11 Facts About Oliver Forward

Oliver Owen Forward JP was an early settler and government official in Buffalo, New York.

Oliver Forward was a son of Judge Samuel Forward and Susannah Forward.

Oliver Forward's grandfather was Abel Forward of East Granby, a son of Samuel Forward, who emigrated from England in the 1600s and settled in Windsor, Connecticut.

In February 1803, Oliver Forward travelled west to Aurora, Ohio with his father and family arriving later in the year after his father sold his Connecticut possessions.

In 1812, Oliver Forward was appointed by President James Madison to succeed Granger as Collector of the Port of Buffalo, and the following year, the village of Buffalo was incorporated by the legislature.

Oliver Forward negotiated with Joseph Ellicott, agent of the Holland Land Company, to purchase the property near the outlet of the Buffalo Creek for $350.

At the close of the session of 1822, on his return to Buffalo, Oliver Forward was again elected chairman of the board of trustees of the village of Buffalo and was again reelected in 1823 and 1824.

The city of Buffalo was officially organized in spring 1832 and a common council was created and Oliver Forward served "as a representative from the first ward" and was elected chairman.

Oliver Forward lived there until December 1813 when the British burned the city during the War of 1812.

The villagers returned in Spring 1814 and Oliver Forward constructed a two-story brick house, again on Pearl Street, that was "considered the most elegant residence" in Buffalo.

Oliver Forward was buried in his brother-in-law's family burial lot, which eventually became Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo after Granger's widow sold it to Charles E Clarke in 1849.