Hello Mary:
Yes, I'm still out here - and delighted to hear from another descendant of Gilbert Forgie. There are a lot of us!
And there are a lot of John Forgies!
Captain John Forgie unfortunately remains a mystery. I'm beginning to suspect that he wasn't connected at all with our ancestors but have yet to find any evidence of who he might have been.
John Forgie (1799-1884) was a wealthy businessman in Ottawa who was bankrupted by a poor investment (backing the building of the Carleton County Jail). The Ancestry transcription of his death record suggests he died in Bruce, Ontario - but in fact he died in Ottawa (as did all the other folk on the same page as his death registration) - and is buried there in Beechwood Cemetery. One of his descendants has corroborated this.
John Forgie, the son of Thomas and Catherine, appears to have been a farmer. And you would certainly know if your gg-grand uncle had been a ship's captain.
New to me is the John Forgie (b 1836) who married Jane Kellough. I know that some family trees suggest that Gilbert and Martha had a son of that name born about that year - but Martha would have been about 50 years old at that time. Not entirely impossible, I suppose. Do you know of any records (census, marriage) confirming his existence? The Jane Kellough link is interesting - as the second wife of Gilbert and Martha's son Alexander (my 3x great grandfather) was Agnes Nancy Kellough (1818-1895). There's probably some connection there - a niece?
Alas, I don't know the date of Capt John Forgie's birth. The only details I've ever found were the 2 newspaper articles from 1888 and 1889. They suggest that he was resident in Smith's Falls at the time. But that's all I know.
It's a puzzle I'd love to solve.
All good wishes,
Mary