Chauncey Forward (February 4, 1793 – October 19, 1839) was an American politician who served as a Jacksonian member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Early life and education

Forward was born in Old

Granby, Connecticut Granby is a town in far northern Hartford County, Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New Y ...

, to Samuel and Susannah Forward. Among his brothers were

Oliver Forward Oliver Owen Forward JP (December 1, 1781 – April 27, 1834) was an early settler and government official in Buffalo, New York. Early life Forward was born in Simsbury, Connecticut in 1781. He was a son of Judge Samuel Forward (1752–1821) and ...

and

Walter Forward Walter Forward (January 24, 1786 – November 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and politician. He was the brother of Chauncey Forward. Biography Born in East Granby, Connecticut, he attended the common schools. After moving with his father to ...

. His grandson was

Chauncey Forward Black Chauncey Forward Black (November 24, 1839 – December 2, 1904) was the third lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1883 to 1887. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1886. Biography Born in Glades, Pennsylvania ...

. He moved with his father to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in 1800, and a short time afterward to

Greensburg, Pennsylvania Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city lies within the Laurel Highlands and the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau (ecoregion), W ...

. He pursued classical studies, studied law, was admitted to the bar in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, in 1817 and began practice in

Somerset, Pennsylvania Somerset is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,046 at the 2020 census. The borough is surrounded by Somerset Township, Som ...

. He was married to Rebekah Blair of Maryland.

Career

He was a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1820 to 1822 and the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the 22nd district from 1823 to 1826. Forward was elected to the Nineteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Alexander Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was ...

. He was reelected to the Twentieth Congress and reelected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress. He was appointed

prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

and recorder of

Somerset County, Pennsylvania Somerset County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania German: ''Somerset Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the po ...

, in 1831. He died in Somerset in 1839 and was interred in Ankeny Square Cemetery.

Sources

The Political Graveyard
, - , - 1793 births 1839 deaths 19th-century American politicians Burials in Pennsylvania Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania prothonotaries Pennsylvania state senators People from Granby, Connecticut People from Somerset, Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub