Samuel Forwood

Samuel Forwood
Member of the Alabama House of Representatives from the Clarke County district
In office 1876–1876
Preceded by	F. W. Baker
Succeeded by	Frank Winn
In office 1839–1839
Preceded by	G. W. Creagh
Succeeded by	W. F. Jones
Personal details
Born	c. 1798 Harford County, Maryland, U.S.
Died	October 27, 1892 (aged 94) Clarke County, Alabama, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Rachael Cooper Stump ​ ​ (m. 1828; died 1830)​ Martha J. Morriss ​ (m. 1834)​
Children	11
Parent	John Forwood (father)
Occupation	Politician

Samuel Forwood (c. 1798 – October 27, 1892) was an American politician and slave owner from Alabama. He served as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing Clarke County in 1839 and 1876.

Early life

Samuel Forwood was born to John Forwood in Harford County, Maryland. His father was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates.[1][2]

Career

In the fall of 1830, Forwood moved to Clarke County, Alabama.[1] He founded the plantation Gosport Retreat in Gosport in the early 1830s. The name Gosport was a reduced form of God's Port. He served as postmaster of Gosport when the post office was established in 1834. He purchased the estate of Governor John Murphy in Gosport.[3][4] Forwood was a slaveholder[5] and owned a plantation during the Civil War. His plantation after the war had about 500 acres (200 ha).[1]

Forwood served as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing Clarke County in 1839 and 1876. He served in the Alabama constitutional conventions of 1865 and 1875.[6][7][8]

He was chairman of the Lee Monument Association of Alabama.[2]

Personal life

Forwood married Rachael Cooper Stump of Stafford in 1828. They had one son, W. Stump. His wife died in 1830.[1] After moving to Alabama, he married Martha J. Morriss in 1834. They had ten children.[1][9] His son W. Stump Forwood worked as a physician and founded the Harford Medical Society in Harford County, Maryland.[10]

Forwood lived in Gosport, Alabama.[6] He was a member of the Methodist Church.[6]

Forwood died on October 27, 1892, at the age of 94, at his plantation in Clarke County.[1]

References

1. "Death of Col. Samuel Forwood". The Aegis and Intelligencer. November 4, 1892. p. 3. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "The Lee Monument Association of Alabama". The Aegis and Intelligencer. May 10, 1878. p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Foscue, Virginia O. (1989). Place names in Alabama. p. 64. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
4. "Gov. John Murphy". The Clarke County Democrat. September 7, 1905. p. 1. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Willoughby, Christopher D. E. (2022). Masters of Health: Racial Science and Slavery in U.S. Medical Schools. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 1–16. ISBN 9781469672120. JSTOR 10.5149/9781469671864_willoughby.
6. "Died At Ninety-Four". Montgomery Advertiser. November 8, 1892. p. 4. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Ball, Timothy Horton (1879). Clarke County, Alabama, and Its Surroundings. pp. 712–713. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
8. Owen, Thomas McAdory; Owen, Marie Bankhead (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Vol. 1. pp. 271–272. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
9. "Mrs. Martha Forwood..." The Clarke County Democrat. January 30, 1896. p. 1. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Death of Dr. W. Stump Forwood". The Aegis and Intelligencer. January 8, 1892. p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Alabama Historical Quarterly: An Autobiographical Sketch of Samuel Forwood