Wilbur Forward (November 24, 1888–November 24, 1934)
Emma R. (Lewis) Forward (circa 1888–April 22, 1945)

By Gramond McPherson

Early Life

Wilbur Forward served during World War I in the Army where he achieved the rank of Private.¹ Forward was born to Michael and Julia Forward in Saint Augustine, Florida.² He continued to live in Saint Augustine until adulthood. By 1910, Forward, now twenty-one, lived in the home of his brother-in-law Edward Gibson, his older sister Josephine, and nephew Adrian. Forward worked as a barber in Saint Augustine.³ Prior to his military service, Forward moved to Manhattan, New York, where on February 6, 1915, he married Emma R. Lewis in Manhattan.⁴ At the time of his draft registration on July 5, 1917, he worked as a porter in the famous Phillip Morris Building on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.⁵

Military Service

USS America

On October 30, 1917, the Army inducted Forward into military service. He eventually joined the 367th Infantry Regiment.⁶ The 367th formed at Camp Upton in Long Island, New York, on November 3, 1917, from drafted men. Of the original 3,699 men in the regiment, about 1,500 hailed from New York. The regiment joined the Ninety-second Division, one of the two newly-formed combat divisions that included the nearly 40,000 black soldiers who served overseas.⁷ As seen here, On June 10, 1918, Forward and his unit boarded the USS America from Hoboken, New Jersey, enroute to France. He listed his wife Emma as his emergency contact.⁸

Overseas, despite the racism black combat soldiers like Forward faced, the 367th performed well. The 367th fought in combat during one of the war’s last actions as part of the Meuse-Argonne offensive. On November 10, 1918, the regiment attacked at Pagny, in northeastern France, opposite the Metz forts, in conjunction with two battalions of the French Fifty-sixth Regiment. As French units came under heavy German machine gun fire due to being trapped by barbed wire, the 367th helped rescue the French from being completely wiped out. For their efforts, the First Battalion was awarded the Croix de Guerre award.⁹ Forward remained in France until February 8, 1918, when the 367th left Brest, France, to return to Hoboken aboard the TSS Rotterdam.¹⁰ On March 8, 1919, the Army discharged Forward from military service.¹¹

Post-War Life

1927 City Directory

After the war, Forward returned to his wife Emma in Saint Augustine where he worked various occupations. In 1924, the Saint Augustine City Directory lists his occupation as a chauffeur.¹² As seen here, by 1927, Forward worked as a clerk at The Ice Berg.¹³ Located in the Washington Street District of Lincolnville, a historic black-district in Saint Augustine, The Ice Berg was a legendary pharmacy and soda shop managed by Arthur C. Forward (relation unknown).¹⁴ By 1930, he worked as a painter, a job he maintained until his death.¹⁵ On November 22, 1934, Forward passed away on his forty-sixth birthday in Saint Augustine. He was interred at the Saint Augustine National Cemetery in Section A, Plot 206.¹⁶ His widow Emma continued to live in Saint Augustine. By 1940, she worked as a live-in-maid for Lucy Emerson, an elderly white woman in Saint Augustine.¹⁷ On April 22, 1945, Emma passed away and was interred with her husband Wilbur at the Saint Augustine National Cemetery.¹⁸

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