Samuel A. Forman
Samuel A. Forman is a historian, physician, educator, and businessperson. He is the president of Oak and Ivy Health Systems and a visiting scientist at Harvard University. Throughout his successful careers as a physician, military officer, and businessman, he has published and lectured on historical topics impacting current issues. His identical surname as the historical protagonists is entirely coincidental; he is unrelated to any of them.
Samuel S. Forman
Frontier businessman who accompanied and documented a large group of pioneer settlers departing New Jersey in 1789 for Natchez in Spanish West Florida. An adventurous and engaging fellow, Samuel S. immersed himself in all aspects of the 2400-mile epic trek. Ill-Fated Frontier is the non-fiction modern retelling of the Formans’ adventures.
Ginnie
Most influential among the Formans’ enslaved household servants. Circumstantial evidence indicates that she was forced to reconcile the interests of her enslavers with protecting her family and co-workers during the epic trek to the West and South. More than once the fate of the entire enterprise seemed to come within her influence. No images exist of the enslaved Formans. This photo is of an enslaved 19c woman in a comparable household position of trust.
Chief Little Turtle
War chief of the Miami Indian Nation and a lynchpin of the Northwest Indian Federation, he and his allies conducted a terror campaign to dissuade settlers from encroaching on traditional Indian lands. Leading the largest-ever defeat of the U.S. Army by Indians, he nevertheless had to accommodate to the Americans on the battlefield, in politics, and within his own family.
General David Forman
George Washington’s eyes, ears, and often extra-legal strong arm, he kept British Loyalists in check during protracted Revolutionary War guerrilla actions in Northern New Jersey. Afterward he dispatched family members and 60 enslaved African Americans, including both Samuel S. and Ginnie, on the pioneering and settlement odyssey. The enterprise he initiated went on to determine his own fate as well as everyone involved.
Manuel Gayoso de Lemos
Suave and able military and civil governor of Natchez and Spanish West Florida from 1789-1795, he later became governor of all of Luisiana. Gayoso and his administration welcomed the pioneer settlers. He conducted a pivotal trial deciding both the free and enslaved Formans’ fates.