Quick Facts
Biography
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.
Career
In the fall of 1830, Forwood moved to Clarke County, Alabama. 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. Forwood was a slaveholder and owned a plantation during the Civil War. His plantation after the war had about 500 acres (200 ha).
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.
He was chairman of the Lee Monument Association of Alabama.
Personal life
Forwood married Rachael Cooper Stump of Stafford in 1828. They had one son, W. Stump. His wife died in 1830. After moving to Alabama, he married Martha J. Morriss in 1834. They had ten children. His son W. Stump Forwood worked as a physician and founded the Harford Medical Society in Harford County, Maryland.
Forwood lived in Gosport, Alabama. He was a member of the Methodist Church.
Forwood died on October 27, 1892, at the age of 94, at his plantation in Clarke County.