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 Susannah ( Holcomb) Forward (1753–1832). Among his siblings were younger brothers U.S. Representatives Walter Forward and Chauncey Forward. During John Tyler's administration, Walter served as the 15th Secretary of the Treasury and during the administrations of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, he served as the Minister to Denmark. Other siblings included Julia Forward, Rensselaer Forward and Dryden Forward, who both became lawyers but died young.

Career After roughly six years in Ohio, he moved to Buffalo, New York through the influence of his brother-in-law, Erastus Granger, who was the Collector of the Port of Buffalo and agent for the Indian tribes in Western New York. In 1812, 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. In 1817, Forward, as Collector of the Port, was authorized by the Treasury Department to purchase a site for a light house. Forward negotiated with Joseph Ellicott, agent of the Holland Land Company, to purchase the property near the outlet of the Buffalo Creek for $350. In 1822, President James Monroe appointed Myndert M. Dox to replace Forward.

For many years, Forward served as director of the Bank of Niagara, including a few years as Cashier of the bank, "the expectation being that his name and influence might in some way retrieve the fortunes of that institution."

His wife died in December 1831. In the summer of 1832, he suffered from an attack of cholera, never fully regaining his strength. Forward died in Buffalo on April 27, 1834. He 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.