Los Angeles County

Biographies

 

 

 

JAMES BLAIR FORBES

 

 

FORBES, JAMES BLAIR, Real Estate and Investments, Los Angeles, California, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, September 6, 1877, the son of David Forbes and Julia (Squires) Forbes. He married Rena De Lyle at Los Angeles, April 2, 1908. His family is of Scotch origin and through its various branches has been prominent in business and political circles for many generations. Sir John Laird, grand uncle of Mr. Forbes, is a noted railway magnate of Scotland.

 

Mr. Forbes received his primary education in private and public schools of Grand Rapids, Mich., leaving high school in the last year of his course to go into business.

 

Beginning his career as clerk in the Car Accountant’s office of the West Michigan Railroad Company at a minimum compensation, Mr. Forbes served the railroad for several months, then resigned to take a position with the Fred Macy Company, of Grand Rapids, a large mail order furniture concern. He started with the company in 1898 in a minor capacity, but within four years he worked through various grades of promotion and in 1902 was appointed Manager of the company’s branch office in New York City, one of the most important posts in the entire organization.

 

Mr. Forbes represented his company in New York for about a year, then resigned to go into business with his father in Grand Rapids, and continued with him until1904.

 

After leaving his father, Mr. Forbes moved to the Southwest and for about a year lived in the open, working first in a lumber mill, then as a cowboy, and finally went to El Paso, Texas, where he entered the newspaper business, in connection with the El Paso Herald. With the knowledge gained in this position and his previous business experience, Mr. Forbes, in 1905, assumed the management of a syndicate of daily papers in Arizona, these including the Bisbee Review, the Douglas International American, the Tucson Star, and the Arizona Democrat, of Phoenix. All of these papers are ranked among the leading dailies of the Southwest and the handling of them called for extraordinary executive ability. Mr. Forbes established his headquarters in Los Angeles and from there directed the newspapers, following a general policy of encouragement to industries and development enterprises in the various sections.

 

Although his management of these newspapers was attended with gratifying success, Mr. Forbes retired from his position within a year after locating in Los Angeles to go into the real estate business, at that time entering upon a period of activity which has continued unabated for many years. The field offered unusual attractions to Mr. Forbes and he embarked in it with characteristic energy and enthusiasm, the result being that his operations have been attended with splendid success.

 

At the outset Mr. Forbes interested Michigan friends in his enterprises and since that time has been instrumental in attracting a large amount of Eastern capital to Southern California and has been the directing factor in the organization of a number of real estate, investment and development projects. His principal corporation is the California-Michigan Land Company, owned principally by Michigan capitalists, in which he holds office as Secretary, Treasurer and General Manager, and in which he is the moving spirit.

 

This company subdivided an attractive tract of land adjacent to Los Angeles, known as Michillinda, and early in 1912 began a campaign of development which has resulted in the establishment of a splendid residence suburb. It is a place of great natural beauty and under the management of Mr. Forbes was greatly improved with avenues of stately trees, broad winding drives, gardens, private parks and other modern innovations, with the result that it is ranked among the most desirable home sections in Southern California.

 

In addition to the handling of Michillinda’s development, Mr. Forbes also devotes part of his time to other interests, these including the James B. Forbes Company, a general investment concern of which he is President, and the Southern California Land & Securities Company, a corporation capitalized at two million dollars, in which he is Secretary, Treasurer and Manager. This latter company deals in investments in city and suburban lands, also securities, and Mr. Forbes is the dominating factor in its success.

 

The real estate business in Southern California, thoroughly organized and conducted along scientific lines, has opened the eyes of the entire country in recent years, and Mr. Forbes, as the head of the various concerns mentioned, has come to be regarded as one of the progressive spirits responsible for the continued growth of the business.

 

Mr. Forbes is an indefatigable worker and is keenly interested in public affairs, but takes no active part in the politics of the city. He is, however, a member of various important commercial and civic organizations, among them the Los Angeles Realty Board, the California State Realty Board, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the City Club of Los Angeles. Each of these bodies contributes towards the general advancement of the city and its environs and Mr. Forbes has been one of the most enterprising and energetic supporters of their various projects.

 

Aside from these affiliations, Mr. Forbes is a member of several social organizations, including the Los Angeles Athletic Club, San Gabriel Valley Golf Club, and the Virginia Country Club, in Southern California, and the Peninsula Club and Kent Country Club, organizations of Grand Rapids, Mich., of which he has been a member for many years.

 

 

Transcribed 9-23-11 Marilyn R. Pankey.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I,  Page 791, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.  1913.

© 2011 Marilyn R. Pankey.

 

 

 

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