Walter Forward (January 24, 1786 – November 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and politician. He was the brother of Chauncey Forward and Oliver Forward.

Biography

Born in East Granby, Connecticut, he attended the common schools. After moving with his father to

Aurora, Ohio Aurora is a city in northwestern Portage County, Ohio, United States. A suburb in between Akron and Cleveland, the population was 17,239 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. Some say Aurora was the name of the daught ...

, he settled in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in 1803. There he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1806. He practiced in Pittsburgh and also served for more than a year as editor of ''The Tree of Liberty'' newspaper. He also served in the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

. In 1822, he was elected to the 17th Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Henry Baldwin, and was reelected to the 18th Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1824 to the 19th Congress. He was a member of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1837 and played an important role in the establishment of the United States Whig Party in the 1830s. Forward was an active supporter of the Harrison-Tyler ticket in the U.S. presidential election, 1840. As a reward, Forward was offered the office of

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He declined that appointment but on March 6, 1841 was appointed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

to be First Comptroller of the Treasury. He served in that post until September 13, 1841, when he was appointed 15th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury by President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected ...

. During his tenure as Treasury Secretary, the Independent Treasury System of 1840 was abolished, and the government's funds were deposited once more with commercial banks. Soon after Forward took office, he was asked by

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

, then chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, to devise a plan to increase the tariff, in response to the serious decrease in revenue caused by the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...

. He was also asked to develop plans for a "Board of Exchequer" to receive and disburse customs revenue, since the Independent Treasury System was no longer in effect. In August 1842 a strongly protective tariff was passed. Since constant friction with the new President marred his entire tenure as Secretary of the Treasury, he left Tyler's cabinet on February 28, 1843. After leaving his Cabinet post, Forward resumed the practice of law in Pittsburgh until 1849, when he was appointed

Chargé d'Affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

by President

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

. He returned from Denmark in 1851 to serve as presiding judge of the district court of Allegheny County. He died in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and is interred in Allegheny Cemetery.

Honors

Forward Township in Allegheny County is named for Walter Forward, as is the Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Forward (WMEC-911).

References

External links

Retrieved on 2009-5-20 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forward, Walter 1786 births 1852 deaths 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American newspaper editors People from Hartford County, Connecticut United States secretaries of the treasury Politicians from Pittsburgh Ambassadors of the United States to Denmark Pennsylvania Whigs Tyler administration cabinet members People from Aurora, Ohio Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Burials at Allegheny Cemetery 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives