The mystery of George E. Forbush

To facilitate your research, here is a list of George E. Forbush and his wife Olive's offspring: Robert Forbes aka Forbush / Forbis / Faubus, b. circa 1734-35 (Virginia?) / d. 28 June 1813 in Henry County, Kentucky. Married Mary Eleanor Curtis, b. on 12 July 1741 in Rowan, NC / d. in September 1826 in Henry County. John William Forbes , b. c. 1732 / d. 10 June 1780 in Rowan County, North Carolina, married Martha Bryan b. circa 1729 (North Carolina?) / died 10 June 1780. Elizabeth (Forbes) Ferree , b. c. 1736 / d. 1806 in Surry, North Carolina. Married Isaac Ferree, b. 1725 / d. 1759. George II Forbes , b. c. 1738 / d. 21 November 1831 in Green, Kentucky. James Forbes , b. c. 1740 / d. 16 February 1805 in Green, Kentucky. Married Hannah Turner, b. 1737 / d. ? Margaret (Forbes) Montgomery , b. 1754 / d. ?. Married William Montgomery, b. 1754 / d. 7 September 1818 in Wilkes, Georgia. Catherine (Forbes) Cook , b. 1760 in Yadkin, Rowan County, North Carolina / d. 1830 in Barren, Kentuc...

  Gravestone of Olive aka Olif Forbis. Photo: Anne J Puryear Many websites, including Findagrave , where the above photograph was downloaded from, show Olive's maiden name as Ferree, daughter of Philip Ferree . However, I could not find any documentary evidence for this, not even in the comprehensive Genealogy of the Ferree family or, most notably, in the will of Philip Ferree. Given the complete absence of any contemporary documentary evidence linking our Olif (Olive) Forbis to the Ferree family, it is my considered opinion that this supposed connection is entirely unfounded . Neither George Forbis’s 1765 will, nor any surviving Rowan County probate, land, or court record from the period, contains even a passing reference to a Ferree (or any spelling variant) in connection with George, Olif, or their immediate descendants. The only “evidence” for such a link appears to originate from modern, unsourced online trees and misreadings of Olif Forbis’s name in 18th-century script...

George E. Forbush (also recorded as Forbis or Forbes), born circa 1700 (Maryland / Virginia / Pennsylvania?), died between 2 November 1768 and the proving of his will in 1769 in Rowan County, North Carolina. He married Olive (also spelled Oley, Olif in records; maiden name unknown). George E. Forbush’s migration path is partly documented and partly reconstructed from frontier settlement patterns. Surviving records place him in Augusta County, Virginia, by the late 1740s, and in Rowan County, North Carolina, by 1768. Later traditions have him moving through Maryland and Pennsylvania in the 1730s and 1740s, but primary proof before 1748 is lacking. In his will, signed on 2 November 1768 in Rowan County, NC, George names: Wife: Olif Children: Robert, James, George, John, Elizabeth Jones, and Mary Bryan Granddaughter: Olif (first name only) The will is recorded in Rowan County Will Book A and was proved in 1769. Spelling variations such as Forbush and Forbis occur in contemporary legal rec...