CHARLES W. FORBES

Main Cemetery -- Single Grave
Secong Row -- Grave 27
(No picture of Charles available)

Charles Warren Forbes had a challenging, and short, life. When he was less than one year old, he appeared in court with his mother, Ida Keiling Forbes, who attempted to press a charge of bigamy against his father, Charles Warren Forbes, Sr. Ida had learned she was wife number two of three to whom Charles Sr. had been married. The court must have granted a divorce since Ida married James H. Cummings in 1899.

Charles can be found in the 1905 Rochester census as “Warren Cummings”. By then, he had two half-siblings, William and Margaret Cummings. He lived with his mother and stepfather in Rochester for several years. Following his mother’s death from consumption in 1912, Charles went to work on Vernon Welch’s one-hundred-acre farm on Mendon Road. Charles was employed as a farm laborer with Mr. Welch for four years before moving to the Ira Snyder farm and spending the last year of his life at work there.

On August 16, 1914 Charles and his friend, Edward Brown of Albion, decided to go cool off with a swim. They headed to Bushnell’s Basin, where some other boys were already larking about in the water. Charles dove into the canal, only to surface soon after uttering a pitiful cry for help. Edward and the other boys could not reach Charles and he sank from view.

Coroner Henry Kleindienst attempted to recover the body, but the great quantity of wire, tar paper and other debris in the bottom of the canal flume made the task impossible. Ultimately, the recovery mission was successful and 17-year-old Charles Warren Forbes was laid to rest at Pittsford Cemetery. A headstone has not been found and it is unlikely that one was ever placed. The burial permit, seen here and archived in the Town Historian’s office, lists the cause of death as “Drowning, Accidentally”.