society. He offered to use his professional skills in membership, marketing, and social media. When that failed, in 2018, he filed articles of incorporation for a new Clan Forbes Society with another local member, Nancy Forbes. Avoiding the problem with the old society, he hired a company in Delaware to serve as the corporate agent, which would renew the annual franchise. He established a bank account, built the website with a new domain name, established a social media presence, and launched the first membership campaign in 2019. Forbes submitted monthly reports to Clan Chief Malcolm, Lord Forbes, on the status of the new Society. This continued until a new Board of Directors was elected in December 2019: Bart Forbes, President; Leslie A. Furbish, Vice President for Conveners; and James G. Forbes, II, Vice President for Operations.
Reunification. In July 2019, Ron Pearson, the former Secretary/Treasurer of the old Clan Forbes Society, agreed to support the new Society by providing contact information for members and transferring the remaining treasury funds of $3,982.38. In exchange, the new Society agreed to honor the arrangement of Life Membership from the old Society. In July 2019, the Legacy Life Members received a printed membership certificate via the U.S. Postal Service and were informed about the reunification. They were also requested to provide their email addresses for future communications. Of these, 38 responded with email addresses. They now receive full membership benefits.
Modern Age. The current Clan Forbes Society, version 2.0, has reinvigorated the original mission in the contemporary world. Instead of a static and slim website, clan-forbes.org now boasts 70 pages of information about our history, heritage, and genealogy. In addition, the site includes several databases with 48 bios of notable Forbeses, over 50 Forbeses in the modern military, 170 highland games, and over 190 historic and genealogical books in PDF format. In the past two years, the site has been visited by over 67,000 people. The Society emails a monthly newsletter to an email list of over 1,700 prospects. Over 530 members are maintained through an online membership system that automates acquisition and renewals. Of these, 90 reside outside the United States in 14 countries. A strong social media presence has garnered over 2,600 Facebook followers, over 1,000 Instagram followers, and over 360 YouTube followers (the fifth largest of all clan and family societies).
Archive. The heritage of the first Clan Forbes Society is preserved and celebrated in the Archives of the website. Here you will find the original bylaws, 2009 Membership Directory, 2009 Genealogy Directory, 1990 Tour brochure, and newsletters spanning from 1984 to 2012. In July 2019, Ron Pearson, former Secretary/Treasurer, donated hard copies of the newsletters from 1995 to 2011. In November 2019, former President Nelson Harlee Forbes donated issues between 1984 and 2007. In 2024, Karen L. Forbes donated a precious photograph album of the early years of the Society. Just as importantly, she donated several hardcover copies of her book Descendants of James Forbes of Hartford, Connecticut.
Thanks to the vision of the early founders of the old Clan Forbes Society, the new Society can advance our shared heritage in the modern world for the next generation.
Visit the Clan Forbes Society Archives here: https://www.clan-forbes.org/archives