Chauncey Forward

Chauncey Forward (February 4, 1793 – October 19, 1839) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Jacksonian member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. He was born in Old Granby, Connecticut, to Samuel and Susannah Forward. Among his siblings were Oliver Forward and Walter Forward, the latter of whom would also become a prominent Pennsylvania politician and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. In 1800, Forward moved with his father to Ohio and, shortly thereafter, the family settled in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where he spent his formative years.

Forward pursued classical studies as a young man and subsequently read law. He was admitted to the bar in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1817 and soon afterward commenced the practice of law in Somerset, Pennsylvania, which became his long-term home and professional base. In addition to his legal career, he established family ties that connected him to other regional families of note; he married Rebekah Blair of Maryland. Through his descendants, his family remained involved in public life, and his grandson, Chauncey Forward Black, later became a prominent Pennsylvania politician.

Forward entered public service at the state level in the early 1820s. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served from 1820 to 1822, participating in the legislative affairs of a rapidly developing commonwealth. Building on this experience, he advanced to the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 22nd district from 1823 to 1826. In these roles, he gained legislative experience and visibility that would help propel him to national office.

As a member of the Jackson Party representing Pennsylvania, Forward contributed to the legislative process during three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was first elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Alexander Thomson. He was subsequently reelected to the Twentieth Congress and again reelected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress. His service in Congress thus spanned a significant period in American history marked by the rise of Jacksonian democracy, the expansion of suffrage for white males, and intense debates over federal power, internal improvements, and economic policy. During these years, Forward participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Pennsylvania constituents in the national legislature.

After leaving Congress, Forward continued his public service at the local level. In 1831, he was appointed prothonotary and recorder of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, positions that combined important judicial and administrative responsibilities. In this capacity, he oversaw court records and legal documentation for the county, maintaining a central role in the administration of justice and local governance while continuing to be identified with the Jacksonian political movement.

Chauncey Forward remained in Somerset for the rest of his life, active in law and public affairs until his health declined. He died in Somerset, Pennsylvania, on October 19, 1839. His career, which encompassed service in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the Pennsylvania State Senate, and three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflected the trajectory of an early nineteenth-century lawyer-politician who rose from frontier communities to national office during the era of Andrew Jackson.