Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 874 - 877

WILLIAM WARD. Doubtless the most enterprising young men of the older States have left the confines of their early homes to seek a new and wider field of operation. One of these is the gentleman of whom we now write. He is now a successful agriculturist and stock-raiser of Valley Center Township, residing on section 7. He was born in Crawford County, Pa., July 22, 1835, and is the son of John and Harriet (St. John) Ward, both of whom were natives of the State of New York. His parents had removed to the Keystone State shortly after their marriage, where they remained about eighteen years.

            The father of our subject was a carpenter by trade, and followed that occupation in both New York and Pennsylvania. In 1845 they removed to Warren County, Ill., where the father took up agricultural pursuits, which he followed until his death, which occurred in 1883. The mother of our subject died about ten years previous to her husband. They were both members of the Baptist Church, and had been such for a great number of years before their death. In his politics, the elder Mr. Ward was a stanch Democrat, and firmly attached to the principles of that party. He was the father of six ,children - Hiram, Eliza; Eunice, deceased; Samantha, William and Ann, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood.

            The subject of this personal narrative was educated in the public schools of Illinois, and was reared beneath the parental roof upon a farm. In earlier life he assisted his father in the labors attendant upon the pursuit of agriculture, but as he matured in years, he was given entire charge and management of the place, and carried it on for about ten years. When he had attained his twenty-fifth year he commenced farming on his own account, and has followed that vocation through life, and bringing to the business experience, industry, and a large amount of ability, it is no wonder that so great a success has attended his efforts in this direction, nor that he is ranked among the best practical farmers in the community in which he resides. He came to Sedgwick County in 1885, and purchased the northwest quarter of section 7, Valley Center Township, where he lives, of Mr. Shattuck, a hardware merchant at Sedgwick City. He has now a fine farm of 160 acres of excellent arable land, which, by dint of energy and good management, he has brought to a high state of tilth, and on which he carries on general farming and stock-raising. His horses, which are of good breeds, are well cared for, and the sixteen or eighteen head of cattle manifest by their sleek hides and plump condition that they are not neglected or overlooked.

            Having prospered to some extent, Mr. Ward began to think it his duty to establish a family fireside, and on the 16th of November, 1867, he and Miss Emily J. Brown plighted their troth at the marriage altar. The bride was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Zimmerman) Brown, natives of Virginia and Pennsylvania respectively, both of whom have passed to their reward in the heavenly land beyond the dark river, the father in 1862, and the mother in 1873. Mrs. Ward was born in Rockingham County, Va., in 1845. Her father and mother were both members of the Presbyterian Church, and very estimable Christian people. Her father was a Democrat in politics, in which he took great delight, and was a representative and prominent man in the section where he lived. He was the father of ten children, as follows: Catharine, George, Sarah, Francis, Thomas, Ellen, Mary, John, Emily and Joseph. Of these Joseph, Sarah and Mary are dead.

            Two children have come to gladden the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Ward, and fill the cup of joy to its fullest extent. They are: John, who was born Oct. 11, 1868, and Mary, whose birth took place Dec. 6, 1875. Frank Chester, born July 30, 1873, died in 1875.

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