Forrest Clare came to Gilbert from Clarkdale in northern Arizona in the spring of 1918. He put down roots along Main Street, now Gilbert Road, to set up a sheet metal shop and behind his home.

He was born in 1222, a son of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford and his wife Isabel (Marshal). As a child he was a ward of Hubert de Burgh and heir to great estates in England.