Albert Forder was born around 1843 in Indiana to William and Maria Forder. His father was a farmer who owned $7,500 of real estate and $600 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Washington, Indiana. Although he was too young to vote, he supported Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1860. In November 1860, he wrote to his brother, "I am glad to here that you have got your papers to vote and that you are a going to vote for old Abe." He enlisted in the Union army on September 18, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company D of the 38th Indiana Infantry later that day. He died of typhoid fever in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 1, 1862.