Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature
Skip Navigation Links
  • LRL Home
    • >
  • Legislators Past & Present
    • >
  • Member Record
    • Legislators Past & Present Home

    Forbes, William Henry

    Sessions Served    Other Information

    Territorial Council 1849-51 (District 3); Territorial Council 1852-53 (District 2)

    Party when first elected:  Not Available

    Counties Served:  Ramsey

    BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

    Date of Birth: ??/??/1815
    Birth Place: Montreal
    Birth County:
    Birth Country: Canada
    Date of Death: 7/20/1875
    Gender: Male
    Religion: Catholic
    Reported Minority: None Reported
    Other Names:
    City of Residence (when first elected): Saint Paul
    Occupation (when first elected): American Fur Company, St. Paul Outfit

    EDUCATION

    OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE

    Postmaster: St. Paul, Minnesota; 03/15/1853 to 03/10/1856
    Military: United States Army (Sioux Outbreak of 1862, Quartermaster, Commissary, Brevet Major); 1862 to 1866
    County Auditor: Ramsey County, Minnesota; 1863 to 1865
    U.S. Executive Branch: United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Devil's Lake Agent, Minnesota; 1871 to 07/20/1875 [Appointed]

    FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

    Spouse: Agnes Faribault (married in 1846, she died in 1853, she was half Sioux Indian and the daughter of Alexander Faribault.)
    Children:
    Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:
    Alexander Faribault  - Father-in-Law

    GENERAL NOTES

    He came to Minnesota in 1837. He moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1847.

    He died at the Devil's Lake Agency and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    Religion provided by Minnesota in Three Centuries.

    Total Days Served: 1584

    SESSIONS SERVED

    4th Territorial Legislative Session (1853)

      Session Details
    Body: Territorial Council
    District: 02
    Elected: 10/14/1851
    Residence: Saint Paul
    Term of Office: 1/7/1852 to 1/3/1854
    Counties Represented: Ramsey
    Occupation: American Fur Company, St. Paul Outfit/Indian Trader
    Party: People's Party Notes: He is listed on the People's Ticket in the 1851 election. (A History of the City of St. Paul to 1875, 1983 edition, by J. Fletcher Williams, p. 317)
    Committees:
    • Enrolled Bills
    • Legislative Expenditures (Chair)
    • Printing
    • Public Buildings
    • Schools
    • Territorial Affairs
    • Territorial Roads (Chair)

    3rd Territorial Legislative Session (1852)

      Session Details
    Body: Territorial Council
    District: 02
    Elected: 10/14/1851
    Residence: Saint Paul
    Term of Office: 1/7/1852 to 1/3/1854
    Counties Represented: Ramsey
    Occupation: American Fur Company, St. Paul Outfit/Indian Trader
    Party: People's Party Notes: He is listed on the People's Ticket in the 1851 election. (A History of the City of St. Paul to 1875, 1983 edition, by J. Fletcher Williams, p. 317)
    Committees:
    Leadership Position: President of the Territorial Council

    2nd Territorial Legislative Session (1851)

      Session Details
    Body: Territorial Council
    District: 03
    Elected: 8/1/1849
    Residence: Saint Paul
    Term of Office: 9/3/1849 to 1/6/1852
    Counties Represented: Ramsey
    Occupation: American Fur Company, St. Paul Outfit
    Party: Not Available
    Committees:
    • Internal Improvements (Chair)
    • Public Buildings
    • Territorial Roads (Chair)

    1st Territorial Legislative Session (1849)

      Session Details
    Body: Territorial Council
    District: 03
    Elected: 8/1/1849
    Residence: Saint Paul
    Term of Office: 9/3/1849 to 1/6/1852
    Counties Represented: Ramsey
    Occupation: American Fur Company, St. Paul Outfit
    Party: Not Available
    Committees:
    • Incorporations
    • Militia (Chair)
    • Territorial Affairs
    • Territorial Expenditures (Chair)

    OTHER INFORMATION

    No other information has been entered for this legislator.

    Legislators Past & Present Home