Fayette Frederick Forbes

Life Forbes was born on 9 May 1851 in Buckland, Massachusetts and after completing public schooling, he undertook further studies at Ashfield before entering the scientific department of Williston Seminary at the age of 19. He went on to work at the Holyoke Water Works as a civil engineer, Forbes' obituary in the Mueller Record states that he worked as an instructor at Williston Seminary before working as an engineer for the railroad companies. On December 9, 1873, he was employed at the Brookline Water Works, the employer that he would remain with until the end of his life. In 1885 Forbes was elected to the membership of the New England Water Works Association, and served on the executive committee, and as the Association's president in 1898. In 1927 he was elected to an honorary membership, and a commemorative award as commissioned in his honour, in 1949. He subsequently has been described, in the context of the problem of algal growth in drinking water supplies, as "probably the first to not only study the problem but also correct his system with a cover."

Legacy His personal herbarium of 16,000 specimen sheets was donated to the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, and his Nachet-type drum compound microscope is held by the Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes at Harvard University. the National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society in the United Kingdom, and the Natural History Museum, Oslo.

He named the following species and hybrids: Salix subsericea, F. F. Forbes Viola Brittoniana X lanceolata F.F.Forbes

The following species and varieties was named in his honour: Salix neoforbesii Toepffer (a synonym of Salix × subsericea Döll) Viola incognita var. forbesii Brainerd (a synonym of Viola incognita Brainerd)

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