The Story of One of Us
The lifetime of Margaret Forbes (1903–1997)
As we begin a New Year, I thought I’d start with a biography of one of those “Mighty Acorns” I set out to discover so many years ago. A cousin of mine, but also a genealogist/family historian who left behind a significant piece of her family’s puzzle.
Margaret Althea Forbes (1903–1997) was born on 20 August 1903 in Ashland, Ohio, the younger daughter of William Tawse and Amy Bernice (Sattler) Forbes. Her grandmother was born Mary Etta Callin - Margaret and her siblings are my 3rd cousins 2x removed.
William was a telegraph operator for the Pacific Railroad - and he apparently used his middle name, “Tawse,” and not “William.” He and Amy had four children, starting with Margaret’s older sister, Marabelle Ada Forbes (1901-1995). The two younger brothers were Robert Lyle Forbes (1907–2008) and Scott Callin Forbes (1914–1979).
The Spectre of Divorce
Judging by the evidence in the City directories, Amy and Tawse had a rocky marriage in the years after Scott was born.
In 1917, the Ashland City Directory lists “Forbes Amy S Mrs” at 711 Cottage and “The Nothern” at 717 Cottage. Tawse is not named in that edition of the directory—there are two other men named William (“Wm” living at 34 W. Main and “Wm C”, a bricklayer married to Emily and residing at 717 Ohio).
On his World War I Draft Registration Card, dated 12 Sep 1918, Tawse gives his address as 525 Vine and lists his nearest relative as “Mrs. Jane Forbes” at that address. This is his mother. She appears in the 1919 Ashland City Directory at 525 Vine; Amy is again listed as the proprietor of The Northern at 711 Cottage.
On the 1920 Census, Amy is listed as head of the household with her four children, managing the boarding house at 711 Cottage - and it says she is divorced. Strangely, Tawse Forbes (and Amy) are listed at that address in 1921. (So are “Wm” and “Wm C,” which is how I knew neither man was Tawse.)
Amy married Robert Marion Greenlun (1880–1966) on 31 July 1923, convincing evidence that she was divorced from Tawse. Bob moved into 711 Cottage and worked for the state highway department. In 1930, they still appear to have been operating the Northern Hotel boarding house, as the census lists five boarders, but by 1940, everyone in the household was a relative.
Margaret Comes of Age
Margaret graduated from Ashland High School in about 1921. Her sister, Marabelle, had married Noah C. Shull (1897-1986) in 1919, but marriage was not the choice Margaret made. She remained in her mother’s home at 711 Cottage and probably worked as a clerk for several businesses in Ashland.
The start of the war opened up an opportunity, and she went to Dayton in 1943 to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Evidence suggests that she was posted to Hickam Field, Hawaii, for a year, and returned to the mainland in Dec 1944 aboard the S.S. President Johnson.
Margaret remained a civilian Air Force employee for 22 years, sometimes working at different locations, but most of the city directories during the 1950s show her residing at her mother’s home at 711 Cottage, so she may have spent most of her career at the Shelby depot. Established as “Army Air Force Supply Depot” in Shelby, Richland County, Ohio, in 1943, the facility survived the war and was renamed Wilkins Air Force Specialized Depot after the Air Force became a separate service.
The Shelby depot was closed in January 1961, leaving only a single independent depot, the Dayton Air Force Depot at Gentile Air Force Station, Ohio. Margaret may have finished her career there.
Becoming One Of Us
After her retirement in 1965, Margaret traveled to Scotland six times to follow up her Forbes family tree. She was a member of the Ohio and Ashland Genealogical Society and, in her eighties, volunteered at the Ashland County Historical Society's Museum.
In 2019, I wrote to the Ashland County Genealogical Society (ACCOGS), asking whether they had any research donated by Margaret. They initially came up empty and referred me to Richland County, which forwarded my query to the Ohio Genealogical Society. Tom Neel, Library Director at Samuel D. Isaly Library for the OGS, was able to confirm that Margaret Forbes, Ashland, Ohio, was a member of the Ohio Genealogical Society from 1976 to 1982.
Unfortunately, none of these organizations were able to find any materials donated by Margaret. However, Mr. Neel mentioned my query at a meeting, and one longtime member of the Ashland County Chapter thought to check the chapter's collection at the Ashland Public Library, where they found a typewritten "History of the William Forbes Family" filed under "Martha Forbes," which turned out to be Margaret’s work.1
While I would have loved to find more information about her Callin heritage, it is understandable that she would focus on her father’s line. But - Margaret was not the only family historian I discovered while assembling the Callin Family History. (More on that another day!)
Endings
Tawse Forbes left Ohio after his divorce and was living in Minnesota when his mother died in 1933. By 1942, he was back in Ashland. He died of a heart attack while working as a night clerk at the Southern Hotel on 3 January 1956.
Bob Greenlun died in the Collins Nursing Home in Hayesville at the age of 86 in May 1966. Amy S. Greenlun died at her home at 711 Cottage a year later, on 7 September 1967, at age 92.
Scott Callin Forbes, the youngest child of Amy and Tawse, was 64 when he died at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Biloxi, Miss., on 1 July 1979. He was survived by two sons and a daughter.
Marabelle (Forbes) Shull died at Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Ashland on 5 March 1995. She was 92 and was survived by two sons, Lyle Richard Shull (1921–2001) and Ronald James "Jim" Shull (1924–2013).
Robert Lyle Forbes lived to be 100 years old and died on 31 March 2008 at Vitas Healthcare, Laud Lakes, Florida. He and his wife, Eva, never had children of their own.
Margaret died on 24 August 1997 at Kingston of Ashland when she was 94 years old.
Much of the information in this biography is based on a profile published in the Ashland Time-Gazette the day before her 90th birthday. Her own Forbes family history said only: “Margaret Althea, born 1903. She never married and lives in Ashland, Ohio.”
I have noticed that when we get into researching our family histories, we all tend to de-emphasize ourselves and view our lives as mundane or unadventurous. Margaret did this, too. But even though there are a million identical stories of individuals who lived quiet lives in their corner of history, each one is worth remembering.
I uploaded this document as a PDF under Margaret’s profile in my “Callin Family History - G.W. Callin 1911” tree on Ancestry. If you are interested in it and can’t access that link, let me know and I can email it.
Oh Tad, what a loving remembrance