Robert Forsyth.

Robert Forsyth.

Birth: 1754, Fermanagh, Ireland.
Death: Jan. 11, 1794, Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia.
Burial: Saint Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery, Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia.

Wife: Fanny Johnston Houston, married 1778, Georgia.
Father: Mathew forsythe.
Mother: Margaret Orr.

U.S. Marshal. A captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and later a major in the Virginia State Militia, he moved to Richmond County in 1785. President Washington submitted Forsyth's name in 1789 to the U.S. Senate for the position of Marshal of the District of Georgia. The Augusta lawman and civic leader is remembered by history as being the first U.S. Marshal slain in the line of duty. He was also the father of John Forsyth, a Georgia governor and congressman.

Authors note. Forsyth, Robert (Va.). Adjutant 4th Virginia in 1776; Captain of Lee's Battalion of Light Dragoons Pulaski Legion, 1st July, 1778; resigned 5th September ,1779; served subsequently as Major of a Virginia Militia Regiment to close of war.