Born in Skowhegan, Maine on June 14, 1862, Forrest Goodwin was educated at Bloomfield Academy and Skowhegan High School before graduating from Colby College in the class of 1887.
Deciding upon a career as a lawyer he entered Boston University Law School, graduating with honors in 1890. Following his admission to the bar he went to Washington for the next year and one half to act as Parliamentary Clerk to the Speaker of the House who just happened to be Thomas B. (Czar) Reed. It must have been an interesting education for a budding politician.
Returning to private practice in Maine in 1891, he was appointed Postmaster in Skowhegan and served three terms as a member of that town’s School Board.
He served one term in the Maine House from 1888 to 1889 but did not return to the Legislature until he served two terms in the Maine State Senate from 1903 to 1906. In his last term he was elected President of that body.