THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 314 . 5 ) 
 Wg.\ Ws 
 
UNIVERSITY OF laiNOlS LIBRARY 
 
 APR 1 1 1917 
 
 Keturn this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. A 
 charge is made on all overdue 
 books. 
 
 U. of I. Library 
 
THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 314. S 
 
 Wg.\ Ws 
 
'VO, 
 
 f lUINOIS library 
 
 1 1 1917 
 
 oo^ 
 
 
 r 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
OF THE 
 
 tJHIVERSITy OF ILLINOiS 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 '' in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/seventhdaybaptisOOward 
 
Hon, Samuel Ward, 
 may 27, 1725 MARCH 26, 1776. 
 
 of RhMe towrj, Mi Merr.feer o# »,s Co«»in«ni»i Co«f 
 
Seventh Day Baptist History 
 
 aNfVEffStTyoniUNOfSUBRARV 
 
 1 1 1917 
 
 (Sotietnot Samuel a^ato 
 
 of Rhode Island 
 
 1725-1776 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE 
 
 Seventh Day Baptist General Conference 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AMERICAN SABBATH TRACT SOCIETY 
 (SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST) 
 PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY 
 1907 
 
c) 
 
 \> ] "S. V 5 
 
 00 
 
 o 
 
 ur> 
 
 
 
 
 rsi 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 Upon the recommendation of the Committee on Denomi- 
 national History the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference 
 at its annual session in 1903 authorized the Committee to 
 have reprinted certain historical literature which had become 
 scarce and difficult of access. Included in this literature is 
 the accompanying biography of Governor Samuel Ward of 
 Rhode Island, by Charles H. Denison, as well as a memoir by 
 John Ward, a great-grandson of Governor Ward. 
 
 Because of the prominence of Governor Ward and his 
 family in the Seventh Day Baptist Churches of Newport and 
 Westerly (now First Hopkinton), Rhode Island, it seems 
 appropriate to include a brief genealogy of the Ward family 
 by John Ward. 
 
 The thanks of the Committee are due the Hon. George 
 H. Utter of Westerly, Rhode Island, through whose courtesy 
 the reprinting of the biography by Charles H. Denison is 
 rendered possible. 
 
 The memoir by John Ward is a reprint of The Life and 
 Services of Governor Samuel Ward of Rhode Island, a Mem- 
 ber of the Continental Congress in 1774, 1775, and 1776. By 
 his Great-Grandson, John Ward of New York. Providence, 
 R. L, 1877. The accompanying portrait is from this memoir. 
 
 The Ward genealogy is reprinted from A Memoir of 
 Lieut. -Colonel Samuel Ward, First Rhode Island Regiment, 
 Army of the American Revolution ; with a Genealogy of the 
 Ward Family. By John Ward, New York, 1875. 
 
 The standard biography of Governor Samuel Ward may 
 be found in Spark’s Library of American Biography, Vol. 
 XIX (New Series, Vol. IX), pp. 231-353. By William 
 Gammell. Boston, 1846. 
 
 Corliss F. Randolph, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee on 
 Denominational History. 
 
 Newark, New Jersey, August i, 1907. 
 
 363077 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Memoirs— By Charles H. Denison 9 
 
 Life and Services — By John Ward 69 
 
 Genealogy of the Ward Family 91 
 
i 
 
 i 
 
Memoirs of 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD 
 of Westerly, Rhode Island 
 
 BY CHARLES H. DENISON 
 
Memoirs of 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD 
 
 By Charles H. Denison. 
 
 [The memoirs of Gov. Samuel Ward, by Charles H. Denison, ap- 
 peared in the Narragansett Weekly (Westerly, R. I.) in 1859, in the 
 issues for July 14, 21, 28, Aug. 4, ii, 18, 25, Sept, i, 8, 15, 22, 29.] 
 
 During a residence of fifteen years in the town of West- 
 erly, I have seldom heard the name of Samuel Ward mentioned. 
 
 A few persons among the rising generation are aware that there 
 was once a man residing here, but whence he came, or when 
 he made his exit from us, they cannot tell. It shiall be my 
 pleasant task to give the reader the most prominent acts in 
 the life of this excellent and talented man, and to show how 
 well he adorned every station he was called upon to fill. 
 
 Would time permit, doubtlessly his ancestors might be 
 correctly traced from the first ‘‘Ward” hereafter mentioned, 
 down to the subject of this sketch-. And indeed it is my 
 intention to do so at some future period, but circumstances 
 limit both time to search for, and space to print, such a gen- 
 ealogy. 
 
 Seven hundred and ten distinguished persons, each bear- 
 ing but one name, (surname) accompanied William the Con- 
 querer from Normandy to the Conquest of England, in 1066, 
 a record of all whose names is yet preserved. Among the 
 number was “Ward, one of the noble captains.” This is 
 the earliest period in which the name is found in English 
 history; and the first which appears there with an additional 
 or Christian name, was “William de la Ward,” residing in 
 Chester, 1175. From 1340 a succession of eleven genera- - 
 tions of the family is found there, in each of which the 
 name of the head of the family was in the first, Ralph ; in 
 the second, Richard; in the third, John; in the fourth, John; 
 in the fifth, Richard ; in the sixth, William ; in the seventh, 
 Thomas ; in the eighth, Thomas ; in the ninth, John ; in the 
 tenth, Richard ; in the eleventh, Thomas, who had sons John 
 
10 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 and William. The Wards of Yorkshire spread into the ad- 
 joining counties of England. Their coat of arms was azure, 
 a cross baton, a crest, wolf’s head erased. 
 
 Among the names of the celebrated Divines called to 
 the Oxford Parliament in 1641, v/as Samuel Ward, D. D., 
 Master of Sidney College, Cambridge, England, and Rev. 
 John Ward. The first-named afterwards retired to Holland, 
 and being a leading “Independent,” was appointed Colleague 
 to Rev. Mr. Bridge, at Rotterdam. The grandfather of Gov. 
 Samuel Ward of Westerly, whose name was Thomas, 
 came to Newport, Rhode Island, about the time of 
 the Protectors — Cromwell’s death. He represented his 
 adopted town at intervals in both branches of the Colonial 
 Legislature. His name was enrolled in the list of freemen 
 in Portsmouth, R. L, in 1655, and in the roll of Newport, 
 the same year, stands the name of Marmaduke Ward, and 
 of John Ward’ in 1673, Vv^ho was also deputy from Ports- 
 miouth in 1699, and 1701. Thomas Ward, the grandfather 
 of Gov. Samuel of Westerly, rose in 1676 to the office of 
 assistant, and until his death, which occurred in 1689, 
 he enjoyed the confidence of his townsmen in the highest 
 degree. 
 
 He left a second wife, whose maiden name was Amy 
 Smith, and an only child, Richard Ward, who was born a 
 few months before his father’s death. Richard was honored 
 by his native State with the election to various offices' ; was 
 chosen Attorney General, Secretary of State ; then Deputy 
 Governor; and finally, in 1741 and 1742, was elected to the 
 office of Governor. After holding this office two years, he 
 declined a re-election, and retired to private life. He was 
 extensively engaged in commerce, and as a private citizen 
 was highly honored and respected. He had several sons and 
 daughters, of whbm Thomas, who graduated at Harvard Col- 
 lege in 1733, was the eldest; Samuel, the subject of this sketch, 
 the second ; and Henry, afterwards Secretary of State, the 
 youngest. The names of the daughters have not come to 
 my knowledge, although they afterwards resided with their 
 brother in his mansion at Westerly. 
 
 Samuel Ward was born on the 27th of May, 1725? 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 II 
 
 Newport. He was not a graduate of a college or a univer- 
 sity, but received an excellent education for the destination 
 intended by his father. The eldest son was to inherit the 
 name and estates, and was sent to College; the second son 
 was educated for a farmer only, and the schools of his native 
 town were deemed sufficiently good to afford him a suitable 
 education. But an ambitious youth, in the pursuit of knowl- 
 edge is confined by no laws of caste and he soon acquired 
 by diligence and unremitting study, the best education the 
 colony could bestow. By him, instead of the eldest son, 
 was to be sustained, and transmitted to posterity, the name 
 of the family ; and it seemed as though a consciousness of 
 this fact stimulated him to exertion. 
 
 The society of Nev/port, at that time, was adorned by 
 some of the most eminent men of the country. It was dis- 
 tinguished for its polished manners and intellectual tone. 
 Dean Berkeley resided there for several years, and around 
 him and some other noted gentlemen of equal attainments, 
 moved a circle pervaded by refinement and intellectuality. 
 The house of Gov. Richard Ward was one of the favored 
 roofs under which a social club, originated by Berkeley, 
 occasionally met and discussed various literary and philo- 
 sophical questions. Under such influences, so advantageous 
 to an ambitious mind, the boyhood and youth of Samuel 
 Ward passed, until i 745 ? when, at the age of twenty years, 
 he married Anna Ray, a descendant of Simon Ray, of Block 
 Island, and settled in Westerly, on a farm which his father- 
 in-law gave his wife as a dower. His marriage was solemn- 
 ized in Westerly, and the record reads as follows: “Dec. 
 
 1745* Samuel Ward and Anna Ray Joyned in Ye bonds 
 of matrimony by me. Joseph Park.” 
 
 Upon the farm given by Mr. Ward’s father-in-law, the 
 young couple quietly sat down to the duties of life. But 
 m settling in this quiet corner of the colony, Mr. Ward was 
 by no means deprived of the advantages of the society in 
 which he was accustomed to move. The Narragansett coun- 
 try was peopled by the great landed proprietors of the colony. 
 The Hazards, the Robinsons, the Champlins, the Babcocks, 
 and others, were gentlemien of wealth and refinement. Their 
 
12 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 plantations were large and consequently at a distance apart, 
 but the proprietors were on terms of intimacy, and invi- 
 tations were frequent from one plantation to another. Mr. 
 Hazard, of South Kingstown, gives a very interesting des- 
 cription of the customs and manners of those days, which 
 I copy. He says: 
 
 “This state of society, supported by slavery, produced 
 festivities and dissipation, the natural result of wealth and 
 leisure. Excursions to Hartford to luxuriate on bloated 
 salmon, were the annual indulgencies of May. Pace races 
 on the beach for the prize of a silver tankard, and roasts of 
 shelled and scaled fish, were the social indulgencies of summer, 
 when the autumn arrived, the corn husking festivities com- 
 menced. Invitations were extended to all those proprietors who 
 were in habits of family intimacy, and in return the invited 
 guests sent their slaves to aid the host by their services. Large 
 numbers would be gathered, of both sexes, expensive enter- 
 tainments prepared, and after the repast the recreation of 
 dancing commenced, as every family was provided with a 
 large hall in their spacious mansions, and with natural musi- 
 cians among their slaves. Gentlemen in their scarlet coats 
 and swords, with laced ruffles over their hands, hair turned 
 back from the forehead and curled and frizzled, clubbed or 
 queed behind, highly powdered and pomatumed ; small clothes, 
 silk stockings, and shoes ornamented with brilliant buckles; 
 and ladies dressed in brocade, cushioned head-dresses, and 
 high-heeled shoes, performed the formal minuet with its 
 thirty-six different positions and changes. These festivities 
 would sometimes continue for days, and the banquet among 
 the land proprietors would, for a longer or shorter time be 
 continued during the season of harvest. These seasons of 
 hilarity and festivity were as gratifying to the slaves as to 
 their masters, as bountiful preparations were made, and like 
 amusements were enjoyed by them in the large kitchens and 
 out houses, the places of their residence. A Christmas com- 
 menced the Holy days. The work of the season was com- 
 pleted, and done up and the twelve days generally devoted to 
 festive associations. Every gentleman of estate had his circle 
 of connecting friends, and acquaintances, and they were in- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 13 
 
 vited from one plantation to another. Every member of the 
 family had his particular horse and servant, and they 
 rarely rode unattended by their servant, to open gates 
 and take charge of the horse. Carriages were unknown, 
 and the public roads were not so good, nor so numerous as 
 at present. Narragansett has fewer public roads than most 
 parts of the State. There were driftways from one 
 plantation to another, and this inconvenient obstruction still 
 continues. 
 
 “The fox chase, with hounds and horns, fishing and fowl- 
 ing, were objects of enchanting recreation. Wild pigeons, 
 partridges, quails, woodcock, snipe, squirrels, and rabbit were 
 nearly as plenty as leaves upon the trees, such were the 
 amusements, pastimes, festivities and galas of ancient 
 Narragansett. Among such gentlemen, and in such com- 
 pany, our young farmer soon found himself at home. Al- 
 though possessed of moderate taste, the position of his father, 
 as Governor, gave him an immediate introduction into this 
 select society, and his own acquirements and sagacity soon 
 enabled him to draw around him a devoted circle of friends. 
 He entered at once upon the laborious duties incumbent upon 
 the management of a farm, and by its profits and those de- 
 rived from a store, which every plantation kept, he soon 
 amassed a handsome property. He also — as his father had 
 before him — engaged in commerce at Newport and Ston- 
 ington, and in a few years was as independent as any gentle- 
 man in Narragansett, although not quite as wealthy. Com- 
 merce in those days must not be considered as insignificant 
 pursuit, for when we remember that immense quantities of 
 grain, hay, butter and cheese were shipped to the West Indies 
 and other places, we shall find the aggregate swelled to a 
 large amount. Some plantations milked more than a hundred 
 cows, cut two hundred loads of hay, made thirteen thousand 
 pounds of cheese, besides butter, and sold off many fat calves 
 and bullocks. Rhode Island cheese was so celebrated that, 
 abroad, all New England cheese sold better by calling it by that 
 name. Cream was then used in its manufacture, but since 
 the Revolution, in this vicinity, the skimmer has been freely 
 used to part the cream and milk — never, we fear to meet again. 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 \ H 
 
 Samuel Ward, by being above the necessity of personal 
 labor, was now able to turn his attention more to public 
 affairs, and devote his efforts to the interests of the colony, 
 yet eleven years ihad elapsed since his marriage before the 
 commencement of his public life. But the great, eternal prin- 
 ciples of truth and justice, and the aspirations after a higher 
 liberty than man had ever yet possessed, were beginning to 
 be felt by him. He had resided so long within the sound 
 of the billovv^s and waves of the ocean, that he had grown in- 
 sensibly like them. No man can live within sight of that great 
 exhibition of God’s power in the creation, without imbibing 
 some of those feelings of liberty of Vv^hich it is the fitting type. 
 
 It was about this time that Benjamin Franklin passed 
 through Westerly, on his trip of inspection as Postmaster 
 General of the colonies, and remained a day or two on a visit 
 at Mr. Ward’s. A sister of Mrs. Vv^ard — Catherine Ray — was 
 also a visitor there, and becoming acquainted with Dr. Frank- 
 lin, afterwards corresponded with him. One of his letters 
 to her is so good, and as the incidents occurred at this time 
 when they met at Mr. Ward’s I am tempted to give it in 
 full. 
 
 To Miss Catherine Ray, at Block Island. 
 
 Philadelphia, 4th March, 1775. 
 
 Dear Katy — Your kind letter of January 20th is but just 
 come to hand, and I take this opportunity of acknowledging 
 the favor. It gives me great pleasure to hear that you got 
 home safe and well that day. I thought too much was haz- 
 arded, when I saw you put of¥ to sea in that very little skiff, 
 tossed by every wave. But the call v/as strong and just — 
 a sick parent. I stood on the shore and looked after you, 
 till I could no longer distinguish you, even with my glass ; 
 then returned to your sister’s, praying for your safe passage. 
 Towards evening, all agreed you must certainly be arrived 
 before that time, the weather having been so favorable ; which 
 made me more easy and cheerful, for I had been truly con- 
 cerned for you. I now left New England slowly and with 
 great reluctance. Short days’ journeys, and loitering visits on 
 the road, for three or four weeks manifested my unwillingness 
 to quit a country in which I drew my first breath, spent my 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 15 
 
 earliest and most pleasant days, and had now received so many 
 marks of the people’s goodness and benevolence in the kind 
 and affectionate treatment I had everywhere met with. I 
 almost forgot I had a home, till I was more than half way 
 towards it; till I had, one by one, parted with all my New 
 England friends, and was got into the western borders of 
 Connecticut, among mere strangers. Then, like an old man, 
 who, having buried all he loved in the world, begins to think 
 of heaven, I began to think of and wish for home ; and, as 
 I drew nearer, I found the attraction stronger and stronger. 
 My diligence and speed increased with my impatience. I 
 drove on so violently, and made such long stretches, that 
 a very few days brought me to my own house, and to the 
 arms of my good wife and children, where I remain, thanks 
 to God, at present, well and happy. 
 
 Persons subject to the hyp complain of the northeast 
 wind as increasing their malady. But since you promise 
 to send me kisses in that wind, and I find you as good as 
 your word, it is to me the gayest wind that blows, and gives 
 me the best spirits. 
 
 I write this during a northeast storm of snow, the great- 
 est we have had this winter. Your favor come mixed with 
 the snowy fleeces, which are as pure as your virgin innocence, 
 white as your lovely bosom, and — as cold. But let it warm 
 towards some worthy young man, and may heaven bless 
 you both with every kind of happiness. 
 
 I desired Miss Anna Ward to send you over a little book 
 I left v/ith her, for your amusement in that lonely island. 
 My respects to your good father, and mother, and sister. Let 
 me hear often of your welfare, since it is not likely I shall 
 ever again have the pleasure of seeing you. Accept mine and 
 my wife’s sincere thanks for the many civilities I receive 
 from you and your relations; and do me the justice to 
 believe me, dear girl, your affectionate faithful friend, and 
 humble servant. B. Franklin. 
 
 P. S. — My respectful compliments to your good brother 
 Ward and sister; and to the agreeable family of Wards at 
 Newport, when you see them. Adieu. 
 
1 6 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 Samuel Ward’s first election to office where the scene 
 of action was outside the limits of his adopted town, was in 
 1756, when he was elected to the General Assembly as Deputy 
 from Westerly. There are some favored men whom we occa- 
 sionally meet, whose qualifiactions seem fitted to adorn any 
 position they are called upon to occupy. They have a cer- 
 tain faculty or aptitude for the business or pursuit they are 
 engaged in, and we imagine they will do well in some other. 
 But how we are astonished when they grasp with a familiar 
 hand the reins of their new position, and shed a lustre upon 
 it as surprising as novel. Such was the effect of Samuel 
 Ward’s election to the Assembly of Rhode Island. He had 
 shown himself as an able, energetic farmer, who was not con- 
 tent to dig and delve in the same old furrow; but one who 
 had thought upon and observed the effect of Nature’s land, 
 and profited by such experience; and now he was found just 
 as well qualified for his new station. Although but little 
 over thirty years of age, and probably as young as any other 
 member of the House, he took a leading part in all the ques- 
 tions and debates before that body, arid was treated with 
 great deference and respect. The same effect will be no- 
 ticed when he takes his seat in the first Continental Congress. 
 None but a man of substantial merit would have been so 
 honored. By reference to the schedules of that day, his name 
 may be seen upon the most important standing and special 
 committees, and his election to the same office for three or 
 four years shows that he lost no popularity with his constitu- 
 ents, although the deputies were elected to the Assembly twice 
 each year, and they could not have been at a loss for opportuni- 
 ties to reject him, had he proved himself unworthy. 
 
 His election to the Assembly of Rhode Island occurred 
 also at a critical and embarrassing time for the colonies. The 
 governments of England and France had openly declared war, 
 and the colonies were called upon by the mother country 
 to furnish troops to carry on the campaign upon their own 
 soil. Rhode Island was required to raise four hundred and 
 fifty troops as her quota, and with a promptitude which dis- 
 tinguished her in the succeeding years of the Revolution, the 
 requisite number was immediately forthcoming. But the sea- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 1 7 
 
 son being too far advanced for active service, they were dis- 
 missed in November, with orders to be ready to take the 
 field early in the spring. The Earl of London was appointed 
 to command the American troops, and his arrival in this 
 country, in 1756, with a large British force, to act in con- 
 junction with the colonial army, was greeted by addresses 
 from the several colonies. Mr. Ward was appointed to pre- 
 pare an address of welcoiue on the part of Rhode Island, 
 of which, we regret to say, no copy can now be found. In the 
 spring of 1757, the Earl appointed a meeting of the several 
 Governors to confer with him at Hartford; but arriving at 
 no successful result, another was called in the succeeding 
 winter, in which meeting Governor William Green, Samuel 
 Ward, and John Andrews were appointed to represent Rhode 
 Island. These commissioners received instructions from the 
 Legislature for their guidance in the expected conference. 
 
 The instructions were as follows : 
 
 1. To lay an exact state of the colony before his Lord- 
 ship, with regard to its fortifications, cannon, warlike and 
 military stores, the number of inhabitants, state of the treas- 
 ury, and funds for supplying the same. 
 
 2. To beg his lordship to lay the defenceless condition 
 of the colony before his majesty in the most favorable light. 
 
 3. To request his lordship to make the colony such an 
 allowance for the provisions and military stores furnished by 
 this colony for the two years, as will correspond with his 
 Majesty’s gracious intentions, signified unto us by his Secre- 
 tary of State. 
 
 4. To request that the forces raised by this colony 
 may be under their own officers, and no others, except the 
 commander-in-chief. To these four was added another pri- 
 vate instruction, which was not to be forgotten in the con- 
 tract for furnishing troops, and which was in these words: 
 And as to what aid or number of men you are empowered 
 by virtue of your commission to furnish his lordship with, 
 on the part of this colony, towards the ensuing campaign, 
 you may agree to raise one-fourteenth part of the number 
 that shall be raised by the New England colonies ; but, if 
 
i8 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 that proportion cannot be obtained, you are then to agree to 
 such other proportion as shall appear to you just and equitable. 
 
 The weight of this arduous and difficult commission fell 
 upon Samuel Ward. Gov. Greene was detained at home by 
 sickness ; and, if Mr. Andrews was present, his modesty, or 
 some other cause, prevented his performing his part of the 
 labor. Upon the return of the commission, Mr. Ward made 
 a report, which was entered at length upon the records, in 
 which he informs the Assembly, that the proposition of the 
 Rhode Island delegates was rejected by his lordship, and that 
 they accordingly waived it, and accepted the terms upon which 
 he insisted. But his lordship assured them that no difficulties 
 should arise between the troops and their officers, as he would 
 take those from Rhode Island under his own command. 
 The report was accepted and the men, whose levy the com- 
 mittee had promised, were ordered to be raised the following 
 summer. It is not the province of this sketch to chronicle 
 their acts of valor, or show the insufficiency of their com- 
 mander — both are found on the page of history. We now 
 approach a period in the history of Rhode Island which is 
 celebrated for party animosities, and, until within a few years, 
 distinguished for being the only time when they increased 
 to such an alarming and extraordinary extent. As Mr. Ward 
 was the acknowledged leader of one party in this controversy, 
 an omission of it would leave a history of his own life unfinished 
 and unsatisfactory. Some men affirm — without evidence I 
 think — that “from the first settlement of Rhode Island there 
 existed a jealousy between the southern and northern counties 
 of the colony.’’ But is it not unfair to include in this asser- 
 tion the entire colony? That a jealousy did arise between 
 Newport, the ancient capital, and Providence, the most flourish- 
 ing town, is asserted with more consistency. When 
 the latter, from its superior advantages, began to increase in 
 wealth and importance, a rivalry sprung up between the cities, 
 similar to that now existing between two other cities of our 
 Union. This appears to be the only cause for such an ex- 
 pression, that, “from the first settlement,” a jealousy between 
 the two opposite portions of the colony existed. It is not 
 strange that from these two rival towns the feeling in time 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 19 
 
 should extend throughout the entire colony. These differences, 
 probably, were increased and augmented by the arts of the 
 office-holders or those hungry expectants who, being out of 
 office, desired a new administration, solely because they hoped 
 to reap some benefit by the change. Another cause is said to 
 have assisted in a powerful manner to extend this rivalry, 
 and increase the acrimonious feeling between the parties. About 
 forty years previous the Assembly emitted bills of credit to the 
 amount of five of six thousand pounds, and at intervals had 
 increased that emission, until, upon (every occasion when 
 funds were wanted to carry on the government, a new issue 
 was ordered. To the commercial interests, this manner of 
 creating new debts, and postponing old ones, was ruinous ; 
 and indeed, to the entire community it was a great disad- 
 vantage — a fact so well known at this day as to need no 
 argument. But to the reckless, and profligate, and to the 
 people of nearly all classes, plenty of money was supposed to 
 secure to its possessor that happiness so ardently longed for, 
 but never found. Even now, at the expiration of a century, 
 it is still believed by the majority of people to be the one thing 
 needful ; and to obtain it, they will make sacrifice and incur 
 any danger. God be praised, there is a brighter day dawning, 
 when a man’s worth will be reckoned by the depth of his 
 intellect, instead of the depth of his purse. 
 
 The lesser agriculturists of the colony, and the laboring 
 people generally, were enraptured by the idea of high prices, 
 and a surplus of money — however obtained — imagining them 
 to be the greatest blessings ; and at the head of this party, 
 supported by many of the leading citizens of Providence and 
 Newport, stood Stephen Hopkins, a gentleman of sterling 
 worth and integrity — a sight of whose picture among the 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence, standing un- 
 covered, always in my childhood impressed me with awe — • 
 and a man of superior courage and unbending determination. 
 On the other hand, the merchants and great landed proprie- 
 tors, or what was called the aristocratic portion of the com- 
 munity, were opposed to further emission of bills of credit, 
 believing that postponing the day of redemption, and issuing 
 
20 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 more, would lead to greater extravagance in the affairs of 
 the government, until extrication would be impossible without 
 bankruptcy. The acknowledged leader of this party was Sam- 
 uel Ward, of Westerly — a man who had been found able in 
 debate, and not to be deterred from pursuing whatever course 
 he supposed to be just and right, by fear of any earthly con- 
 sequences to himself or his party. Such a man, wherever 
 found, and upon whichsoever side in politics, will always com- 
 mand the admiration of his fellows. Before the nomination 
 of Mr. Ward to the office of Governor, and under the mag- 
 istracy of Governor William Greene, this party strife had 
 shown itself, and Gov. Greene and Stephen Hopkins were 
 arrayed against each other at the head of the respective parties. 
 
 This was in 1757. Gov. Hopkins, at that tim.e, published 
 an address to the freemen of the colony, in v/hich he took 
 occasion to reflect severely upon the General Assembly, which 
 had always, he said, acted in opposition to his administration. 
 Mr. Ward being at that time a member of the Assembly, 
 took it upon himself to defend that body from such aspersious 
 He reviewed the administration of Mr. Hopkins and showed 
 the impropriety of many of his official acts, especially amni- 
 verting upon those which he himself believed to be wrong, 
 and contrary to the spirit of the law and the interests of the 
 Colony. This act of Mr. Ward gave great offense to Gov 
 Hopkins, and he immediately commenced a suit at law in 
 the Court of Common Pleas for slander. This court having 
 jurisdiction in the county of Providence, where Mr. Hopkins 
 resided, and being the stronghold of the party adverse to Mr. 
 Ward, the latter petitioned to have the case removed to some 
 other county. The petition was granted, but the suit was 
 discontinued until the rising of the General Assembly, when 
 another was commenced by the plaintiff of the same county. 
 
 As might be expected, this case excited much interest, 
 each party desiring the success of its leader; and so uncom- 
 mon was the civil action, and so novel the situation of the 
 parties, that attention was drawn to it within the adjoining 
 jurisdictions of Massachusetts and Connecticut. It was finally 
 agreed between the litigants, that the case should be trans- 
 ferred to Worcester, Mass., which would be beyond the lim- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 21 
 
 its of the colony, and where the defendant supposed he could 
 have a fair trial, and obtain an unbiased decision. 
 
 The trial came, in 1759, and Mr. Ward was present with 
 his counsel and witnesses ; but Governor Hopkins did not 
 appear, and his case consequently went by default. He 
 doubtless saw that he had been betrayed into an impropriety, 
 in taking notice of remarks made upon his public acts, and it 
 may be that a doubt of final success caused him to relinquish 
 his prosecution. That was the last of it. 
 
 But if he was worsted in the civil, he by no means gave 
 up in the political struggle. He and Mr. Ward were now the 
 candidates for the chief magistracy, and the bitterness of 
 party spirit, now increased by the recent attempt to punish 
 one favorite, v/axed stronger and stronger every day. The 
 elections for officers of State were then held at Newport, 
 where the people assembled annually to vote for the chief 
 magistrate and his assistants ; and those who could not attend, 
 were allowed to send their votes by their friends, who de- 
 posited them in the ballot box. This was called voting by 
 proxy. 
 
 At the timie of which we write, the population of the 
 colony had increased, so that “election day” found an immense 
 multitude assembled at Newport, to deposit their votes, and 
 witness the success or defeat of their respective candidates. 
 As may be imagined, such a contact of human passions 
 brought an attendant train of evils. 
 
 The scenes were sometimes of the most disgraceful kind, 
 and only equalled by som.e of the elections of New York City 
 in our day. Fists were used freely, and when not conclusive, 
 canes and swords were resorted to, as a means of enforcing 
 the arguments of the disputants. But when the proclamation 
 was made in the public square, before the assemblage, of the 
 name of the successful candidate — which practice is still kept 
 up — then the trium.phant shouts of the friends of the Gov- 
 ernor-elect amounted almost to frenzy ; and the defeated party, 
 stung to the quick, enraged beyond the bounds of human 
 endurance by the taunts of their opponents, grappled and 
 fought like demons. Then it was that bloody noses and 
 
22 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 blackened eyes became plentier than before — 
 
 “And broken arms and disarray 
 Marked the full havoc of the day.” 
 
 To put an end to these disgraceful riots — for they can be 
 called nothing else — the General Assembly passed a law, in 
 1790, providing places in each town where the people could 
 assemble and deposit their votes, and allowing only members 
 of their own body to vote at Newport for Governor. Al- 
 though it prevented a repetition of the disgraceful scenes 
 of “election day,” it allayed not in the least the bitterness of 
 the party strife. 
 
 In his first efiort as candidate for Governor, in 1761, 
 Mr. Ward was defeated by Mr. Hopkins, but he was the same 
 year appointed to the office of Chief Justice, which he occu- 
 pied until the succeeding spring, w'hen he was again a candi- 
 date for the gubernatorial chair, and was declared to be 
 successful. The struggle was severe, and the parties said to 
 have been equally divided. He removed to Nev/port in May, 
 Vv'here he resided during his term of office ; and the next elec- 
 tion resulting in favor of Governor Hopkins, he returned to 
 his home and plough in Westerly, where he remained in peace 
 and quietness until summoned to the strife again in 1765. 
 Before the commencement of the annual election, in 1765, 
 Governor Ward addressed a letter to the friends of Governor 
 Hopkins, repeating a proposition made by him two years 
 previous, offering to resign his pretensions to the office of 
 Governor if his antagonist would also retire. The same day, 
 without knowledge of this letter, some friends of Governor 
 Hopkins addressed a letter to Governor Ward, stating that 
 the office of Deputy Governor was vacant, and desiring his 
 acceptance of it with a view to putting an end to the unhappy 
 divisions and disputes. This proposition from Mr. Ward that 
 Governor Hopkins and himself should resign their preten- 
 sions of the chief magistracy, and the invitation of Governor 
 Hopkins, tendering him the office of Deputy Governor, were 
 both respectfully declined by their recipients. As well might 
 two suns exist in one hemisphere, as Samuel Ward and Ste- 
 phen Hopkins occupying the offices of Governor and Deputy 
 Governor; “especially,” said the friends of Mr. Ward, “when 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 23 
 
 he had already received, and could again obtain, the highest 
 office in the gift of the people.” 
 
 The election came on, and contrary to the expectations 
 of Mr. Ward’s opponents, resulted in the election of that 
 gentleman to the magistracy, and he accordingly moved to 
 Newport again — where, being retained in the same office in 
 the succeeding year — he continued to reside for two years. 
 
 At the expiration of that time, in the spring of 1767, 
 another attempt was made to reconcile the parties, which re- 
 sulted in a failure, as before. Some of the friends of Mr. 
 Ward, having listened to the misrepresentations of his ene- 
 mies in regard to the concession made by him to Governor 
 Hopkins, the former caused their correspondence to be printed 
 and circulated throughout the colony. One of those old sheets 
 lies before me, and is as follows : 
 
 Newport, April 7th, 1767. 
 
 To enable the freemen of this Colony to form a true judg- 
 ment of the proposals which have passed between the two 
 parties, and to put a stop to misrepresentations of designing 
 people, the following true copies of the proposals, and the 
 answers made to them, are published. 
 
 Samuel Ward. 
 
 To THE Hon. Stephen Hopkins, Esq. : 
 
 Sir — To put an end to the unhappy contentions which 
 have so long divided this Colony, and been attended by so 
 many fatal consequences ; and to restore peace and good 
 order, are objects worthy the attention of every well wisher 
 to the public. 
 
 Nothing, in our opinion, will have a greater tendency 
 to effect this most valuable purpose than a coalition of the 
 two parties ; and sincerely desirous to pursue every measure 
 in our power to promote it, we take liberty to propose that 
 the Upper House of the Assembly, for the ensuing year, 
 be equally divided between the two parties, in the following 
 manner, to-wit: That we, with our friends, have the nomina- 
 tion of the Governor; that you, sir, with your friends, shall 
 have the nomination of the Deputy Governor, and in the same 
 manner, alternately, throughout all the members of the Upper 
 House ; and that the other General Officers for the ensuing 
 
24 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 year, remain as they are at present. If this proposal shall 
 be acceded to, we have no doubt but suitable persons will 
 be appointed on your side of the question, and we do (with 
 the consent of our friends), engage to use our influence that 
 all persons nominated be elected. 
 
 Upon this plan (which will remove the principal cause 
 of the v/arm contentions in this colony), only one Prox will 
 be printed, and therefore it will be necessary that we should 
 receive seasonable information of your agreeing to the pro- 
 posal, and of the names of the gentlemen who shall be pitched 
 upon your side of the question. Between this and the six- 
 teenth of next month, you will have sufficient time to take 
 advice of }^our friends ; at which tim_e we expect to be favored 
 with your resolutions. 
 
 We are, sir, your most humble servants, 
 
 Elisha - Brown, 
 
 Nicholas Easton, 
 
 Gideon Wanton, Jr., 
 Thomas Owen, 
 
 Stephen Rawson, 
 
 John Jepson, 
 
 John Burton, 
 
 Nath. Searle, 
 
 Hezekiah Babcock, 
 Othniel Gorton. 
 
 P- S. — If Joseph Arnold, Esq., had been present, we have 
 no doubt but he would have subscribed the proposal with 
 pleasure, and we engage for him, that he will join in the 
 agreement heartily. 
 
 To THE Hon. Samuel Ward, Esq. : 
 
 Providence, March 13, 1767. 
 
 Sir : — The foregoing is a copy of a letter I received 
 from the present Deputy Governor and Assistants of this 
 Colony, as a Proposition for uniting Parties, and settling 
 Peace in it; but whether your Honor was made privy, and 
 consented to these Terms, I am not informed. To the Propo- 
 sition made as above, I return this Answer. That I and my 
 Friends will agree to it on Condition that you also retire; 
 and your Friends nominate some other person for Governor, 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 25 V" 
 
 in Newport or elsev/here, as they think best. Some of my 
 Friends, appointed to that purpose, will wait upon your Honor, 
 to receive your Answer. 
 
 This Proposal will be directly communicated to Mr. 
 Brown, the Deputy Governor. 
 
 I am. Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 Steph. Hopkins. 
 
 Hon. Samuel Ward, Esq. : 
 
 Providence, March 13, 1767. 
 
 Sir: — Governor Hopkins having communicated unto his 
 Friends here in Providence, some Proposals he received from 
 the Deputy Governor and Magistrates of the Golony, for 
 establishing Peace and Harmony at the next General Elec- 
 tion ; and as great care has been taken to consult with and 
 collect the Sentiments of our Friends, on such an important 
 Affair, we, who are appointed a Committee for that Purpose, 
 beg leave to communicate to your Honor, what you may 
 relie upon to be the unanimous opinion and Determination 
 of them ; and which your Honor Vvdll find in the following 
 Order, viz. : That it is their Opinion — That Mr. Hopkins has, 
 from his first A-ppointiuent, when chosen, filled the seat of 
 Government with Honor, Capacity and Integrity. 
 
 That there is no other gentleman in the Colony, without 
 reflection on anyone, that they think can and will discharge 
 the duty of Governor better than that Gentleman. 
 
 That Mr. Hopkin’s Friends and Adherents are as num- 
 erous, and are Persons of as much Capacity, Probity and In- 
 terest as those of Mr. Ward’s Friends. 
 
 That Mr. Hopkin’s Friends have at least as good Pre- 
 tensions to the Nomination of Governor as Mr. Ward’s Friends. 
 
 That the spirit of Faction does so prevail in the colony, 
 that there is scarcely the appearance of Government remain- 
 ing, there being but little Security for either Life, Character, 
 or Estate, but Anarchy growing more visible every Day. 
 
 That, to remedy so great an evil, the cool, impartial and 
 disinterested Attention and execution of every good Man 
 and well-wisher to his country, of both parties in the Colony, 
 is absolutely necessary. 
 
 That, to effect so salutary a Design, ’tis proposed that both 
 
26 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 parties form a Coalition on as equal Terms as possible; Care 
 being" taken that the Basis thereof be firm and permanent, 
 otherwise after all our Endeavors we shall find ourselves in 
 as bad a situation as before. 
 
 That in order to effect such a Coalition, ’tis their Opinion, 
 that both Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Ward, the Heads of the two 
 contending Parties in the Colony, do resign and give up their 
 Pretensions as Candidates for Chief Magistrate of Governor. 
 
 That if Mr. Ward and his Friends agree thereto, they 
 will engage for Mr. Hopkins and his Friends, that they do 
 the same. If this is not agreed to, all future Negotiations 
 will be unnecessary. ^ But if that is assented to, then they 
 are willing to agree that General Officers are divided as 
 equally as possible between the two Parties ; and though 
 Mr. Hopkins and His Friends claim an equal Right to the 
 nomination of Governor-in-Chief, with Mr. Ward and his 
 Friends, yet, for the sake of Peace, and preventing impending 
 Ruin, they agree that Mr. Ward and his Friends shall have 
 the nomination of Governor-in-Chief, and that he may reside 
 in Newport, or elsewhere; and that Mr. Hopkins and his 
 Friends nominate a Deputy Governor in the Town of Provi- 
 dence, or elsewhere ; that the Magistrates be alternately nom- 
 inated by Mr. Ward and his Friends, and Mr. Hopkins and 
 his Friends, and that other General Officers stand as at present. 
 
 Sir ; — Though some of the foregoing is not absolutely 
 necessary in a Treaty of this sort, yet, that justice may be done 
 to Mr. Hopkins, and also that you and your Friends may be 
 thoroughly apprized of the Disposition of Mr. Hopkins’ 
 Friends, and the Motives, from which they act on this emer- 
 gency, we apprehend it will not be thought superfluous. 
 
 Your Honor is so well acquainted with the perplexed 
 Circumstances of this Colony, and the causes from whence 
 they chiefly originate, that if you will calmly consult the 
 Public Weal, or your own Honor and Quiet, we make no 
 Doubt but that you will cheerfully accede to our Proposals ; 
 which, if you should do, we rely upon it that some Gentleman 
 will be nominated by you and your Friends for a Governor, 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 27 
 
 who will discharge that important trust with Honor and Gen- 
 eral Approbation. We are, sir, 
 
 Your obedient humble servants, 
 
 Daniel Jenckes, 
 Darius Sessions, 
 Joseph Russell, 
 
 Tho. Green, 
 
 Eppiraim Bowen, 
 
 Benj. Cushing, 
 
 Nathan Angel, 
 
 Jos. Nash, 
 
 Moses Brown. 
 
 Newport, March 25th, 1767. 
 Hon. Stephen Hopkins, Esq. : 
 
 Sir: — In answer to your Honor’s Letter of the 13th of 
 March, I am now to acquaint you, that the opinion of my 
 Friends hath been generally taken, and they have univer- 
 sally given it, that the Proposals made by you, and a Com- 
 mittee of your Friends ought by no means to be acceded to. 
 Their sentimients upon this subject your Honor will find very 
 fully expressed in the Letter to Mr. Jenckes and the other 
 Gentlemen, from a Committee of my Friends. 
 
 Sincerely disposed as I was to retire from the Chief Seat of 
 Government, I could not prevail upon myself to desert all my 
 Friends, and, in their Opinion, the Interest of the Colony. 
 I am. Sir, your Honor’s most humble servant, 
 
 Samuel Ward. 
 
 Newport, March 25, 1767. 
 
 To Daniel Jenckes, Esq., and others, the Committee of Mr. 
 
 Hopkins’ Friends. 
 
 Gentlemen : — His Honor the Governor hath communi- 
 cated your Letter to us. We have maturely weighed the sev- 
 eral Proposals which have passed upon ' this Occasion, and 
 are of the Opinion, that those made by his Honor the Deputy 
 Governor and the Assistants, were fair, open, generous. They 
 give in fact, a Majority of the Upper House to Mr. Hopkins’ 
 Friends ; they neither pointed at nor excluded any Gentleman 
 Whatever, and Contained no Reflection upon any Person or 
 
28 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 Party, and if acceded to, might have had a great Tendency 
 to promote Peace and Good Order in the Government. 
 
 on, Gentlemien, in your Letter, have made a different 
 set of Proposals, which you tell us may be relied upon as the 
 Unanimous Opinion and Determination of Mr. Hopkins’ 
 Friends. We were surprised to find a Proposal from }'-ou, 
 for uniting Parties, and settling Peace in the Golony, con- 
 ceived in such terms as to render tliem utterly inadmissable. 
 They are introduced by the most lavish Encomiiums upon Mr. 
 Hopkins, by Gomparisons (which are always odious) between 
 the Numbers, Capacit}^, Probity and Interest of his Friends, 
 and those of Mr. ¥/ard, and with this opprobrious Assertion 
 “That tlie Spirit of Faction does so prevail in the Golony, 
 that there is scarcety the Appearance of Governmient remain- 
 ing ; there being but little Security for either Life, Character, 
 or Estate, but Anarchy growing more visible every Day.” 
 
 T ou must be sensible. Gentlemen, that a very great part 
 of the Colony always, and for the Two last years, a large 
 majority of the Freemen have entertained a different Opinion 
 of Mr. Llopkins ; and therefore the expressions made use of, 
 with respect to that Gentleman, must be looked upon as a 
 Reflection upon those who have opposed him. Affter the 
 Character given of Mr. Hopkins, follows the assertion above 
 quoted, which, considered in its Connection with the fore- 
 going Resolves, in our Opinion, contains the grossest Reflec- 
 tion upon the present Administration, and, indeed, upon the 
 whole Colony, representing them as a lawless Herd, with 
 but little security for Life, Character of Estate. 
 
 Considered in this Light only, those Persons who have 
 opposed Mr. Hopkins and supported Mr. Ward, must for 
 ever be justifled in refusing to comply with Proposals made 
 in such Terms. 
 
 We are neither disposed to abuse the Reputation of Mr. 
 Hopkins, nor to offer Incense to Mr. Ward; but this justice 
 constrains us to say, that the Capacity of Mr. Ward hath 
 never been called in Question ; that he hath served the Gov- 
 ernment with Fidelity and Honor ; and that his Administra- 
 tion hath been so equal and disinterested that the Colony will 
 find its Interest and be happy in continuing him in the Chair. 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 29 
 
 Upon the whole, Gentlemen, the Opinion of Mr. Ward’s 
 Friends universally is not to accede to your Proposal. 
 
 We heartily lament our unhappy Divisions, and sincerely 
 wish to see the Wisdom and Virtue of the Colony united 
 in promoting its best Interest, and are. Gentlemen, your most 
 humble Servants, Gideon Wanton, 
 
 Abraham Redwood, 
 
 John Tellinghast, 
 
 Metcalf Bowler, 
 
 Joseph Tellinghast, 
 Nathaniel Coggshall, 
 John Tweedy, 
 
 Robert Stevens, 
 
 Edward Thurston, Jr. 
 
 This third attempt at the settlement of the party feud 
 ended like all the previous trials. But the result of election 
 was disastrous to the Ward party for Governor Hopkins was 
 this time chosen by an increased majority over his opponent. 
 
 This was the last election where these gentlemen stood 
 in opposition to each other and from the extreme virulence 
 with which it was conducted all good men saw it was time 
 such proceedings should cease. At the usual period therefore, 
 when arrangements were wont to be made for the annual 
 election Governor Hopkins proposed a reconciliation of about 
 the same nature as that offered by Governor Ward the previous 
 year. The proposals were immediately accepted by Mr. Ward’s 
 Friends, and a council of the tv/o Governors was held at 
 Providence and afterwards at Newport, where a treaty of 
 peace and amity was concluded. They agreed to form an 
 administration from both parties which should conduct the 
 affairs of the colony upon a conservative plan and to vie 
 with each other in promoting harmony among their respective 
 followers. Eac'h sacredly adhered to the terms of this com- 
 pact and became fast friends for the remainder of their lives. 
 Thereafter nothing disturbed the serenity of the rival chief- 
 tains but the aggressions of the mother country. Side by side 
 they stood up to battle against these encroachments and nobly 
 performed their duty, moving like two opposing currents when 
 joined in one, with increased strength and velocity; yet not 
 
30 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 towards “a calmer sea where all is peace” but towards the tur- 
 bulent and exciting scenes of the revolution. 
 
 The warfare of the parties having now ceased, Mr. Ward 
 resumed his usual occupations with the same zest that he had 
 formerly exhibited before entering the political arena. He 
 seems to have been a man who delighted in domestic employ- 
 ments and was happiest when surrounded by the comforts of 
 his home and the society of his friends. And such a home 
 as he possessed was well calculated to secure and retain the 
 affections of any man who had the least spark of poetic fire, 
 or who loved the seclusion and retirement of the country. 
 His house was situated about five miles south froni Westerly 
 village, nearly opposite Montauk Point, which faintly loomed 
 in the distance, and commanded a fine view of the Atlantic 
 and the Sound, upon which numerous islands and hummocks, 
 clothed with verdure, reposed like emeralds upon a silvery 
 surface. The magnificent beach, with its rolling surges, which 
 commences at Watch Hill and extends eastward, lay in front; 
 the intervening meadows were covered with numerous herds 
 of cattle and countless flocks of water fov/1 frequented the 
 streams and plashes, inviting the aim of the sportsman ; the 
 whole scene realizing the fondest dream of an Arcadian 
 imagination. 
 
 “Day, with its burden and heat had departed, and twilight 
 descending. 
 
 Brought back the evening star to the sky, and the herds to 
 the homestead. 
 
 Pawing the ground, they came and, resting their necks on each 
 other. 
 
 And with their nostrils distended, inhaling the freshness of 
 evening. 
 
 Late, with the rising moon, returned the wains from the 
 marshes. 
 
 Laden with briny hay, that filled the air with its odor. 
 Cheerily neighed the steeds, with dew on their manes and 
 fetlocks. 
 
 Patiently stood the cows meanwhile and yielded their udders 
 Unto the milk maid’s hand ; while loud and in regular cadence 
 Into the sounding pails the foaming streamlets descended. 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 31 
 
 Lowing of cattle and peals of laughter were heard in the farm 
 yard, 
 
 Echoed back by the barns ; anon, they sank into stillness. 
 Heavily closed, with a creaking sound, the valves of the barn 
 doors ; 
 
 Rattled the wooden bars, and all for a season was silent.” 
 Mr. Ward’s plantation embraced at this time three hun- 
 dred acres and was enclosed and portioned as follows : Two 
 hundred acres of pasturage, fifty acres tillage, four acres or- 
 chard, seventy acres mowing and thirty acres woodland. A list 
 of the “Polls and Estates, Real and Personal” of the town, 
 in 1767, in which his name is written in capital letters (as 
 a mark of honor, I presume) taxes him thus : “One hundred 
 sheep, fifty-three cattle, six horses, fifteen swine, nine hundred 
 bushels grain, twenty barrels of cider, forty tons English hay 
 and twenty tons salt hay.” The value of his woodland was 
 estimated at two hundred and thirty-three pounds, and the 
 amount of his rents at one thousand, eight hundred and 
 twenty pounds. An asterisk before Mr. Ward’s name referred 
 me to the bottom of the list, where I found these words : 
 “All persons with the cross before their names are to be 
 four-folded.” We judge from this notice that Mr. Ward had 
 not sent in his list to the assessors and was punished for his 
 neglect according to law. The number of cattle was probably 
 taken from the list of the preceding year and was very small. 
 At one time his stock would have numbered four times that 
 amount. His tax upon the Rate Bill in 1760 was thirty 
 thousand pounds and in 1762 was forty-five thousand, eight 
 hundred pounds. These enormous amounts will seem incred- 
 ible to the reader without an explanation. At that time the 
 currency of the colony was paper money, a short account of 
 which was given in the commencement of this memoir and 
 which had depreciated so that eight pounds of it was only 
 equal to a dollar of our present currency, making his tax in 
 reality about six thousand dollars. 
 
 Some years before, when he laid the foundation of his 
 prosperity, he had paid considerable attention to the raising 
 of cattle and of the celebrated Narragansett breed of horses 
 for the West India market, where the latter commanded large 
 
32 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 prices on account of their fleetness and easy carriage, but 
 at this time the number of both had diminished to about that 
 indicated by the tax list. There was no necessity for more 
 horses than those required for the family’s use, as the usual 
 labor of the farm was performed by oxen. But in consequence 
 of inattention to it, during his absence for several }^ears, his 
 land had visibly suffered ; and to reclaim those neglected por- 
 tions, he now bent his whole thoughts and energies. The 
 contiguity of his farm to the shore made it a comparatively 
 easy task to enrich it, by availing himself of the sea and rock 
 weed which the surf cast upon the beach. 
 
 So passed happily away a few years in this retired spot, 
 until the year 1770, when the great sorrow of his life over- 
 shadowed him, in the death of his beloved wife. That myster- 
 ious change which none can escape, and which should be met 
 with a rejoicing instead of a shrinking heart, passed over her, 
 and her work on earth was done. She ‘‘with whom life had 
 been one long day of changeless love” was called away from 
 earthly scenes to the great eternal future — 
 
 “A friends from loving friends, 
 
 A mother from her children.” 
 
 In a retired corner of a small enclosure within a few steps 
 of the house, her mortal remains repose until the great day. 
 Who shall say how much her influence tended to mold and 
 prepare the mind of her partner for his duties, or deny that 
 to the gentle teachings of her amiable heart he owed a large 
 portion of his great worth? A small memorial of dark state- 
 stone stands above her grave with this inscription, “In 
 memory of Mrs. Anna Ward, the wife of the Hon. Samuel 
 Ward, Esq., and daughter of Simon Ray, Esq. She departed 
 this life December 5, 1770, in the 43d year of her age.” 
 
 Her Will was probated soon after her death, and was as 
 follows: In the name of God, Amen. I, Anna Ward, wife 
 of Samuel Ward, of Westerly, in the County of Kings, and 
 Colony of Rhode Island, &c.. Esq., being of a sound and dispos- 
 ing mind and memory, although in an infirm state of body, do 
 make and ordain my last Will and Testament, in manner 
 following, thaj^is to say: — I give and bequeath unto my son, 
 Charles Ward, my daughters, Hannah Ward, Anne Ward, 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 33 
 
 Katherine Ward, Deborah Ward, and Elizabeth Ward, and 
 my other sons, Samuel Ward, Simon Ray Ward, and Richard 
 Ward, and their heirs forever, all my real estate, consisting 
 of my farm at Block Island, now in the occupation of Giles 
 Pierce, and one quarter part of a tract of wood-land in Exeter, 
 which my father purchased of John Mulford, to be equally 
 divided between them, the said Charles, Hannah, Anne, Kath- 
 erine, Mary, Samuel, Deborah, Simon Ray, John, Richard 
 and Elizabeth Ward, and their heirs, and to be held and en- 
 joyed by them and their heirs forever in severalty. 
 
 In v/itness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 
 seal, the fifth day of March, in the tenth year of his Majesty’s 
 reign, and in the year of our Lord 1770. 
 
 Anna Ward. 
 
 Signed, sealed, published, pronounced, and declared by 
 the said Anna Ward, to be her last Will and Testament, 
 and consented to by the said Samuel Ward, in presence of us. 
 
 Moses Billings, 
 
 Hannah Ward, ' 
 
 Ketty Hubbard. 
 
 The above Will is consented to by me, in witness whereof 
 I hereunto have subscribed my name and put my seal. 
 
 Sam. Ward. 
 
 The causes of the struggle which led to the disruption 
 of the ties that bound the colonies to the mother country, 
 commenced during the first year of the two successive terms 
 that Mr. Ward occupied the Gubernatorial chair. The cele- 
 brated Stamp Act was enacted a law by the British 
 Parliament, and attempts were made to enforce its odious 
 provisions. The armed vessels of Britain, sent over to execute 
 that law, hovered about the coasts, and anchored in the ports 
 of the colony at the intimation or command of officers of the 
 crown, or the will of their commanders. The bearing of these 
 imperious hirelings was more obnoxious to the colonists from 
 the fact that in their intercourse with the people they arro- 
 gated to themselves a superiority of birth and blood, and 
 treated all provincials with contempt, as being of an inferior 
 order. That beautiful, but illusive idea was about to be dis- 
 
34 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 sipated, and the first rebuke to be administered by a country 
 farmer, the second son of an obscure Englishman. 
 
 One pleasant day in the spring of 1765, a noble ship, 
 under full sail, before a fine breeze, entered the harbor at 
 Newport and cast anchor, tier name was soon ascertained 
 to be the “Maidstone, Charles Antrobus, Commander.” Her 
 crew landed and were treated with respect, but their insolent, 
 domineering spirit soon began to discover itself. Frequent 
 collisions occurred v/ith the people of the town, but nothing 
 more serious than a fev/ street brawls took place until a press- 
 gang from the ship landed one night and seized some sailors 
 who were passing through the public streets. 
 
 This was an act which the executive could not pass un- 
 noticed, and Governor Ward demanded their immediate re- 
 lease. His second letter to the captain, which I give below, 
 is firm and dignified, and shows a detemination to have the 
 authority of the colony acknowledged. 
 
 Newport, nth June, 1765. 
 
 To Charles Antrobus: _ 
 
 Sir: — Last Friday I sent the high sheriff of this county 
 on board his Majesty’s ship Maidstone, with a letter directed 
 to you, or in your absence, to the commanding officer, requir- 
 ing the dismissal of several inhabitants of this colony, lately 
 impressed and detained on board said ship, contrary to law. 
 In return to which he acquainted me that it was not in his 
 power to comply with my order, but that he hourly expected 
 your return, and was very confident you would give me 
 sufficient satisfaction upon that head. But the men being still 
 detained and the great uneasiness occasioned thereby continu- 
 ing I must repeat my demand that all inhabitants of this 
 colony zvho have been forcibly taken and detained on board 
 his Majesty's ship under your command, be forthwith dismissed. 
 Lieut. Baines enclosed me an account of the illegal proceed- 
 ings of some persons in this town, in taking and burning 'a boat 
 belonging to his Majesty’s ship Maidstone, and abusing Mr. 
 Jenkins, the 2d Lieut. This affair hath given me the greatest 
 uneasiness, and I do assure you that upon proper applica- 
 tion I shall use my utmost endeavor to prevent any such violent 
 and scandalous measures from taking place for the future. 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 35 
 
 and to bring all those who have lately behaved in that illegal 
 manner to condign punishment; and I do further assure you 
 that whenever any of the officers or men , belonging to His 
 Majesty’s ship Maidstone may be on shore, they may depend 
 upon my protection, they behaving themselves peaceably, and 
 conforming to the laws of the colony. I am your most humble 
 servant, Sam. Ward. 
 
 This demand of the Governor was evaded by the com- 
 mander of the ship, whereupon he forwarded a third letter, of 
 which Capt. Antrobus complains bitterly, as being severe and 
 unjust in its expressions. Gov. Ward declared “the impres- j | 
 sing of Englishmen was an arbitrary action, contrary to law, 
 inconsistent with liberty, and to be justified only by urgent 
 necessity. But, as the ship lay moored in an English colony, 
 always ready to render any assistance for His Majesty’s ser- 
 vice, there could be no possible reason sufficient to justify 
 the severe and rigorous impress carried on in this port. The 
 commander and crew of this ship are subject to the laws of 
 the colony, within whose jurisdiction they are anchored.” 
 
 These bold words, from the Governor of an insignificant 
 colony, astonished the haughty British officer, and were re- 
 ported with much indignation to his superiors at home. But 
 the people, incensed by this delay in returning the impressed 
 seamen, seized a boat lying at one of the public wharves of 
 the city, which belonged to the Maidstone, and burned it in 
 the public square. This act of an indignant populace, and 
 the determined manner of the Governor, brought the Briton 
 to terms. The men were released from custody, and re- 
 turned to the city, where they were received with much re- 
 joicing. His next attempt to impress seamen was probably 
 made in some other colony beside Rhode Island. 
 
 In no community in America was the indignation of the 
 people at the odious provisions of the stamp-act more visible 
 than in this colony. It could not be restrained from open 
 violence by the threats of the commanders of the armed 
 cruisers, nor the persuasions of their magistrates. The out- 
 raged feelings of liberty, and of manhood, burst at once into 
 a blaze of the fiercest intensity. 
 
 “At Providence, a Gazette Extraordinary was published 
 
3 ^ 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 on the 24th of August, with Vox Populi, Vox Dei, in large 
 letters for the frontispiece ; and underneath these words : 
 “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty.” (St. 
 Paul). It congratulated them on the spirit of opposition 
 that had already been shown in divers parts of North Amer- 
 ica, and went on in these words: “We have glorious accounts 
 from all parts, of the noble spirit of the people in the case 
 of Liberty;” and concluded an address to the people of New 
 England, thus: “Let me draw towards a conclusion by ob- 
 serving the universal spirit which now prevails through the 
 colonies, to take all lawful measures to prevent the execution 
 of the stamp-act here. This laudable zeal hath burst into 
 a flame in Boston, and the exertions of the people of that 
 ancient town, who have heretofore been obliged to struggle 
 for their liberties v/hen infamously attacked, as their history 
 shows, plainly indicates that the spirits of their fathers rests 
 upon them, and that they preserve in their breasts the noble 
 sensations of freedom.” 
 
 The people of Newport, also, were aroused and proceeded 
 to the house of Mr. Augustine Johnson, the stamp officer, 
 and would have destroyed it, but he being absent, they refrained 
 from injuring his efiects until his return. Upon his arrival he 
 issued the following circular: 
 
 To the Inhabitants of Newport: 
 
 Gentlemen: — As I find my being appointed the stamp 
 officer of this colony has irritated the people of this town 
 against me, though the office was bestowed upon me unasked 
 and unthought of, and being willing, so far as it is in my 
 power to restore tranquility to the town, do engage, upon my 
 honor, that I will not accept of said office, upon any terms, 
 unless I have your consent for the same. 
 
 Augustine Johnson. 
 
 Aug. 29, 1765. 
 
 These outbreaks of popular fury were indications which 
 the British nation would have done well to have heeded, 
 especially when they were succeeded by petitions and remon- 
 strances from all classes of His Majesty’s subject. But not 
 even when a Congress of the colonies was called to agree 
 upon to present an address to the King, did Parliament hesi- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 37 
 
 tate in the arbitrary course it had commenced. 
 
 To that Congress which met in New York in 1765 to 
 deliberate upon the subject of the stamp-act, Metcalf Bowler 
 and Henry Ward (brother of the Governor), were appointed 
 delegates from Rhode Island. This was the first Congress 
 that ever met upon the American continent. When informa- 
 tion of the riotous proceedings at Newport reached the King, 
 his ire was very much excited, and he ordered a suspension 
 of intercourse between Britain and the rebellious colony. It 
 would have been better for the colony had that edict been 
 promulgated twenty years before, for in addition to their own 
 taxes, they had been obliged to contribute largely to support 
 the war with France, and although ten years had elapsed, 
 they had not as yet received a farthing in return. 
 
 By some oversight their account had not been forwarded 
 at the proper time, and when it was finally sent, a delay had 
 occurred through the shallow excuses of the Paymaster Gen- 
 eral which had continued until 1766. 
 
 At that time, by request of the General Assembly, Gov. 
 Ward wrote to the Earl of Sherburne upon the subject, and 
 the following is an extract from his letter: 
 
 Newport, Rhode Island, Nov. 6, 1766. 
 
 The miltary stores and provisions furnished by the colo- 
 nies in the year 1756, for the provincial troops, were by the 
 directions from the Earl of London, Commander-in-Chief of 
 His Majesty’s forces in North America, taken into the King’s 
 magazines, and the colonies were, on the behalf of the crown, 
 promised payment for them. 
 
 The other colonies, upon presenting their accounts, re- 
 ceived the money accordingly, but this colony, unhappily ne- 
 glecting to transmit their account (amounting to £4211 19s yd) 
 in season, an objection arose when they were presented, to 
 the pa)mient of them, and they were referred to the Secretary 
 of War and Paymaster General, who proposed a reduction 
 of £1209 14s- Thus the matter rested for several years, when 
 the agent of this colony was introduced (instructed?) to 
 renew his application for payment of those accounts ; upon 
 v/hich they were again referred to the Secretary of War and 
 Paymaster General, who, after some further deduction, re- 
 
38 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 ported “that there was due and payable to the colony, £2672 
 i8s I id,” which sum the colony expected the agent would 
 soon have received, but in his last letter informs me that 
 upon application for the money he received a positive answer 
 from the lords of the treasury, “That as a requisition had gone 
 from the crown to the colony, the treasury-board thought fit 
 to suspend the payment of the money until an answer came 
 from the colony relating to that requisition.” 
 
 The General Assembly, upon receipt of this letter, re- 
 quested me to lay the matter before His Majesty’s principal 
 Secretary of State for this department, and I have accord- 
 ingly given your Lordship this short account of the affair. 
 I beg leave to observe to your Lordship that this colony really 
 paid the whole sum charged for the several articles in their 
 accounts, so that if the sum reported to be due be paid, they 
 will suffer actual loss of upwards of 1,500 pounds besides 
 the damage they have sustained by being kept out of the money 
 ten years — interest for which they have paid ever since at 
 the rate of ten per cent, per annum. 
 
 This colony, my lord, surrounded on all sides by Massa- 
 chusetts Bay, Connecticut, and the sea, and not exposed to the 
 attacks of the enemy upon this continent, were animated solely 
 by a zeal for His Majesty’s service, and the honour and dignity 
 of his Crown, to exert themselves in the common cause of 
 Britain and America, in such manner as to merit and receive 
 the approbation of his Majesty’s Ministers and Generals, and 
 so far beyond their ability, that they are now actually in- 
 volved in a most heavy debt, for which, by reason of the 
 scarcity of money, they have been, and for years to come, 
 will be obliged to pay a very high interest. 
 
 From these considerations, the detention of the balance 
 reported to be due occasions great uneasiness, and is con- 
 sidered as a peculiar hardship by His Majesty’s loyal sub- 
 jects in this colony. The more especially, as all the other 
 colonies have long since received the monies due to them 
 upon the same account. 
 
 I must also beg leave to submit to your lordship whether 
 this suspension of payment may not be considered rather 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 39 
 
 as a mark of compelling the colony to grant monies to persons 
 who have suffered, than as a recommendation of the sufferers, 
 whether it will not have a manifest tendency to discourage 
 the colonies from exporting themselves in the same rigorous 
 manner for his Majesty’s service for the future, and whether, 
 considering his Majesty’s inviolable and tender regard for 
 the rights and privileges of all his subjects, a measure so 
 coercive can be supposed agreeable to his royal Attention. 
 
 I am also, at the request of the General Assembly, to 
 assure your lordship that the opinion that the rioters of the 
 colony were countenanced in their depredations by any person 
 of note or consequence, is so far as the members of the As- 
 sembly has any knowledge or information thereof entirely 
 groundless, and that when the sufferers shall make a proper 
 application to the Assembly, they will consider the same, 
 and do them all the justice the nature of their cases shall 
 require. 
 
 Sam. Ward. 
 
 But Great Britain was determined to punish the rebellious 
 colon)q and withheld the payment of the debt until the more 
 serious troubles of the Revolution extinguished it forever. 
 The visits of the British ships of war to the city of Newport 
 during that event, and its occupation by their troops, gave 
 them an opportunity of retaliating upon it, in many of those 
 petty acts of revenge, for which, throughout the war, they 
 were distinguished. The seizure and destruction of the Town 
 Records, by casting them into the waters of the Sound, ranks 
 among the celebrated feats, whereby their malice was ap- 
 peased, and much honor gained for their king and country. 
 The distress of the colony while staggering under this load 
 of debt, and without intercourse with the home government, 
 was extreme. But the indignation of the people rose above 
 the extremity of their sufferings, and they determined, if 
 the king would not speak to them, they would not purchase 
 his commodities. Town meetings were called throughout the 
 colony, and resolutions passed, ‘ho deprive themselves of im- 
 ported articles, to encourage their own manufactures and to 
 inculcate habits of industry and frugality.” At a town meet- 
 ing in Newport, a committee was appointed, one of which was 
 
40 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 Henry Ward, (Secretary of State, and brother of the Gov- 
 ernor) “to report the best manner of relieving the colony 
 in its present straits.’’ That committee made their report, 
 and the town voted: “That this Town will take all prudent and 
 legal measures to encourage the produce and manufactures 
 of this colony, and to lessen the use of superfluities, and 
 particularly the following enumerated articles imported from 
 abroad, to wit. : Loaf Sugar ; Cordage ; Anchors ; Coaches ; 
 Chaises; and Carriages of all sort; House Furniture; Gloves; 
 Men’s and Women’s Shoes and Hats; Men’s and Women’s 
 Apparel ready made; Household Furniture; Sole Leather; 
 Deck Nails; Gold and Silver and Thread Lace of all sorts; 
 Gold and Silver Clocks and Watches ; Gold and Silver But- 
 tons; Wrought Plate of all sorts; Diamond Stone and Paste 
 Ware; Snuff; Mustard; Broad cloths, that cost above ten 
 shillings per yard; Muffs; Furs and Tippets; and all sorts 
 of Millinery Ware; Starch; Women’s and Children’s Stays; 
 Fire Engines; China Ware; Silk, and Cotton Velvets; Gauze; 
 Pewterers Hollow Ware; Linseed Oil Glue; Lawns; Cam- 
 brics ; Silks of all kinds for garments ; Malt Liquors, and 
 cheese.” 
 
 “And that a subscription be circulated for signatures, 
 with the further agreement. That, at the Funeral of any of 
 our Relations or Friends, we will not give Scarfs nor Rings 
 to any person; nor Gloves to any except the Ministers attend- 
 ing, which Gloves shall be of the Manufacture of some of 
 the British Colonies in America; and that we will not our- 
 selves, nor suffer any of our families, to make use of any 
 mourning upon the death of even the nearest Relation; nor 
 upon such occasion procure any new garments but what shall 
 be absolutely necessary.” 
 
 A copy of these resolutions was sent to Governor Ward, 
 who had retired in the spring of that year, to his home in 
 Westerly, and he was so filled with admiration at the pro- 
 ceedings of the meeting, and the self-denial which they ex- 
 hibited, that he predicted at no distant day the entire freedom 
 of the Colonies from the thraldom of the British yoke. From 
 this moment it is supposed he began to prepare himself for 
 the struggle which he saw was inevitable. 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 41 
 
 All these events occurred previous to the death of his 
 wife, some of them while he was improving his farm and 
 attending to the education of his children. 
 
 According to tradition, he commenced about this time, 
 with one of his neighbors, a vexatious and singular lawsuit in 
 regard to the boundary line between their farms, which en- 
 gaged a portion of his time and attention. 
 
 The beginning of this controversy is said to have been 
 so curious, that it must be related. 
 
 The line between the farms on the east of Gov. Ward’s 
 plantation, upon approaching the sea, ran through a swamp or 
 bog, and terminated in a certain point on the beach. But on 
 running it back, the variation of the compass was such, that, 
 to meet the former line which they had made coming down 
 to the sea, they had to start several rods to the westward, 
 and when they first met the line, it left a triangular piece 
 of ground from the swamp down to the water. The three- 
 cornered piece of land both parties claimed. _JIt is said that 
 the variation of the campass was caused by the presence of 
 iron in the bog through which the line passed. Yet it is 
 doubtful if any controversy would have arisen concerning 
 it, but for an unfortunate accident. A cask of brandy, lost 
 or thrown overboard from some passing vessel, washed ashore 
 and landed exactly upon the disputed territory. Both claimed 
 it; and instead of dividing it — for there must have been 
 enough for both — each insisted upon having the whole. 
 
 I am sorry to spoil a story which has such a curious and 
 interesting commencement ; but having to deal with facts, 
 I must state them, as they are upon the records. It is true 
 that there was a lawsuit between the neighbors ; and that it 
 was about a land title, is also correct; but anything concern- 
 ing its cause of commencement I cannot learn. There are very 
 few suits at law, where one party only is blameable, and if 
 Mr. Ward was entirely right, and the other party entirely 
 wrong, it would be a singular case. Let it not be understood, 
 that we claim for Mr. Ward any immunity from the errors 
 or passions of mankind. To err is human. Doubtless both 
 the litigants were to blame. To inform myself about this 
 
42 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 suit, I visited, and faithfully examined the records of the 
 Courts, at Kingston, and found the following judgment which 
 fully explains it, as a common law suit, for a title to a dis- 
 puted tract of land ; and it seems to have been nothing more. 
 
 That it terminated favorably to Mr. Ward, I cannot ad- 
 mit as proof that he was right or wrong, for if the decisions 
 of Courts at that time were like some which many of us have 
 seen, we know that they do not always “render to Csesar the 
 things which are Caesar’s,” or “to God the things that are 
 God’s.” But here is the judgment of the Court: 
 
 August Court, A. D., 1763. 
 
 Samuel Ward, of Newport, in the County of Newport, 
 Esq’r, plaintiff; Joseph Noyes, of Westerly, in the County of 
 Kings, Yeoman, defendant; in an action of treaspass and 
 ejectment for withholding from the plaintiff the possession 
 of two tracts of land in Westerly aforesaid, containing one 
 hundred and sixty acres, more or less, together with half a 
 Message or Dwelling House thereon ; one piece containing 
 ninety acres, bounded easterly on William Champlin’s land; 
 the other containing about seventy acres, bound westerly on 
 Samuel Ward’s land, westerly on John Dodge’s land, and on 
 all other ways on Joseph Noyes’ land, with the appurtenances ; 
 the defendant withholding said land is to the plaintiff’s damage 
 i5,ooo. The defendant made defaulit; it’s therefore con- 
 sidered by the court, that the plaintiff shall recover and have 
 of the defendant the possession of the land and premises 
 sued for, and the costs of court taxed at twenty-four pounds, 
 eighteen shillings, and four pence.” 
 
 Mr. Noyes, the defendant, appeals to the superior Court, 
 but failing to appear, the judgment of the inferior court was 
 affirmed. 
 
 The events which were transpiring aroused him, and the 
 agitations and excitement caused by the execrable laws of 
 Great Britain, had not passed unnoticed by Mr. Ward in his 
 retirement. He was apprised, doubtless, by correspondents, of 
 the progress of the movements of the colonists, and he also 
 made occasional visits to Providence and Newport to take his 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 43 
 
 acquaintances by the hand, and obtain ocular proof that the 
 fire upon the altar of friendship was not extinguished. 
 
 The control of the government was now passing from the 
 grasp of the King into the hands of the people, and that the 
 town of Westerly might not be a laggard in the cause of 
 freedom, the Town Council called a meeting of all the citizens 
 on the second day of February, 1774, to take into consideration 
 the alarming state of afifairs, and devise a remedy. 
 
 Mr. Ward was chosen Moderator of that Meeting, and 
 the following resolutions, which were passed by it, were drawn 
 up by him. They are plain, simple and comprehensive ; adapted 
 to the understanding of the “wayfaring man,” and sufficiently 
 eloquent in their simplicity to please those of higher attain- 
 ments. Those who give them a cursory reading only, 
 will be struck with the mild, but firm dignity of their lan- 
 guage; and the similarity of their style to that grand decla- 
 ration of hum.an rights from the pen of Jefferson, tvv^o years 
 later cannot fail to be perceived. The statement of our 
 grievances is set forth in the fervid language of truth ; the 
 closing declaration rising to sublimity, when with touching 
 pathos, they afiirm, “We cannot give up our liberties to any 
 person on earth ; they are dearer to us than our lives.” The 
 town of Westerly should be proud that they are recorded 
 among its archives. The record says, “It was the largest 
 meeting ever held in the town, and not a dissenting vote.” 
 “At a Town Meeting specially called, and held at the dwell- 
 ing house of Mayor Edward Bliven, in Westerly, in the 
 County of Kings, February 2d, A. D. 1774, The Hon’ble 
 Samuel Ward Esqr., chosen Moderator. 
 
 The Moderator and several other gentlemen laid before 
 the mieeting the vast importance of Civil and Religious Lib- 
 erty to society; and then stated the natural and constitutional 
 rights and privileges of the colonists, and the many infring- 
 mients of those rights by the several acts of Parliament for 
 raising a revenue in America, and other constitutional pur- 
 poses ; upon which the Moderator and Johna Babcock, Esqr,, 
 Mr. James Rhodes, Col. William Pendleton, Mr. George Shef- 
 field, Oliver Crary, Esqr. and Capt. Benjamin Park were 
 appointed a committee to take the important subjects before 
 
44 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 the meeting into their consideration, and report as soon as 
 may be, what measures will be proper for the town to take 
 in the present alarming situation of the Colonies. 
 
 The meeting was adjourned for a few hours, and the 
 freemen being again assembled, the committee reported the 
 following Resolves, all of which were unanimously received 
 and voted. 
 
 1st. Resolved, That our ancestors, being oppressed in their 
 native country, and denied the liberty of worshipping God 
 according to the dictates of their consciences, had a 
 natural and just right to emigrate from Britain to this or 
 any other part of the world. 
 
 2nd, That upon their arrival in America they found the 
 country in the actual possession of the Indian Natives, who 
 had the sole and absolute jurisdiction of the same, and a 
 perfect and exclusive right on property in the soil and produce, 
 of every kind. 
 
 3d, That they purchased the soil, and with it the juris- 
 diction of the Country of the Sachems, the then sole Lords 
 and Proprietors thereof, and accordingly became possessed 
 of an exclusive natural and just right and property in the 
 same, with a right to ' improve or dispose of the same and 
 its various produce, in any manner which they chose, 
 and might have incorporated themselves into distinct or sepa- 
 rate Societies or Government, without any connection with 
 any European Power whatsoever. 
 
 4th. That their attachment to their native country and 
 its excellent Constitution made them forget their former 
 sufferings, and hope for better times, and put themselves and 
 the vast territory they had acquired under the allegiance of 
 the Crown of England, upon express conditions that all their 
 natural, civil, and religious rights and privileges should be 
 secured to them and their heirs forever. 
 
 This security was solemnly granted and confirmed ac- 
 cordingly in their respective charters with all the “liberties 
 and immunities of free and natural subjects within any of 
 the dominions of the then King of England, etc., his heirs 
 or successors, to all intents, constructions, and purposes what- 
 soever, as if they or every one of them had been born within 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 45 
 
 the Realm of England,” and these privileges have been since 
 confirmed by several acts of Parliament. 
 
 5th. That the charter of this colony doth in the strongest 
 manner possible, grant unto the inhabitants thereof, all those 
 rights and privileges, with complete jurisdiction, , within the 
 territory they had purchased, an entire exemption from all 
 “services, duties, fines, forfeitures, claims and demands what- 
 soever, except the fifth part of all Ore of Gold and silver found 
 in the colony, which is reserved in lieu of all duties. 
 
 6th. That the act of the British Parliament, claiming 
 a right to make laws binding upon the colonies in all cases 
 whatsoever, is inconsistent with the natural, constitutional 
 and charter rights and privileges of the inhabitants of this 
 colony. 
 
 7th. That the acts of Parliament forbidding us to trans- 
 port our wool by water from one town to another, or pro- 
 hibiting the working up of iron or other raw materials which 
 the country affords, are arbitrary, oppressive, and inconsistent 
 with our natural and charter rights. 
 
 8th. That all the acts in Parliament for raising a revenue 
 in America are a notorious violation of the liberties and im- 
 munities granted by charter to the inhabitants of this colony, 
 and have a tendency to deprive them of the liberties, which, 
 as freemen and subjects, they have a right to, by Magna Carta 
 and the Bill of Rights, and also to deprive them of the 
 fruit of their own labor and the produce of their own lands ; 
 and make the present colonists and all their property, slaves 
 to the people, or rather, to the ministry, of Great Britain. 
 
 9th. That the granting of salaries to the Governors and 
 Judges in the colonies ; the enlarging of the jurisdiction of 
 the court of Admiralty; the appointment of the Board of 
 Commissioners; the increase of the Custom House Officers; 
 the arbitrary power given to those officers to break any man's 
 house {was considered by law as a sacred retirement from 
 all force and violence until now,) and to -forcibly enter his 
 bed chamber, break open his desk and trunks, and offer all 
 kinds of insult to his family ; the introducing fleets and 
 armies to supply those officers and enforce a submission to 
 every act of oppression, are inconsistent with every idea of 
 
46 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 liberty ; and will certainly, if not immediately checked, estab- 
 lish Arbitrary Power and Slavery in Am.erica, with all their 
 fatal consequences. 
 
 loth. That the act of Parliament entitled an “Act for 
 the better preserving His Majesty’s Dock-yards,” etc., is a 
 flagrant violation of all our natural and constitutional rights ; 
 for by this act any man in America may be seized and 
 carried to any part of Britain, there to be tried upon a pre- 
 tense of his being concerned in burning a Boat, Vessel, or 
 any materials for building, or any Naval Stores, etc., and 
 being deprived of a trial by his Peers in the vicinity, and 
 subjected to a foreign jurisdiction, under the direction of 
 those who neither know nor regard him; tho’ innocent, he is 
 sure to be entirely ruined. 
 
 nth. That the act allowing the East India Company 
 to export Tea to America, subject to a duty payable here, 
 and the actual sending of the Tea into the colonies by the 
 Company, are manifest attempts to enforce the revenue acts, 
 and undoubtedly designed to make a precedent for estab- 
 lishing Taxes and Monopolies in America, in order that a 
 General Tax upon all the necessaries of life, and on all our 
 lands, may take place ; and mionopolies of all valuable branches 
 of Commerce may be established in this country. We will, 
 therefore, neither buy, sell, nor receive as a gift, any dutied 
 Tea, but shall consider all persons concerned in introducing 
 dutied Tea into this Town as enemies to their country. 
 
 1 2th. That it is the duty of every man in America 
 v/ho loves God, his King or his country, to oppose by all 
 proper measures every attempt upon the liberties of his coun- 
 try, and particularly the importation of Tea subject to a 
 Duty, and to exert himself to the utmost to obtain a redress 
 of the grievances the colonies now groan under. 
 
 13th. That the inhabitants of this town ever have been, 
 and now are, loyal and dutiful subjects to their Sovereign; that 
 they have a most affectionate regard for their brethren in Brit- 
 ain and Ireland; that in all the wars in America, they have, 
 when the Government has been constitutionally applied to by 
 the Crown, granted all the aid in their power, and frequently 
 more than was expected ; that they are sill ready, when called 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 47 
 
 upon in a constitutional way, to grant such aid and assistance to 
 the Crown as the necessity of the case may require, and 
 their abilty will admit; but though we are ready to sacrifice 
 our lives and our fortunes for the true honor and interest of 
 our sovereign and the good of our mother country,, ive cannot 
 give up our liberties to any person upon earth; they are dearer 
 to us than our lives. We do therefore solemnly resolve and 
 determine that we will heartily unite with the other Towns 
 in this and all our sister colonies, and exert our whole force and 
 influence in support of the just rights and privileges of the 
 American Colonies. 
 
 14th. That the Moderator and Joshua Babcock, Esqr., 
 Mr. James Rhodes, Mr. George Sheffield, Maj. James Bab- 
 cock or the major part of them, be a committee for this Town 
 to correspond with all other committees appointed by any 
 Town in this or the other colonies; and the committee is 
 directed to give the closest attention to everything which 
 concerns the liberties of America; and if any Tea subject 
 to a duty should be imported into this Town, or anything 
 else attempted injurious to liberty, the committee is directed 
 and impowered to call a Town meeting forthwith, that such 
 measures may be taken as the public safety may require. 
 
 15th. We highly applaud and sincerely thank our breth- 
 ren in the several sister colonies of America, particularly in 
 Boston, Virginia, and Philadelphia, for their noble and vir- 
 tuous stand in the defense of the common liberties of America, 
 and we return our thanks to the Town of Newport for their 
 Patriotic resolutions to m.aintain the liberties of their coun- 
 try, and the prudent measure they have taken to have the 
 other Towns in the colony to come into the same generous 
 resolution. 
 
 Voted, That the proceeding of this Town Meeting be 
 published in the Newport Mercury. In accordance with a 
 desire expressed by Mr. V/ard, in a communication to the 
 town of Newport, a short time previous, the freemen of 
 that patriotic community, had passed similar resolutions, all 
 traces of which were lost in the destruction of the records a 
 few years later, by British chivalry. 
 
 The interval which succeeded the vacation of the Cover- 
 
48 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 norship of the Colony, until Mr. Ward occupied a higher 
 station, has now nearly expired. The ability which he dis- 
 played in the discharge of the various duties that had devolved 
 upon him, indicated him as a proper person to represent the 
 Colony in a far more important and delicate trust than had 
 ever before been imposed upon him. At the next meeting 
 of the Assembly, after the passing of the preceding reso- 
 lutions by the town of Westerly, the following vote was 
 passed : V oted, That the Hon. Stephen Hopkins and Hon. 
 Samuel Ward, Esqrs., be, and they are hereby appointed by 
 this Assembly to represent the people of this Colony in a 
 General Congress of Representatives from the other Colonies, 
 at such time and place as shall be agreed upon by the major 
 part of the committee appointed or to be apopinted by the 
 Colonies in general. 
 
 They were to consult and advise with the Representa- 
 tives of the other colonies who should meet in such Congress 
 upon a loyal and dutiful petition and remonstrance, to be 
 presented to His Majesty, as the united voice of his faithful 
 subjects in America, setting forth the grievance they labor 
 under, and praying for his gracious interposition for their 
 relief. Sixty pounds, lawful money, was allowed to each 
 delegate to defray his expenses; an account of which was to 
 be rendered to the Assembly upon their return. 
 
 To fulfill the new duties of the station to which he had 
 been chosen by the unanimous voice of the Assembly, Mr. 
 Ward, accompanied by Cudjo, his faithful colored do- 
 mestic, left his home in the summer of 1774, for 
 Philadelphia, where it had been agreed that the Congress 
 should assemble. You, who are whirled along by the power 
 of steam at the present day, to that beautiful city, can hardly 
 realize the fatigue of a journey at that time to the same city 
 on horseback. Suffice it to say, that after much toil and delay, 
 he arrived, and was present at the opening of the “First 
 Continental Congress.” The Journal of that body, where 
 Mr. Ward is first mentioned, says, Wednesday, Sept. 7th, 
 1774: 
 
 “The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. 
 Duche.” And the same day, “Voted, That the thanks of the 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 49 
 
 Congress be given to Mr. Duche, by Mr. Cushing and Mr. 
 Ward, for performing divine service, and for the excellent 
 prayer which he composed, and delivered on the occasion.” 
 After a session of five or six weeks, most of which time was 
 passed in secret conclave, the Congress adjourned to meet 
 again on the tenth day of the next May, and Mr. Ward 
 return joyfully to his home. The care of his motherless 
 family had fallen upon his unmarried sisters, who came to 
 reside at his house for that purpose, when he left for Phila- 
 delphia, and who remained there with great fidelity until 
 death smote the shepherd of the flock. 
 
 At a meeting of the General Assembly of the Colony, 
 called for that purpose immediately after his return, the 
 delegates made a report of the proceedings of the Congress, 
 for which they received a vote of thanks. 
 
 In the spring of 1775, the Assembly of Rhode Island met 
 again, and passed acts to raise men and money to assist 
 their brethren of Massachusetts ; the news of the battle of 
 Lexington having swept over the land and thrilled in the 
 hearts of the people of Rhode Island like an electric shock. 
 
 It has been a source of pride, that I have been able to 
 present facts in this memoir, to show the alacrity with which 
 the colony of Rhode Island took part in the first movements 
 of resistance to the arbitrary laws of Great Britain. Indeed 
 it took the initiative in some of the most important acts. 
 The delegates to Congress were appointed before any others 
 in the Colonies ; an act was passed by the Assembly, making 
 it a crime to furnish supplies to the British ships, or to 
 pilot them through our waters ; and the act of allegiance to 
 the British Crown was repealed two months before the Decla- 
 ration of Independence. But in every great work of progress, 
 hindrances appear, and difficulties multiply, which are only 
 overcome by a determined perseverance, and a stern adherence 
 to justice and truth. In this case an unexpected obstacle 
 to the patriotic acts of the Assembly appeared in the chief 
 executive officer of the Colony. The Governor of Rhode 
 Island at that time was Mr. Joseph Wanton, of Newport, 
 who had a formidable idea of the power and invincibility 
 of the British Government, and whose chief claims for im- 
 
50 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 mortality are that he was numbered among the executive 
 officers in America, who were unfaithful to their trusts. He 
 entered his feeble protest against the spirited acts of the 
 General Assembly, but no attention was paid to it by the ex- 
 cited people, except to express their scorn and detestation 
 of his act, or their derision of the boasted prowess and valor 
 of the troops of his master. The Colonists were fully pre- 
 pared to take the reins of government in their own hands 
 and to go to even greater extrem.es in vindication of their 
 rights. 
 
 At a meeting of the General Assembly, shortly after the 
 Governor’s protest, an act Vv^as passed which stripped him 
 of his authority, and bestowed it upon Mr. Nicholas Cooke, 
 a merchant of Providence, whose firm guidance carried us 
 through the trying scenes of the Revolution. Henry Ward, 
 the Secretary of State, had, meanwhile, signed all the public 
 documents after the protest of the unfaithful Governor, by 
 order of the Assembly. 
 
 The Journal of Congress, to which we shall now be 
 obliged frequently to refer, contains the notice of the arrival 
 of Mr. Ward at the Congress of 1775, the second year of his 
 appointment. It occurred during an interesting debate, but 
 his return was so joyfully received that the debate was inter- 
 rupted by his entrance. The entry is as follows: “May 15, 
 1775, During the debate, Samuel Ward, Esqr., one of the 
 delegates from Rhode Island, appeared and produced his cre- 
 dentials, which being read, were approved, and are as follows : 
 ‘By the Honorable, the General A^ssembly of the English 
 Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New 
 England, America: To the Hon. Stephen Hopkins and Sam- 
 uel Ward, Esqrs., greeting: Whereas, the General Assembly 
 of the Colony aforesaid, have nominated and appointed you, 
 the said Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward, to represent the 
 people of this Colony, in a General Congress of the Repre- 
 sentatives from this and other Colonies, to be holden in the 
 city of Philadelphia, and there, in behalf of this Colony, to 
 meet and join with the commissioners, or delegates from the 
 other Colonies in consulting upon proper measures to obtain 
 a repeal of the several acts of the British Parliament, for levy- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 51 
 
 ing taxes upon His Majesty’s subjects in America, without 
 their consent, and upon proper measures to establish the rights 
 and liberties of the Colonies, upon a just and solid founda- 
 tion, agreeable to the instructions given you by the General 
 Assembly. By virtue of an act of the General Assembly, I 
 Henry Ward ^sqr., Secretary of the said Colony, have here- 
 unto set my hand, and affixed the seal of the said Colony, 
 this seventh day of May, A. D., 1775, and in the fifteenth year 
 of the reign of his most sacred Majesty, George the Third, 
 by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, etc. (Signed) 
 Henry Ward.’ ” 
 
 Mr. Hopkins arrived and took his seat three days sub- 
 sequently. The next day after the arrival of Mr. Hopkins, 
 Congress resolved themselves into a committee of the whole, 
 and Mr. Ward was called to preside, by Mr. John Hancock, 
 the President. Behold now the farmer, whose education 
 in the common schools was considered sufficient for the sphere 
 in which he was expected to move, seated in a position in 
 which any man might well be proud to occupy. Let no 
 younger man hereafter despair, however obscure his origin, 
 or humble his calling, honesty, industry, perseverance, will 
 place him where his talents will find exercise. As sure as 
 that Vv^ater seeks and will find its true level, so sure will untir- 
 ing efforts, well directed, secure him the position he is qual- 
 ified to honor and sustain. But let him not for a moment 
 suppose that when he leaves the school-room his education 
 is finished. We have proof that all the leisure hours of 
 Samuel Ward, at Newport, while attending the sessions of 
 the Assembly, and when seated in the Gubernatorial chair, 
 were devoted to study. At Westerly, especially, the morning 
 hours often struck before the light in his library was 
 extinguished. His political enemies declared that in these 
 nocturnal sittings he was maturing some dangerous plot 
 against the colony; but his friends knew that he was striv- 
 ing for a deeper insight into those profound depths, from 
 which emanate the sources of all power and wisdom. 
 
 Knowledge — not wealth — is power, and he knew it. He 
 was preparing himself for future usefulness, with a prescience 
 which at this day may be considered remarkable. He dis- 
 
52 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 tinctly saw from the first, to what the odious laws of the 
 British Parliament would lead, and silently and steadily girded 
 himself for that conflict. He had been in possession of a 
 large estate, which was being exhausted by his continual 
 absence ; by the improvidence of unthrifty servants and agents ; 
 a large, and necessarily expensive family, too young to render 
 him any substantial assistance which were not fully repaid by 
 the colony. But with him there was no wavering. He was 
 well aware that the most successful man in the world is 
 not he w'ho can exhibit the greatest number of deeds, but he 
 who seeks, finds, and embraces the most opportunities for bene- 
 fiting his fellow-men ; and to that end he was ready to sacrifice 
 his \vealth in sustaining those truths which were afterwards sol- 
 emnly declared to be self-evident. In addition to his duties 
 as President of the Committee of the Whole, Mr. Ward served 
 upon other various important committees, never refusing any 
 dutv, however laborious, which was presented for his ac- 
 ceptance. Owing to a serious physical difficulty. Gov. Hop- 
 kins was rendered unable to take any part upon the com- 
 mittees where a correspondence was required, consequently 
 the whole of that official duty of the delegation fell upon Mr. 
 Ward. But no com.plaint was ever heard from him because 
 of this occasion of labor, except allusion to it in his letters 
 to his family, in one of which he says. “I am almost worn out 
 with attention to business. I am upon a Standing Committee 
 of Claims, which meets every morning before Congress, and 
 upon the Secret Committee, which meets almost every after- 
 noon; and these, with a close attendance upon Congress, and 
 writing my letters, make my duty very hard, and I cannot 
 get time to ride or take any other exercise. But I hope the 
 business will not be so pressing very long.” 
 
 During the month of August, 1775, Congress had a recess 
 of thirty days, in which Mr. Ward again visited his home. 
 While there he attended a meeting of the General Assembly 
 and the delegates conjointly made a report of the doing 
 of the body of which they were members. In the month 
 of September of this year, Congress re-assembled after the 
 appointed recess had expired. 
 
 The expiration of the recess of Congress, brought to- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 53 
 
 gether the same men who had previously composed that body, 
 but with very different feelings in their breasts from those 
 which had actuated them when they separated. Doubt and 
 dismay then prevailed in the breasts of all, but especially in 
 the breasts of those who were constitutionally timid. Dis- 
 may! not of the consequences of the struggle to themselves 
 personally, but at the thought of the dreadful effects of war ; 
 the shedding of blood and the burning of towns, and doubt 
 of the final success of a feeble community against a great 
 Empire in arms. 
 
 But when they reassembled, one glance at their counte- 
 nances showed that a change had occurred. They had met 
 and sounded the opinions of their constituents and the firm 
 spirit and determination which was everywhere visible in oppo- 
 sition to the aggressions of Britain, had animated their hearts 
 and fired their souls with a new zeal. 
 
 From the time of the passage of the Stamp Act, and 
 while Mr. Ward was Governor of the Colony, I believe he 
 understood the result of the taxation laws of Great Britain. 
 In private life he had frequently spoken of our final dis- 
 connection with the parent country in consequence of their 
 continuation in that course. 
 
 That such was the fact, may be proved from an extract 
 in a letter to his brother, written about that time, 
 in which he says: “When I first entered this contest with 
 Great Britain I extended my views through the various scenes 
 which my judgment, my imagination, (say which you please) 
 pointed out to me. I saw clearly that the last act of this cruel 
 tragedy would close in fields of blood. I have traced the 
 progress of this unnatural war through burning towns, devas- 
 tation of the country, and every subsequent evil. I have real- 
 ized, with regard to myself the bullet, the bayonet, and the 
 halter; and, compared with the immense object I have in view, 
 they are less than nothing. No man living, perhaps, is more 
 fond of his children than I am, and I am not so old as to be 
 tired of life; and yet, as far as I can judge the tenderest con- 
 nections and the most important private concerns are very mi- 
 nute objects. Heaven save my country, I was going to say, is 
 m.y first, my last, and almost my only prayer.” But in addition 
 
54 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 to the weight of patriotic duties which devolved upon him, Mr. 
 Ward had now another source of anxiety in the fate of his son, 
 Samuel Ward, Jr., now about twenty years of age, who had 
 joined the detachment under the command of Col. Benedict 
 Arnold, for the reduction of Canada. Two hundred and fifty 
 troops had volunteered from Rhode Island upon that distant 
 and perilous expedition, and Samuel Ward, Jr., Vv^as appointed 
 to a Captain’s comnuand over them. In speaking of this ex- 
 cellent young man, I cannot do better than copy from the 
 American Annual Register, of 1832, an account of his career : 
 ‘‘Capt. Ward was educated in Brown University, in Provi- 
 dence, and hostilities commencing about the time he left col- 
 lege, he joined the Rhode Island army of observation, of 
 v/hich he was appointed a Captain on the 8th of May, [7/5, 
 the army being raised in the name of his Majesty, George 
 III, for the preservation of his Majesty’s loyal and faithful 
 subjects of the colony of Rhode Island. His commission 
 (which was given by his uncle, Henry Ward, the Secretary 
 of Rhode Island, the Governor and Lieut. Governor being 
 Tories) authorized him, in case of an invasion of assault of 
 a common enemy to infest or disturb this or any other of his 
 Majesty’s colonies in America, to drav/ and gather together, 
 the company under your command, and therev/ith, to the 
 
 utmost of your skill and ability, you are to resist, expel kill 
 
 and destroy them in order to preserve the interest of his 
 Majesty and his good subjects in these parts.” 
 
 Like their brothers, the Covenanters — 
 
 ''Who swore at first to fight 
 
 For the King’s safety and his rights. 
 
 And after marched to find him out 
 
 And charged him home with horse and foot.” 
 
 The Whigs of the Revolution found no inconsistency 
 
 in availing themselves of the authorit}/ of the King as 'the 
 constitutional head of the government, to preserve and main- 
 tain their constitutional rights. In the month of May, 1775, 
 the father and son both left their home — the one to repre- 
 sent the colony in the Continental Congress, and the other 
 to defend her liberties in the field. He joined the army 
 besieging Boston — burning with a vehemient desire to vindi- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 55 
 
 cate the rights of the colonies. In one of his letters to his 
 family, dated Prospect Hall, July 30, 1775, addressing his 
 younger brothers, he says, “As you grow in stature, pray take 
 pains to be manly ; remember that you may all have an oppor- 
 tunity of standing forth to fight the battles of our country. This 
 afternoon we expected to have an engagement. We may 
 have one tonight. The Regulars are now landing in Charles- 
 twon from Boston. I thank God we are ready to meet them.” 
 With such an ardent spirit, young Ward was not likely 
 to hesitate in embracing an opportunity of advancing the 
 cause he had espoused. In September, i 775 > Gen. Arnold, 
 then one of the most enterprising of America’s sons (but 
 afterwards ‘‘quantum mutatus abillo Hectare T v/as invested 
 with the commiand of 1,100 volunteers, destined to join Mont- 
 gomery at Quebec, by way of Kennebec River. The country 
 was then an unexplored v/ilderness, and so great were the 
 difficulties they encountered, that part of the detachment 
 actually abandoned the expedition and returned to Cam- 
 bridge to avoid starvation. Capt. Ward and his company 
 persevered, and after unheard of privations arrived before 
 Quebec in Novemxber, 1775. 
 
 A letter from him on the 26th of that month to his family, 
 dated at Point au Tumblers, gives a vivid account of the 
 hardships of the expedition : “It would take too much time 
 to tell you what we have undergone; however, as a sum- 
 mary of the whole, we have gone up one of the most rapid 
 rivers in the world, where the water is so shoal, that moder- 
 ately speaking, we have waded 100 miles. We were thirty 
 days in the wilderness, that none but savages ever attempted 
 to pass. We marched 100 miles upon short three days’ pro- 
 snow and ice, barefoot, passed over the St. Lawrence, where 
 it was guarded by the enemies’ frigates, and are now about 
 twenty-four miles from the city, to recruit our worn out 
 natures. Gen. Montgomery intends to join us immediately, 
 so that we have a winter’s campaign before us, but I trust 
 we shall have the glory of taking Quebec.” That hope un- 
 happily, was not realized. The attack upon that city failed 
 and Captain Ward, with the principal part of his company, 
 having under the command of Arnold, penetrated through 
 
56 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 the first barrier, was surrounded by a superior force, and 
 compelled to surrender. While in captivity he received the 
 following' letter from his father, which, from the excellence 
 of its sentiments, and as fully illustrating the principles of 
 the leading patriots of that time, we insert at length : 
 
 Jan’y 21, 1776, Phifia. 
 
 My Dear Son: — I most devoutly thank God that you 
 are alive, in good health, and have behaved well. You 
 have now a new scene of action, to behave well as a prisoner. 
 You have been taught from your infancy the love of God, 
 of all mankind, and especially of your country ; in a due dis- 
 charge of these various duties of life, consist true honor, re- 
 ligion and virtue. I hope no situation or trial, however se- 
 vere, will tempt you to violate those sound, immutable laws 
 of God and nature. You will now have time for reflection; 
 improve it well and examine your own heart. Eradicate, as 
 much as human frailty admits, the seeds of vice and folly. 
 Correct your temper. Expand benevolent feelings of your 
 soul, and impress and establish the noble principles of pri- 
 vate and public virtue so deeply in it, that your whole life 
 may be directed by them. Next to these great and essential 
 udties, improve your mind by the best authors you can bor- 
 row. Learn the Erench language, and be continually ac- 
 quiring, as far as your situation admits, every useful accom- 
 plishment. Shun every species of debauchery and vice, as 
 certain and inevitable ruin here and hereafter. There is one 
 vice, which, though often met in polite company, I cannot 
 consider but as unworthy of a gentleman as well as a Chris- 
 tian. I mean swearing. Avoid it at all times. 
 
 All ranks of people here have the highest sense of the 
 great bravery and merit of Colonel Arnold, and all his offi- 
 cers and men. Though prisoners, they have acquired im- 
 mortal honor. Proper attention will be paid to them. In 
 the meantime, behave, my dear son, with great circumspec- 
 tion, prudence and firmness. Enter into no engagements in- 
 consistent with your duty to your country, and such as you 
 may keep inviolate with the strictest honor. Beside endeavor- 
 ing to make yourself as easy and comfortable as possiblbe 
 in your present situation, you will pay the greatest attention. 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 57 
 
 as far as your little power may admit, to the comfort and 
 welfare of all your fellow prisoners, and of those lately un- 
 der your immediate command, especially. 
 
 Capt. Ward was exchanged in 1776, and on the first of 
 January, 1777, was commissioned as Major in Col. Christo- 
 pher Green’s regiment of the Rhode Island line, a worthy 
 compeer of his brother, Gen. Greene. '‘Scipiados duo ful- 
 inina belli” 
 
 In that capacity he was present and co-operated in the 
 gallant defense of his native State, under the commands of 
 Generals Greene, Lafayette and Sullivan. In the celebrated 
 retreat from Rhode Island he commanded a regiment, and 
 on the twelfth of April, 1779, he was commissioned Lieut. 
 Colonel of the First Rhode Island Regiment. During that 
 and the following year he was in Washington’s army in New 
 Jersey, and participated in the toil and glory of that service. 
 At the termination of the war. Col. Ward returned to the 
 peaceful pursuits of a citizen, with the same alacrity that he 
 had manifested when his country’s voice had called him to 
 arms. He now commenced business as a merchant, and mani- 
 fested as much enterprise in his new profession as he had in 
 his previous career. 
 
 In the spring of 1783, he made a voyage from Provi- 
 dence to Canton, and was among the first to display “the 
 republican flag” in the China seas. Upon his return to the 
 United States, he established himself at New York as a 
 merchant, and by his probity, frugality, and industry, be- 
 came successful in his business. In the course of his mer- 
 cantile career he visited Europe, and was at Paris when 
 Louis XVI. was beheaded. After his return from Europe, 
 Col. Ward established himself on a farm at East Greenwich, 
 R. I., where he lived to see his children educated to useful- 
 ness, and establish themselves in the business of active life. 
 In 1817, with a view of being nearer his children, several 
 of whom had embarked in business in New York, he re- 
 moved from his native State to Jamaica, on Long Island. 
 Here, and in the city of New York, he resided in the midst 
 of his family and friends, by whom he was admired and be- 
 
58 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 loved for his manifold virtues, until the termination of his 
 long and useful career. 
 
 This dutiful son, and his excellent father, never met 
 again on earth. The father was called to hs great reward, 
 but the son was continued here, to illustrate to the world the 
 great effects of his precepts and example. The last notice 
 of Gov. Ward upon the journal of Congress, previous to the 
 announcement of his death, is dated March 13, 1776, when 
 he reported the doings as Chairman of the Committee of 
 the Whole. 
 
 For a day or two before he felt quite unwell, but had 
 persisted in performing his customary duties. He died in 
 the city of Philadelphia, on the 25th day of March, 1776, in 
 the 51st year of his age, of small pox. It is said he had a 
 strong repugnance to the practice of inoculation, which had 
 been in vogue since 1721, and resisted the persuasions of his 
 friends to take the disease in that manner. Vaccination as 
 a preventative was then unknown. 
 
 But v/hen death approached it found him ready. A life 
 nobly spent in the discharge of every public and private duty, 
 had prepared him to relinquish his Maker’s gift without 
 murmuring, and he descended to the grave 
 
 “Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
 About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.” 
 
 He died as the patriot dies ; at the post of duty, battling 
 for his country’s rights. He died like a Christian ; with im- 
 plicit confidence in the justice and mercy of his Creator. 
 
 The death of Gov. Ward cast a gloom over Congress. 
 His loss was felt to be a national calamity, and it was truly 
 said upon the announcement of the event, that “the land 
 mourneth.” John Adams in a letter to his wife, said, “We 
 have this week lost a very valuable friend of the colonies in 
 Gov. Ward of Rhode Island, by the small pox in the natural 
 way. He never would harken to his friends, who have been 
 constantly advising him to inoculate, ever since the first 
 Congress began. But he would not be persuaded. 
 
 “Numbers who have been inoculated, have gone through 
 the distemper without any danger, or even confinement, but 
 nothing would do. He must take it in the natural way and 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 59 
 
 die. He was an amiable and sensible man, a steadfast friend 
 of his country upon very pure principles. His funeral was 
 attended with the same solemnities as Mr. Randolph’s. Mr. 
 Stillman being the Anabaptist minister here, of which per- 
 suasion was the Governor, was desired by Congress to preach 
 a sermon, which he did with great applause.” 
 
 The following is the order of Congress respecting his 
 funeral : 
 
 March 26, 1776. The Congress being informed that 
 Mr. Ward, one of the delegates of Rhode Island, died 
 yesterday. 
 
 Resolved, that this Congress will in a body attend the 
 funeral of Mr. Ward, tomorrow, with crape round the arm, 
 and will continue in mourning for the space of one month. 
 
 Resolved, that Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Samuel Adams, and 
 Mr. Wolcott, be a committee to superintend the funeral, and 
 that they be directed to apply to Rev. Mr. Stillman, and re- 
 quest him to preach a funeral sermon on the occasion ; that 
 the said committee be directed to invite the Assembly and 
 Committee of Safety of Penn., and other public bodies, to 
 attend the funeral. The General Assembly of Rhode Island, 
 also, at their next session in May, passed the following vote : 
 Whereas, the Hon. Samuel Ward, Esq., late delegate for 
 this colony in the Continental Congress, hath lately deceased 
 in the city of Philadelphia ; In testimony of the respect due 
 to his memory and in grateful remembrance of his public 
 services. 
 
 Resolved, that his Executors 'or Administrators are de- 
 sired, as soon as may be, to exhibit to this Assembly an ac- 
 count of his funeral expenses, for payment : And it is further 
 resolved. That the delegate for this colony, for the time be- 
 ing, be instructed to erect a decent tombstone or monument 
 of marble, with such inscription as they shall think suitable, 
 over the place where his body hath been deposited, at the 
 expense of this colony. 
 
 On his death bed. Gov. Ward said that if his “vote and 
 voice were necessary to support the cause of his country, he 
 should live ; if not, he should die.” “He died,” says John 
 John Adams, “and the cause of his country was supported. 
 
6o 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 but it lost one of its most sincere and punctual advocates.” 
 Mr. Ward was a member of the Seventh-day Baptist church 
 of Westerly, and died in that faith. Among his papers was 
 found a copy of his confession of faith, which was sub- 
 mitted to the church when he was admitted, but I have yet 
 been unable to find upon the church records. His wife, also, 
 was a member of the same church, and his father and family, 
 members of the like persuasion at Newport. 
 
 He was interred in the burying ground of the First 
 Baptist Society in Philadelphia, inside the church, in the 
 middle of what was the main aisle. A plain marble slab 
 was placed over his remains, which slab was used as a part 
 of the floor until a few years ago. The inscription is now 
 nearly obliterated by the feet of the passers, and by the en- 
 croachment of time. Some changes have been made in the 
 church, which have brought the pulpit and the baptismal 
 font, directly over his grave. It is now concealed from the 
 eyes of his fellow men, and no memorial exists to tell to the 
 world that such a man ever lived. The State of Rhode Is- 
 land owes him a monument, and that monument should be 
 erected in the town of Westerly. His fame belongs to us, 
 and here should his name be perpetuated. 
 
 Mr. Ward’s will was presented for Probate in May, 1776, 
 and was as follows : 
 
 ‘T, Samuel Ward, of Westerly, in the County of Kings, 
 and the Colony of Rhode Island, Esqr., being by the good- 
 ness of God in a good state of health and of sound and dis- 
 posing mind and memory, and sensible of the uncertainty of 
 life, do make and ordain my last Will and Testament in 
 manner following ; that is to say ; 
 
 Imprimis, I will that all my just debts and funeral ex- 
 penses be honestly paid as soon after my decease as the sit- 
 uation of the estate which I leave will admit. 
 
 Item. I give and bequeath unto my beloved son, Charles 
 Ward, fifty dollars, to be paid to him in three years after my 
 decease, by my executors. 
 
 Item. Having lately married my daughter Katherine, 
 and given her a few things, amounting in all to about seventy- 
 five pounds lawful m.oney, I do in order that I may dis- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 6l 
 
 tribute my estate as equally as possible amongst my ten 
 children, in general, give and bequeath unto each of the 
 other children; to wit., Hannah Ward, Anne Ward, Mary 
 Ward, Samuel Ward, Deborah Ward, Simon Ray Ward, 
 John Ward, Richard Ward, and Elizabeth Ward, the afore- 
 said sum of seventy-five pounds lawful money, to each and 
 every of them, to be paid them respectively as soon as it 
 can be raised out of the estate which I leave. 
 
 Item. All the rest, residue, and remainder of my es- 
 tate, both real and personal, whatever, or wheresoever the 
 same may be, I give, devise, and bequeath to my children, 
 Hannah, Anne, Katharine, Mary, Samuel, Deborah, Simon 
 Ray, John, Richard and Elizabeth Ward, to be equally di- 
 vided between them and their heirs and held and enjoyed in 
 severalty accordingly forever. 
 
 Item. Should any one or more of my children above 
 mentioned, die before the age of twenty-one, or without 
 leaving lawful issue, I now give and bequeath and devise to 
 the survivor or survivors of my ten last named children and 
 their heirs forever, to be equally divided between them. 
 
 Item. I have a most kind and effectionate remembrance 
 of m}^ Brothers and Sisters and other near relatives and 
 friends ; but the heavy misfortunes which I have met with, 
 forbid any other acknowledgement of it, than this sincere 
 (tho’ verbal one) contained in this clause. Lastly, I nomi- 
 nate, constitute, and appoint William Greene, Esqr., of War- 
 wick; Mr. Benjamin Clarke, of Stonington; and Henry Mar- 
 chant, Esqr., of Newport, sole executors of this my last Will 
 and Testament, earnestly entreating them to add this one 
 instance of their regard for their sincere friend to the many 
 already received, of taking charge of the estate which he 
 leaves, and making the most of it for his children. And I 
 hereby utterly revoke and disannull all former or other wills 
 heretofore made by me, ratifying and confirming this to be 
 my only last Will and Testament. In witness whereof I 
 have hereunto set my hand and seal, this twenty-second day 
 of August, Anoy. Don., 1774. 
 
 Sam Ward. 
 
62 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 Signed, sealed, published, etc., in presence of 
 
 Ethan Clarke, 
 
 Christopher Clarke, 
 Thomas Hall. 
 
 The inventory of his personal property was taken the 
 3d day of May, 1776, and amounted to 1,119 pounds, 14 
 shillings, 4 pence lawful money. The executors of the Will 
 having declined the trust, the Court of Probate appointed 
 Capt. Ethan Clarke Administrator, with the Will annexed, 
 who proceeded to administer upon the estate. At a subse- 
 quent meeting of the Court he appeared and represented the 
 personal property insufficient to pay the debts of the de- 
 ceased; whereupon 'Messrs. Job Bennett and Phineas Clarke 
 were appointed to receive and examine the claims against 
 the estate. An order was afterwards granted by the Su- 
 perior Court to sell enough of the real estate to meet the 
 outstanding debts. The claims amounted to 4,166 pounds, 
 12 shillings, 7 pence. The space occupied by the inventory 
 was ten pages of the large book of records ; the articles in 
 each room, headed Vv^ith the name of the room where they 
 were found, such as “West Keeping Room,’’ “East Great 
 Room,” “North Keeping Room.” 
 
 His silver plate consisted of i Tankard, 2 Cans, 2 Por- 
 ringers, I Searver, i Cream-pot, 12 Table Spoons, 7 Tea- 
 Spoons and I pair of Sugar Tongs. 
 
 His stock upon the farm numbered 222 head, viz., 6 
 Horses, 8 pairs Oxen, 18 Cows, 7 Calves, 12 young Cattle, 
 147 Sheep, and 30 Swine. His Library, which was situated 
 in the “Upper Entry,” consisted of the small number of 94 
 volumes ; but that its selections might be observed, I here- 
 with present it in full: i Folio Bible, i Folio Concordance 
 
 to the Bible, i Law of Evidence, i Institutes of the Laws of 
 England, i Latin Dictionary, i History of Martyrs, i Ham- 
 mond’s Annotations on the New Testament, i Giles Jacob’s 
 Law Dictionary, i complete Body of Husbandry, i History 
 of the Worthies of England, i Latin Bible and Holy War, 2 
 Vols. James Foster on Natural Religion, i Bacon’s complete 
 Arbitrator, i Rights of the Colonies displayed and History 
 of the Church, i Pope’s Essay on Man, i Colony Law Book, 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 63 
 
 2 Vols. Bailey’s Dictionary, i Mayhew’s Sermons, 4 Vols. 
 Gredoux’s Connections, 2 Vols. Spirit of Laws, i Garyather, 
 I Blackstone’s Analysis on the Laws of England, i Arith- 
 metic, I Cunningham’s Law Bills of Exchange, i English 
 Dispensatory, 2 Vols. Puffender’s Introduction^ i- Doct. 
 Wright’s Treatise, 2 Vols. Pope’s Works, 3 Vols. Joseph 
 Stennett’s Sermons, i James Poster on Christian Revela- 
 tion, 16 Vols. Rollin’s Roman History, i Gordian’s Geogra- 
 phy of England, i Salmon’s Georgraphy, i Republic of Hol- 
 land, I Antiquities of Rome, 4 Vols. Dr. James Poster’s 
 Sermons, 4 Vols. Religious Philosopher, i Sermons, i Brom- 
 bly on New Birth, i Herodotus’ History, 13 Vols. Latin 
 Books, I Watt’s Eirst Principles of Astronomy, 2 Vols. Ad- 
 dison’s Trewels, i Matthew Hall’s Contemplations, 2 Bur- 
 nett’s Hist. Reformation, i Grammar, i Catechism and Po- 
 tent Energy of America. 
 
 Gov. Ward left ten children at his death, the original 
 number eleven having been lessened in 1774, by the death 
 of his daughter, Hannah. Their names and births are as fol- 
 low^ : Charles, born 1747, in Newport, died unmarried. Han- 
 nah, bom ^piil 12 1749, in Westerly, died unmarried, aged 
 24. Anne, born Aug. 24, 1750, in Westerly, Katharine, 
 born April 2, 1752, in Westerly, married Christopher Greene 
 of East Greenwich, died in 1781. Mary, born Dec. 3, 1754, 
 died unmarried. Samuel, born Nov. 15, 1756, married Phebe, 
 daughter of Gov. William Green of Warwick, (his cousin) 
 he died 1832. Deborah, born Oct. 12, 1758, married Chris- 
 topher Greene of East Greenwich. She died in 1834. Judge 
 Richard W. Greene of East Greenwich was the son of De- 
 borah Ward and Christopher Greene. Simon Ray, born Oct. 
 4, 1760, married Sarah Gardiner and died in 1793, leaving 
 two daughters, who died unmarried. John, born July 25, 
 1762, married Eliza' Bowers, died without issue. Richard, 
 born March 10, 1765, in Tiverton, miarried Eliza Boune, died 
 1808, without issue. Elizabeth, born Aug. 16, 1767, died 
 1783, 17 years, unmarried. Deborah and Simon Ray, be- 
 ing of proper age at their father’s death, chose their uncle 
 William Greene of Warwick to be their guardian, and he 
 was appointed to the same office over the younger children. 
 
64 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 The court had also previously appointed, after her mother’s 
 mother’s death, Mrs. Isabel Marchant, widow, then resid- 
 ing in Westerly, formerly of Newport, guardian to Hannah, 
 with power of attorney, ‘‘as said Hannah Ward was de- 
 prived of her reason, and incapable of managing and con- 
 ducting her affairs. And said office to be held until said 
 Hannah Ward shall by Divine Providence, be restored to 
 her former soundness of mind.” Hannah died Sept. 8, 1774, 
 in the 24th year of her age and is buried by her mother’s 
 side on the farm. The farm upon which Gov. Ward re- 
 sided in Westerly, is now owned by Albert B. Langworthy, 
 Esq., and is one of the best in town. In front and between 
 it and the highlands which guard the beach, a lagoon ex- 
 tends from east to west, which is called “Ward’s Pond.” 
 In 1773, Mr. Ward petitioned for the continuance of a drift- 
 way down to the sea, 'across the land of his neighbor, Noyes, 
 but whether he succeeded is doubtful, as I have before me 
 a long counter-petition or remonstrance, signed by twenty- 
 nine freemen, among whom were William Ross, Volintine 
 Willcox, Sam’l Champlin, Stephen Gavett, Joseph Saunders, 
 and others. It will be seen that as popular as the Governor 
 was, even in his own town he had opposers. An anecdote is 
 told of one of his political opponents, and how he won him 
 over, in connection with the election of 1765, when he ran 
 for Governor, which is laughable. 
 
 Mr. Ward’s voice was peculiarly agreeable, and resonant, 
 and constituted his principal auxiliary in debate, very few 
 being able to resist the musical sweetness of its tone. But 
 every Napoleon has his Waterloo. On his way to election 
 this year, when crossing the ferry from Conanicut to New- 
 port, he met a citizen of that city whom he knew well, as a 
 Hopkins man and the Governor determined in his own mind 
 to secure his vote for himself. Accordingly he brought up 
 all his resources, advancing his most convincing arguments 
 and modulating his voice to its most irresistible tones; but 
 was firmly met by counter arguments and declarations; the 
 man seeming to be nearly his match, even succeeding in 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 65 
 
 turning the tables once or twice upon him by his jokes and 
 arguments. 
 
 The Governor was somewhat nettled and allowed one 
 or two expressions to escape him, which indicated the ruffled 
 state of his mind. Still the man resisted v/ith great firm- 
 ness his most powerful arguments and persuasions, until 
 the boat reached the vfflarf and they were just stepping on 
 the shore. He then turned to the Governor and made some 
 very .insulting expressions within hearing of the whole com- 
 pany. This, in his state of mind was more than his Excel- 
 lency could endure and with one kick of his boot he landed 
 the man flat on his face upon the ground. Slowly and with 
 difficulty arising from his prostrate position, the fellow 
 turned to Gov. Ward, who expected and v/as prepared for 
 a tremendous burst of rage and said : ^‘Governor, I did think 
 I would never cast in prox for you, but you have such a 
 winning way that I shall certainly give you my vote this 
 time.” The roars of laughter which succeeded this declara- 
 tion restored the equanimity of both parties, which was not 
 disturbed until the election was decided. 
 
 Gov. Ward owned at one time a large number of slaves, 
 but at his death he was in possession of but two ; one named 
 James or Cudjo; the other, Peggy, both of whom were manu- 
 mitted by the administrator. In his deed of manumission,, 
 Mr. Clarke states that, in freeing them, he was but fulfilling the 
 wishes of Governor Ward, expressed during his lifetime. 
 
 A short distance from the house, towards the east, upon- 
 the opposite side of the road, is a burying ground tenanted 
 by a number of those faithful, but unfortunate children of; 
 Africa. 
 
 The personal appearance of Governor Ward was dig- 
 nified and commanding. Says John Adams : “He was a 
 gentleman in his manners, benevolent and amiable in dispo- 
 sition, and as decided, ardent and uniform in his patriotism, 
 as any member of Congress. 
 
 He was about five feet seven inches in height, stout built, 
 with light complexion and light or sandy hair. The most 
 superstitious of the people, in allusion to his complexion, 
 when speaking of his controversy with Mr. Hopkins, said. 
 
66 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 that if it was a fair, pleasant day, Gov. Ward was sure to 
 succeed ; but if it was stormy. Gov. Hopkins would be victo- 
 rious. One was of a fair, the other of a dark complexion. 
 
 In the pride and strength of manhood, thus died at his 
 post of duty, a true patriot. His last words showed a Chris- 
 tian faith in the justice of the cause in which his country 
 was strugging. ‘‘If my vote and voice are necessary to sup- 
 port the cause of my country, I shall live ; if not, I shall die.” 
 Had he lived but a few months longer, his name would have 
 been affixed to the Declaration of American Independence, 
 and thus handed down to immortality. But that immortal 
 honor was denied him ; he fell in the “meridian of his days,” 
 before the star of his country had arisen. What more can 
 a man do, than to die for his country? 
 
 Reader, if this memoir of a worthy and distinguished 
 citizen shall encourage but one young man to a more suc- 
 cessful perseverance, or to emulate his integrity and pa- 
 triotism. in the discharge of his duties to society, or his coun- 
 try, the author will have been perfecty repaid. 
 
 Yet the existence of a Revoution mmst not be considered 
 necessary to bring these virtues to light. The every-day 
 duties of life contain many opportunities for the exhibition 
 of self-sacrifice and devotion. 
 
 Many a true hero has descended to the tomb, whose 
 memory is cherished only by a few loving hearts, never to 
 appear as such, until the day when all our actions shall be 
 exposed to view, before whose effulgence the sanguinary 
 heroes of the battlefield shall shrink and retire, as darkness 
 flies before the god of day. 
 
 “Honor and shame from no condition rise. 
 
 Act well your part, there all the honor lies.” 
 
 
The 
 
 Life and Services 
 of 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD 
 
 rf RHODE ISLAND 
 
 by his great-grandson 
 COL. JOHN WARD 
 of Ne'nju York 
 
The Life and Services of 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD 
 
 By his Great-Grandson, 
 
 Col. John Ward, of New York. 
 
 The life of Governor Samuel Ward has been very ably written 
 by Professor William Gammell, and will be found in the ninth volume 
 of Sparks’ Library of American Biography. In the preparation of 
 this interesting biography, Professor Gammell used many of the 
 family papers now in the possession of the author of this sketch. It 
 occurred to the writer that so many more letters and papers had been 
 collected since that time by his late uncle, Richard R. Ward, especially 
 the diary of Governor Ward in the Continental Congress, that a new 
 article might be written, embodying the best part of these documents, 
 and illustrating the character of Governor Ward as an American states- 
 mian. Hon. Samuel G. Arnold, in his History of Rhode Island and in 
 his Centennial Address, mentions Governor Ward in very appropriate 
 terms, especially alluding to his refusal to take the oath to enforce 
 the Stamp Act. Dr. George Bancroft mentions this refusal of the 
 Governor in the fifth volume of his History of the United States, 
 page 351. 
 
 The following sketch was read by the author before the Rhode 
 Island Historical Society at Providence, R. L, by invitation, on Tues- 
 day evening, December 19, 1876. It was published in the Providence 
 Journal on Christmas day, the week following; and the writer desires 
 to express his thanks to the Rhode Island Historical Society for the 
 resolutions passed in regard to his article, which are alluded to in the 
 notice of the meeting in the Providence Journal of the 20th instant. 
 
 The life of a great and eminently good man leaves an 
 impress on his generation, which is very lasting in its effects; 
 although his fame may be overshadowed by that of others, 
 whose good fortune has been to live on and reap the reward 
 of their labors. The veil of secrecy that so long rested over 
 the proceedings of the Continental Congress did no injury to 
 the reputation of those members who lived to sign the Declar- 
 ation of Independence; but in the case of the subject of this 
 
70 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 memoir, an untimely death, by precluding him from signing 
 that immortal document, prevented his arduous labors in the 
 cause of his country from being as widely appreciated as they 
 deserved. 
 
 Governor Samuel Ward of Rhode Island, a very promi- 
 nent member of the celebrated Continental Congress, and a 
 patriotic statesman of most enlightened views, was born at 
 Newport, R. L, May 27, 1725. He was the second son of 
 Governor Richard Ward, of an ancient family settled in that 
 colony, and was descended from the celebrated Roger Wil- 
 liams. He received a very thorough education, residing at 
 Newport until he was 20 years of age, when he married Anna 
 Ray, and removed to Westerly, R.-I. There he rapidly rose 
 to prominence and wealth, his agricultural and mercantile pur- 
 suits proving very remunerative. While residing there he 
 became well acquainted with the distinguished philosopher, 
 Benjamin Franklin, who established a long correspondence 
 v/ith Samuel Ward’s sister-in-law, Cathrine Ray. In 1756, 
 Mr. Ward was elected to the General Assembly of Rhode 
 Island, and continued to represent Westerly in that body until 
 1759. He took a leading part in the debates of the Assembly 
 and was speedily looked up to with great respect, early win- 
 ning for himself the wide and commanding influence that his 
 noble character and talents deserved. In 1758, he was one of 
 the two delegates representing Rhode Island in the Convention 
 called at Hartford by the Earl of Loundoun to settle the quota 
 of New England troops in the French war, and reported the 
 proceedings of the Convention to the Rhode Island Legislature. 
 
 In 1761, he was appointed Chief Justice of the colony, 
 and in May, 1762, while holding this office, was elected Gov- 
 ernor. During his first term he was much interested in the 
 wise plan of founding Rhode Island College, now Brown 
 University. His name appears among the first signers of the 
 petition for a charter, and in 1764 he became one of the origi- 
 nal trustees, when the college was incorporated by the Leg- 
 islature. His son. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Ward, was 
 graduated with high honors in one of its earliest classes. In 
 1765, he was reelected Governor, and, upon the passage of 
 the infamous Stamp Act by Parliament, immediately took 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 71 
 
 strong ground against its enforcement. The Rhode Island 
 Assembly, in September, adopted the five celebrated resolu- 
 tions drawn up by Patrick Henry of Virginia, to which 
 another and a bolder one was added, the whole breathing vir- 
 tually a tone of independence. The Governors of all the colonies 
 but one took the oath to sustain and enforce the odious Stamp 
 Act. Samuel Ward, “the Governor of Rhode Island, stood 
 alone in his patriotic refusal,” says the historian Bancroft. 
 In the month of October, a Colonial Congress, representing 
 nine colonies, was held at New York to protest against this 
 oppressive measure. Henry Vv^ard, a brother of Governor 
 Ward, and noted as holding the office of Secretary of Rhode 
 Island for many years, was one of the two delegates from his 
 native colony. The following year, Samuel Ward was again 
 elected Governor, continuing to reside in Newport while in 
 office. His future colleague in the Continental Congress, 
 Stephen Hopkins, was generally the rival candidate opposed 
 to him, and party feeling in Rhode Island ran high, until 
 finally a compromise was agreed upon, and the two states- 
 men became firm friends. After the expiration of his third 
 term of office, Governor Ward returned to his home at West- 
 erly, R. L, where he remained in retirement, closely observing 
 the rapid march of events, until he was called to legislate for 
 the whole country. He frequently attended the sessions of 
 the General Assembly, although holding no office, and exerted 
 a wide influence in the decision of questions of great public 
 interest. 
 
 In consequence of the oppressive acts of the British min- 
 istry, Virginia and Rhode Island took the lead in establishing 
 standing committees of correspondence and inquiry, in order 
 to obain the earliest intelligence of all measures of the British 
 government relating to America, and to correspond with 
 similar committees in the other colonies. Governor Ward 
 saw the advantage of extending this system to all the towns 
 in Rhode Island, and accordingly, on the 31st of December, 
 1773, soon after the patriotic destruction of the tea at Boson, 
 addressed a letter to some prominent gentlemen of Newport, 
 urging the necessity of establishing such committees of cor- 
 respondence in the various towns of the colony, and suggest- 
 
72 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 ing that Newport, their metropolis, should lead the way in 
 this important matter. This remarkable letter was signed 
 by himself and several other patriots of Westerly, and is as 
 follows : 
 
 Westerly, 31st Dec., 1773. 
 
 Gentlemen — As Liberty, under God, is the parent of wisdom, virtue 
 and happiness, and the only security which mankind can have for the 
 enjoyment of those invaluable blessings, we have beheld with the 
 deepest concern, the many unconstitutional, violent and unjust attacks 
 which have been made upon the liberties of America. Many of these 
 attempts have been defeated by the brave resistance of the Americans; 
 and the colonies in general have gloriously asserted their just rights 
 and privileges, and placed the justice of their cause in a light as clear 
 as that of the meridian sun. But the administration, insensible of every 
 humane, generous, and equitable sentim-ent, still continues its vile at- 
 tempts to enslave us. There is therefore the greatest necessity that a 
 general, firm and inviolable union and intercourse of all the colonies, 
 and of the several towns in each colony, should immediately take place, 
 that the ministry may be effectually convinced that an opposition to 
 their measures hath been made, not by a few interested, designing 
 or factious persons, but by the joint concurrence of people of all 
 ranks in the several colonies. To put this matter beyond a doubt, 
 and convince the world that America is firmly united, and resolved 
 never to give up their liberties but with their lives and fortunes, we 
 think a point of the greatest importance. We are sensible that the 
 appointment of committees of correspondence by the several govern- 
 ments will have a most happy tendency in this respect. 
 
 But we think something further necessary, and can think of noth- 
 ing so effectual as the calling of town meetings in every town in the 
 several colonies, in order to publish to the world their sentim-ents 
 upon the present alarming situation of affairs, particularly their de- 
 testation of and determination to oppose to the last extremity the base 
 attempts made by the East India Company to establish tea factors 
 and tax-gatherers amongst us; and to support the firm resolution of 
 every town to support each other, and especially our most worthy 
 brethren in Boston, who have so nobly sustained and defeated every 
 ministerial attempt upon their liberties, and also to manifest our un- 
 alterable resolution to live freemen, or die gloriously in defence of 
 our liberties. 
 
 With views of this kind, we had thought of calling a town meet- 
 ing in Westerly; but as it would be most for the interest of the 
 common cause that a measure of such importance should originate 
 in the metropolis, we chose to communicate our sentiments to our 
 brethren in Newport; and as you, gentlemen, have generously under- 
 taken to watch over the interests of your country, and point out every 
 attempt upon liberty, we thought we could not address ourselves to any 
 gentlemen in the colony with so much propriety as to you. If the 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 73 
 
 measure suggested by us should appear to you in the same important 
 light v/hich it does to us, you will undoubtedly take the proper mea- 
 sures for carrying it into immediate execution in this, and all the other 
 governments. 
 
 We shall expect your sentiments by Mr. S , before we pro- 
 
 ceed any further, and have no doubt but that the maritime towns 
 will be supported by all the other towns in the colony. We have only 
 to add that the crisis, the important crisis which must determine 
 whether the inhabitants of this vast continent shall be the greatest and 
 most happy people in the universe, or a race of vile, m-iserable, un- 
 happy, wretched slaves, appears to be now come. * * * Let us then 
 stand firm, and whatsoever our hands find to do in this glorious cause, 
 do it with all our might. May that God who delivered our fathers 
 from the cruel hands of oppression and persecution, and preserved 
 them amidst all the dangers and distress attending their settlement 
 in a wilderness destitute of every necessary of life and inhabited by 
 numerous tribes of fierce savages, give us wisdom and virtue to de- 
 fend those liberties they so gloriously purchased and transmitted to 
 us, and to establish our just rights and privileges upon a foundation 
 which shall last as long as the sun and moon endure !” 
 
 Gov. Ward wrote in a similar strain to prominent men 
 in other towns of the colony; and, on the second of February, 
 1774, introduced a series of resolutions at a meeting of the 
 town of Westerly, as chairman of the committee of corre- 
 spondence, which fully recite the grievances of which the 
 colonies complained, and urge resistance as the only altern- 
 ative remaining to them as freemen. The meeting was very 
 largely attended, and the resolutions were adopted without a 
 dissenting voice. 
 
 It was well known that the destruction of the tea in 
 Boston harbor only incited the British ministry to more griev- 
 ous measures, and the Boston Port bill and other accompany- 
 ing acts warned the colonists that no mercy was to be ex- 
 pected. These celebrated measures powerfully aided in pre- 
 cipitating the Revolution. 
 
 On the 17th of May, 1774, at a tovrn meeting in Provi- 
 dence, a general Congress of all the colonies was first pro- 
 posed, and on the 15th of June, during the session of the 
 General Assembly, Samuel Ward and Stephen Hopkins were 
 elected the first delegates from any colony to the Continental 
 Congress, which subsequently met at Philadelphia. Two days 
 later. Governor Ward addressed a letter (signed also by 
 
74 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 Stephen Hopkins) to the Hon. Thomas Cushing, Speaker of 
 the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It reads as 
 follows : 
 
 Newport, 17th May (?June), 1774. 
 
 Sir — The General Assembly of this colony having in their present 
 session resolved that the preservation of America requires a conven- 
 tion of representatives from all the colonies, and appointed us to 
 represent this colony in a Congress, we take the earliest opportunity 
 to assure you that we shall at all times be ready most heartily to 
 concur with your Province, and the other colonies, in all proper 
 measures for effectually restoring the peace of Am-erica, and establish- 
 ing the just rights of the colonies. When we consider the distress 
 in which your people are already involved, and the danger which 
 threatens us all, we are of opinion no time ought to be lost, but that 
 as soon as all the colonies can have time to concur in the measure, 
 the Congress ought to be held. We would by no means recommend 
 a time so short as would preclude the more distant colonies from an 
 opportunity of sending commissioners; for the more general, the more 
 important and permanent will be the happy consequences of it. 
 
 With regard to the place of meeting, we must observe that the 
 great design upon which we are to assemble, is m^ore to be attended 
 to than our own personal convenience, and that place where there will 
 be the fewest objects to draw the attention of the commisioners from 
 the great business of their meeting, must be the fittest place for the 
 Congress. In a government under ministerial instructions, some in- 
 terruptions may be attempted ; but in one under the direction of the 
 people nothing of that kind can happen. For these reasons, and on 
 account of the danger of taking the small-pox in some places which 
 may be named, we should like one of the places proposed by the com- 
 mittee of correspondence for Connecticut, or Princeton in the Jerseys; 
 but we will make no difficulties on our own account, but will readily 
 join the other commissioners at any time and place agreed upon by the 
 majority.” 
 
 The Congress met at Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774. Gov- 
 ernor Ward journeyed thither on horseback. His private 
 diary of this and the succeeding Congress is still preserved. 
 He writes: 
 
 '‘Arrived in Philadelphia 30th Aug., 1774, in the evening. Aug. 31. 
 In the forenoon the delegates from South Carolina, and some gentle- 
 men of the city, came to see me ; soon after, the delegates from 
 Boston, New Hampshire and of the city, (save those out of town) 
 and the Farmer, (Mr. John Dickinson,) in the afternoon, several 
 gentlemen of the city; Mr. Hopkins and lady and the delegates from 
 Connecticut arrived. Sept. 5th. Met at the New Tavern, went to Car- 
 penters’ Hall, and liking the place agreed to hold the Congress there, 
 took a list of the delegates, chose the Honorable Peyton Randolph, 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 75 
 
 President, and Mr. Charles Thompson, Secretary, read* the appoint- 
 ments of the delegates, considered of the manner of each Colony’s 
 voting and rules for regulating the business, but adjourned until lO 
 o’clock tomorrow. 6th. Met at lo o’clock, each colony to have one 
 vote, etc. etc. Mr. Duche desired to open by prayer tomorrow at 
 9 o’clock. Sept. 7th. Mr. Duche read prayers and lessons, and con- 
 cluded with one of the most sublime, catholic, well-adapted prayers 
 I ever heard. Thanks for it, and presented by Mr. Cushing and Mr. 
 Ward. A com-mittee of two from each colony appointed to prepare 
 a statement of the rights of the colonists, the infringement of those 
 rights, and the means of redress. * * * Sept. 22d. The Congress met, 
 made and ordered public a request to the merchants not to import, 
 and also to direct a delay of orders already sent, until the Congress 
 came to resolutions on that point,” etc. 
 
 Governor Ward entered upon his duties with great zeal 
 for his country’s welfare, and a sincere wish for independ- 
 ence, which he maintained throughout. He soon became in- 
 timately acquainted with Washington, then a delegate from 
 Virginia, and what is preserved of their subsequent corre- 
 spondence is very interesting. In a letter to his son Samuel, 
 dated at Philadelphia, Oct. 22, 1774, he sums up the pro- 
 ceedings of the first Congress as follows ; 
 
 “We have formed a bill of rights, a list of grievances, and for 
 redress of those grievances, agreed upon a petition to the King, a 
 non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption agreements, an 
 address to the people of England, another to those of America, have 
 stigmatized Bernard Hutchinson, and other wretches in Boston, and 
 advised resistance and reprisals, in case any attempt should be made to 
 seize and transport any persons to England for trial. Our proceed- 
 ings are to be sent to all the colonies and the West Indies to invite 
 them to join us. 
 
 The Congress adjourned on the 26th of October, after 
 summoning a new Congress for the following May, and the 
 delegates returned home. Samuel Ward and Stephen Hop- 
 kins reported the proceedings to the Rhode Island Assembly, 
 at Providence, on the fourth of December, and received a 
 vote of thanks for “the v/ise, spirited and faithful discharge 
 of the important trust reposed in them,” and were unani- 
 mously reelected as members of the new Congress. 
 
 That body met at Philadelphia on the tenth of May, 
 1775, while the patriotic excitement occasioned by the battle 
 of Lexington was still ringing through the country. Rhode 
 Island immediately proceeded to raise troops for the emer^ 
 
76 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 gency, the commissions of the officers being signed under 
 authority of the Legislature by Gov. Ward’s brother, Henry 
 Ward, the Secretary of the colony, who was found faithful 
 in hour of trial ; while Governor Wanton and the Deputy 
 Governor protested against the proceedings, and were conse- 
 quently soon after removed from office. Governor Ward’s 
 son Samuel, a youth of eighteen, promptly raised a company 
 in King’s and Kent counties, and received a commission as 
 Captain. Governor Ward journeyed to Philadelphia as be- 
 fore on horseback, and took his seat on the fifteenth of May, 
 becoming immediately very prominent, his name, as before, 
 constantly appearing in the journal of Congress. Nearly 
 every day Congress resolved itself into a committee of the 
 whole, and Governor Ward on such occasions was always 
 called to the chair, John Hancock, the President, first sum- 
 moning him to that position on the 26th of May. Much of 
 the business was prepared during these sessions, and Gov. 
 Ward was chairman during a very momentous portion of 
 the proceedings, from May 26, 1775, to March 13, 1776. He 
 was chairman of the committee of the whole when it was re- 
 solved to elect a General for the continental forces, June 15, 
 1775, and made his report accordingly, the choice of Con- 
 gress unanimously falling on Col. George Washington, then, 
 as before, a delegate from Virginia. Gov. Ward’s letters con- 
 tinue to throw light on the proceedings of Congress. He 
 writes his younger brother, Henry, Secretary of Rhode Is- 
 land, as follows : 
 
 Philadelphia, 22d June, 1775. 
 
 Yesterday the famous Mr. Jefferson, a delegate from Virginia, 
 in the room of Mr. Randolph, arrived. I have not been in company 
 with him yet. He looks like a very sensible, spirited, fine fellow, and, 
 by the pamphlet which he wrote last summer, he certainly is one. 
 
 The celebrated John Adams repeatedly mentions Gov. 
 Ward in his diary, and entertained a very high opinion of 
 him. Gov. Ward’s son Samuel was a Captain at that time in 
 Col. Varnum’s regiirient, the Twelfth Rhode Island, forming 
 originally a part of the ‘‘Rhode Island Army of Observation,” 
 under General Nath. Greene, from IMay, 1775 ; Gov. Ward’s 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 77 
 
 influence having brought about Gen. Greene’s appointment. 
 The Rhode Island troops were encamped at Cambridge, 
 Mass., where General Washington assumed command of the 
 forces beseiging Boston on the 3d of July, 1775 1 
 said that “only in the Rhode Island Regiments under General 
 Greene, did Washington discover aught of military order, 
 system, disclipline and subordination.” After the battle of 
 Bunker’s Hill, in which the Rhode Island troops were not 
 engaged. Captain Ward was stationed at Prospect Hill, near 
 Charlestown, where the troops underwent a very heavy bom- 
 bardment from the British, followed by constant skirmishing. 
 Gov. Ward’s letters to his son at that period, as throughout, 
 breathe a most lofty spirit of patriotism. 
 
 The Congress adjourned August ist, until September 
 5th, 1775, and Governor Ward returned to his home at West- 
 erly, R. I. On the 15th of August he wrote his son. Captain 
 Ward, then stationed at Cambridge, as follows : “It gives me 
 inexpressible pleasure to find General Washington so uni- 
 versally acceptable to all the troops. I was sure, from the 
 intimate acquaintance I had with him, his appointment would 
 certainly be attended with the most happy consequences.” In 
 another letter to his son, written a few days previously, he 
 says: “Never having heard that you had been introduced to 
 General Washington, I have enclosed you a letter to him. 
 I left it open that you may read it, then seal and deliver it 
 immediately.” General Washington shortly after wrote to 
 Governor Ward, and says in his letter, dated at Cambridge, 
 August, 1775 : “I did not know till yesterday that you had a 
 son in the army; today I had the pleasure of his company at 
 dinner, together with General Greene. Colonels Varnum and 
 Hitchcock had already done me that favor. I think, if oc- 
 casion should offer, I shall be able to give you a good ac- 
 count of 3^our son, as he seems a sensible, well-informed 
 young man.” In September, 1775, Captain Ward, with his 
 company, joined Arnold’s celebrated expedition to Quebec, 
 and underwent the terrible hardships of the campaingn with 
 great fortitude. Governor Ward’s interest in the sruggle 
 continued unabated. Shortly before this he writes to a cor- 
 respondent: “You wish for peace, so do I; but never upon 
 
78 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 any other terms but those which will secure the liberties of 
 my country.” 
 
 The Continental Congress had adjourned to the 5th of 
 September, but a quorum was not obtained until the 13th, 
 instant. Governor Ward arrived in Philadelphia, Sept. loth, 
 and immediately resumed his punctual attention to public 
 business. He showed his appreciation of General Washing- 
 ton’s kindness to his son in the following letter : 
 
 “Philadelphia, 17th Sept., 1775. 
 
 Dear Sir : — Having nothing of immediate consequence to com- 
 municate, and determining to set out for this city in a few days after 
 the receipt of your favor, I deferred acknowledging it until my arrival 
 here. 
 
 I am greatly obliged to you for the very kind notice which you 
 were pleased to take of my son, and the favorable light in which 
 you view him. The advantages of travelling he wants ; but those of 
 a liberal education he enjoys. He has seen some of the best company 
 in our colony; and, from his moral and political principles, I flatter 
 myself his conduct will make him not unworthy of your future regard, 
 every instance of which I shall most gratefully acknowledge. 
 
 With pleasure I observe that you have lately received some powder, 
 and expect some lead and arms, from our colony. I hope the measures 
 taken by Congress, and by the colonies, will furnish you with such 
 quantities as will allow the freest scope to your military plans and 
 operations. 
 
 That part of your letter relative to removing the stock from the 
 islands and sea coasts, I laid before our General Assembly. I showed 
 the necessity of immediately doing it, in the most forcible terms ; 
 and such measures were immediately adopted, as have, I imagine, 
 secured all our cattle from the enemy, by this time. 
 
 The innumerable difflculties which you must have encountered in 
 the command of an army under different establishments, in want of 
 arms and ammunition, regular supplies of provisions, a military chest, 
 experienced officers, a due organization, and a hundred other things, 
 I have some, though not an adequate conception of ; but, from the ac- 
 counts which I have the pleasure to receive from my friends in Con- 
 gress, I doubt not but your wise and steady attention to the service 
 will surmount all obstacles, and that by the opening of the next cam- 
 paign, you will have the finest army under your command which ever 
 was formed in Am'erica. 
 
 I am too sensible of the multiplicity of business in which you 
 are engaged, to flatter myself with a regular correspondence; but 
 whenever you shall communicate anything necessary for the public 
 good to me, you may rely upon my best and constant endeavors, both 
 in our own colony and in Congress, to promote the service. 
 
 I most cheerfully entered into a solemn engagement, upon your 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 79 
 
 appointment, to support you with my life and fortune, and shall most 
 religiously, and with the highest pleasure, endeavor to discharge that 
 duty. The Congress began to do business last Wednesday, but many 
 members are still absent. Colonel Lee, Colonel Harrison and Mr. 
 Jefferson, and the North Carolina delegates and some others, have 
 not arrived. Mr. Randolph has been confined with a - fever two or 
 three days ; Messrs. Wythe and Lee are under inoculation ; so that 
 Colonel Nelson alone attends from your colony. 
 
 We entered into the consideration of your letter yesterday. For 
 want of thorough knowledge of military affairs, it was not so well 
 understood how an officer’s having several appointments could make 
 any difference _in rank. For instance, how a General Officer’s having 
 a regiment or company, or a field officer’s having a company, could 
 alter his rank. It seemed to be the general opinion that all officers 
 should receive pay only for one commission, and that their highest ; 
 and that when the army was reformed, no person should sustain 
 more than one office. But some seemed to apprehend that if a general 
 officer appointed by his colony as colonel of a particular regiment, 
 or a field officer as captain of a company, were refused by the Con- 
 gress commissions as such, that the colonies would appoint other col- 
 onels and captains in their places. That this increase of officers would 
 augment the difficulties attending the reduction of the troops, if such 
 a measure should be adopted. Upon the whole, the m-atter was referred, 
 and as soon as your several letters are considered, you will be ac- 
 quainted with the sentiments of the Congress. 
 
 We have no news here from England later than the i8th of July. 
 By the King’s answer to the petition of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commons of the city of London, it appears he is determined to 
 pursue and enforce his measures. God be thanked, that however 
 severe the contest may prove, we are now in such a happy way that the 
 end must be the establishment of American liberty. 
 
 To General Washington. 
 
 Samuel Ward. 
 
 In addition to daily presiding in Committee of the Whole, 
 Governor Ward v/as appointed a member of the secret com- 
 mittee to contract for arms and munitions of war, and was 
 subsequently chosen chairman of this committee. “He was 
 also a member of the standing committee on claims and ac- 
 counts,” a position compelling him to be familiar with all the 
 operations of the army, and with the services rendered by 
 each of the respective colonies. He also served upon a large 
 number of special committees, “some of which were entrusted 
 with the most delicate and responsible duties.” On account 
 
8o 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 of the physical disability of his colleague, Governor Hopkins, 
 the official correspondence of the Rhode Island delegation 
 with the government and citizens of the colony was wholly 
 thrown upon Governor Ward. In the month of October he 
 writes to his family : 
 
 “I am almost worn out with attention to business. I am upon a 
 standing committee of claims, which meets every morning before Con- 
 gress, and upon the secret comvmittee which meets almost every after- 
 noon; and these, with close attendance upon Congress, and writing 
 many letters, make my duty very hard, and I cannot get time to 
 ride or take other exercise. But I hope the business will not be so 
 pressing very long.” 
 
 On the 30th of September, he writes to his brother 
 Henry, as follows : 
 
 “No news from England since my last. The gentlemen from 
 Georgia deserve the character I gave you of them; they are some of 
 the highest sons of liberty I have seen, and are very sensible and 
 clever. Mr. Wythe and Mr, Lee, of Virginia, have been under in- 
 oculation since my last, so that I can say no more of these than I did 
 then. Saving that unhappy jealousy of New England, which some 
 weak minds are possessed with, great unanimity prevails in Congress; 
 our measures are spirited, and I believe we are now ready to go every 
 length to secure our liberties. John Adams’s letter has silenced those 
 who opposed every decisive measure, but the moderate friends, or, as 
 I consider them, the enemies of our cause, have caused copies of it 
 to be sent throughout the province, in hopes by raising the cry of in- 
 dependence, to throw the friends of liberty out of the new Assembly, 
 the choice of which commences next Monday; but I believe they will 
 fail, and that the House will be more decided than ever. One com- 
 fort we have, that divine wisdom and goodness often bring good out 
 of ill. That the issue of this same contest will be the establishment 
 of our liberties, I as firmly believe as I do my existence; for I never 
 can think that God brought us into this wilderness to perish, or, 
 what is worse, to become slaves, but to make us a great and free 
 people.” 
 
 The Rhode Island Assembly was the first to advocate 
 the building of an American navy, and instructed their two 
 delegates accordingly. On the 3d of October, 1775, Governor 
 Ward wrote in his diary with reference to his duties in Con- 
 gress, as follows : ‘‘Presented our instructions for carrying 
 on the war effectually, and building- an American fleet.” 
 These instructions were for the present laid upon the table, 
 and were not finally acted upon till the nth of December, 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 8l 
 
 when Congress, according its the journal, “took into con- 
 sideration the instructions given to the delegates of Rhode 
 Island, and after debate thereon. 
 
 Resolved, that a committee be appointed to devise ways and means 
 for furnishing these colonies with naval armament, and report with 
 all convenient speed.” 
 
 Two days following, the committee reported in favor of 
 building thirteeen ships. After a full debate the report was 
 adopted by Congress, and the ships were ordered to be built 
 at the expense of the United Colonies. The following day 
 Governor Ward wrote to his brother: 
 
 “I have the pleasure to acquaint you that, upon considering our 
 instructions for a navy, the Congress has agreed to build thirteen 
 ships of war.. A committee is to be this day appointed, with full 
 power to carry the resolve into execution. Powder and duck are or- 
 dered to be im-ported. All other articles, it is supposed, may be got 
 in the colonies. Two of these vessels are to built in our colony, one 
 in New Hampshire, etc. The particulars I would not have mentioned. 
 The ships are to be built with all possible despatch.” 
 
 While this important project was under discussion, the 
 ill-judged conduct of the British ministry was strengthening 
 the hands of patriots like Governor Ward. . On the 2d of 
 November he writes to his brother: 
 
 ‘The evening before last, two ships arrived from England. The 
 advices which they bring (amongst which is a proclamation for sup- 
 pressing rebellion and sedition) are of immense service to us. Our 
 councils have been hitherto too fluctuating; one day measures for 
 carrying on the war were adopted ; the next, nothing must be done 
 that would widen the unhappy breach between Great Britain and the 
 colonies. As these different ideas have prevailed, our conduct has 
 been directed accordingly. Had we, at the opening of the Congress in 
 May, immediately taken proper measures for carrying on the war 
 with vigor, we might have been in possession of all Canada, undoubt- 
 edly, and probably of Boston. Thank God, the happy day which I have 
 long wished for is at len^h arrived. The Southern colonies no longer 
 entertain jealousy of the Northern; they no longer look back to Great 
 Britain; they are convinced that they have been pursuing a phantom, 
 and that their only safety is a vigorous, determined defence. One of 
 the gentlemen, who has been most sanguine for pacific measures, 
 and very jealous of the New England colonies, addressing me in the 
 style of Brother Rebel, told me he was now ready to join us heartily. 
 We have got,’ says he, ‘a sufficient answer to our petition; I want 
 nothing mvore, but am ready to declare ourselves independent, send 
 ambassadors, etc., and much more which prudence forbids me to 
 
82 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 commit to paper. Our resolutions will henceforth be spirited, clear 
 and decisive. May the Supreme Governor of the universe direct and 
 prosper them! The pleasure which this unanimity gives me is inex- 
 pressible. I consider it a sure presage of victory. My anxiety is now 
 at an end. I am no longer worried with contradictory resolutions, 
 but feel a calm, cheerful satisfaction in having one great and just 
 object in view, and the means of obtaining it certainly, by the divine 
 blessing, in our own hands.” 
 
 The condition of the army in Massachusetts at this time 
 engaged Governor Ward’s attention very much, as the diffi- 
 culties attending the establishment of the continental system 
 among troops enlisted under the authority of ^ the several colo- 
 nies were very great. Congress v/as much perplexed by these 
 difficulties, which are constamtly alluded to in General Wash- 
 ington’s letters to that body. Governor V/ard held a corre- 
 spondence with General Greene on this subject, which threw 
 additional light on these embarrassmientsi, General Greene 
 giving him the most accurate information on all the points 
 in question. The colony of Rhode Island at this period was 
 suffering the consequences of its patriotic attachment to the 
 cause of independence, as the British ships, under command 
 of Captain Wallace, taking advantage of the exposed con- 
 dition of its shores, sent parties of marauders, who devasted 
 the country threatened by the fleet. Governor Ward writes 
 to his brother at this time: 
 
 ‘T have traced the progress of this unnatural war through burning 
 towns, devastation of the country and every subsequent evil. I have 
 realized with regard to myself the bullet, the bayonet and the halter; 
 and, compared with the immense object I have in view, they are 
 all less than nothing. No man living, perhaps, is more fond of his 
 children than I am, and I am^ not so old as to be tired of life ; and yet, 
 as far as I can now judge, the tenderest connections and the most 
 important private concerns are very minute objects. Heaven save my 
 country 1 I was going to say, is my first, my last, and almost my only 
 prayer.” 
 
 During the autumn the subject of fortifying the High- 
 lands of the Hudson river also occupied the attention of Con- 
 gress, and Gov. V/ard mentions in his diary, “that a com- 
 mittee was appointed to consider the subject of the fortifi- 
 cations ordered to be erected on the Hudson River,” and that 
 “Gen. Wooster was ordered, unless counter-ordered by Gen. 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 83 
 
 Schuyler, to come down to the Highlands, leave as many 
 troops as the managers of the works think necessary, and 
 repair with the remainder to New York.” On the 12th of 
 December, 1775, he writes to his brother: 
 
 “The contest between the two countries involves a question of no 
 less magnitude than the happiness or misery of millions, and when we 
 extend our views to future ages, we may say millions of millions. 
 
 Our views, therefore, ought to be extensive, our plans great, and our 
 
 exertions adequate to the immense object before us, and such, I doubt 
 not, will be the conduct of the Congress.” 
 
 During this time Gov. Ward’s favorite son, Capt. Samuel 
 Ward, was participating in all the hardships and horrors of 
 Arnold’s celebrated march to Quebec through the wilderness 
 of Maine. The sufferings which these brave soldiers under- 
 went were almost unparalleled, while, as is well known, after 
 displaying the most desperate courage in the attack on Que- 
 bec, Dec. 31st, 1775, and penetrating far into the city, the 
 
 very bravest of them were outnumbered and made prisoners, 
 Capt. Samuel Ward being amiong the number. The news 
 of this disaster reached Congress on the \yth of January, 
 1776, by dispatches from General Schuyler, and Gov. Ward 
 was appointed on the committee to whom these dispatches 
 were referred. On the 21st he wrote to his son as follov/s: 
 ‘T most devoutly thank God that you are alive, in good 
 health, and have behaved well. You have now a new scene 
 of action, to behave well as a prisoner. You have been 
 taught from your infancy the love of God, of all mankind, 
 and especially of your country ; in a due discharge of these 
 various duties of life consist true honor, religion and virtue. 
 * * * All ranks of people here have the highest sense of the 
 great bravery and merit of Colonel Arnold, and all his offi- 
 cers and men. Though prisoners, they have acquired im- 
 mortal honor.” the loth of February he writes 
 
 to another son (John), in Rhode Island: ‘T am pleased with 
 the account which you give me of the military operations in 
 the colony. I expect we shall suffer much, I hope we shall 
 bear it as becomes freemen, and have no doubt but Heaven 
 will crown our generous efforts with success.” A few days 
 before he wrote to his brother Henry: “Dr. Franklin, upon 
 
84 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 my mentioning to him a letter from the Governor relative to 
 making powder, gave me a receipt from some author, which 
 I enclose.” About the same time he writes to his sister: 
 “When I consider the alarms, the horrors and mischiefs of 
 war, I cannot help thinking what those wretches deserve, who 
 have involved this innocent country in all its miseries. At 
 the same time I adore the divine wisdom and goodness, which 
 often overrules and directs those calamities to the producing 
 of the greatest good. This I humbly hope will be our case. 
 We may yet establish the peace and happiness of our native 
 country upon the broad and never-failing basis of liberty and 
 virtue. 
 
 When I reflect upon this subject, and anticipate the 
 glorious period, the dangers of disease, the inconveniences 
 experienced in my private affairs, the almost unparalleled 
 sufferings of Samuel, (his son. Captain Ward), and all that 
 my dear children and friends do or can suffer, appear to me 
 trifling.” 
 
 On the 4th of March, he writes to his brother : 
 
 “The abandoning of our islands must be a very heavy loss. * * * 
 The Congress is taking measures for the defence of all parts of the 
 continent. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the lower counties, 
 (Delaware,) and Maryland are made a Middle Departoent, under 
 General Schuyler; Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and 
 Georgia, the Southern Department under General Lee, who will soon 
 be detached there. Six brigadiers are appointed for these Colonies. 
 * * * There are above thirty battalions raising or raised in these 
 departments, and more can be raised, so that I hope the enemy may 
 meet a proper reception in any quarter. A committee is appointed by 
 Congress to contract for the making of arms ; this is a matter of im- 
 mense importance. * * * This moment a vessel is arrived from Europe 
 with twenty-five tons of powder. * * General Lee is fortifying New 
 York. The Captain of the enemy’s ships gave out they would fire 
 on the town. General Lee in return gave out that if they did, he would 
 chain a hundred of their best friends together, and the first house 
 they set on fire should be their funeral pile.” 
 
 The last letter in the handwriting of Governor Ward 
 is dated at Philadelphia, March ii, 1776. He writes to his 
 son. Captain Samuel Ward, in the lofty strain of religious 
 patriotism he has made familiar to us, and in closing says: 
 “Dr. Franklin does me the favor to take charge of this letter.” 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 85 
 
 Governor Ward continued his unremitting attention to 
 his duties, constantly presiding over Congress in committee 
 of the whole, etc., until the 15th of March, when he was 
 obliged to leave the session, owing to a violent attack of ill- 
 ness, which, the following morning, proved to be small-pox. 
 He died of this fatal disease on the 26th of 'March. Dr. 
 Young, who attended him, wrote the same day to Governor 
 Ward’s brother as follows: “It is with most heartfelt grief, 
 with the deepest affliction and pungent regret, that I inform 
 you, the patriotic Samuel Ward, Esq., left his anxious, his 
 numerous friends in this city to bewail their loss of one of 
 the most able, consistent and determined defenders of Amer- 
 ican liberty in his person, who departed life at 2 A. M., this 
 morning, of that tremendous disease, the small-pox, taken in 
 the natural way.” The following day. Governor Ward’s col- 
 league, the Hon. Stephen Hopkins, wrote to the Secretary of 
 Rhode Island, on the same subject. He says: 
 
 “I am very sorry to be under the necessity of writing so dis- 
 agreeable news as the death of your brother, the Honorable Samuel 
 Ward, Esq., must be. He first found himself a little out of order 
 on Wednesday, the 13th of March, and on that and the two following 
 days, he attended Congress, but on the last of them he was so poorly 
 as to be obliged to leave it before it rose, and on Saturday, the i6th, 
 in the morning, the small-pox appeared plainly. * * * He continued 
 with the bad symptoms rather increasing, until yesterday morning 
 about 2 o’clock, when he expired without a groan or a struggle. He 
 appeared to have retained his senses quite thro’ his whole disorder, 
 even to the last. 
 
 His funeral is to be attended this day at 3 o’clock, by the Con- 
 gress as mourners, by the General Assembly of the province of Penn- 
 sylvania, by the M^ayor and Corporation of the city of Philadelphia, 
 the Committee of Safety of the province, and the Committee of In- 
 spection of the city of liberties ; the clergy of all denominations pre- 
 ceding the corpse, six very respectable gentlemen of this city being 
 pall bearers. He will be carried into the great Presbyterian Meeting- 
 house, in Arch street, where a funeral discourse will be delivered by 
 Rev. Mr. Stillman. The corpse will from thence be carried to the 
 Baptist burying-ground in this city and there interred. 
 
 Your very affectionate friend. 
 
 Step, Hopkins. 
 
 Dr. Young also says in his letter: “So full, so firm, so 
 capable, so industrious was Mr. Ward, that his loss will be 
 
86 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 severely felt in the Congress. One, at least, of the mighty 
 advocates for American independency is fallen in Mr. Ward, 
 to the great grief of the pro-to-patriot Adams.” John Adams 
 mentions Gov. Ward’s death in a letter as follows: “We 
 have this week lost a very valuable friend of the Colonies 
 in Governor Ward of Rhode Island, by the small-pox in the 
 natural way. * * * He was an amiable and a sensible 
 
 man, a steadfast friend to his country, upon very pure prin- 
 ciples. His funeral was attended with the same solemnities 
 as Mr. Randolph’s. Mr. Stillman being the Anabaptist min- 
 ister here, of which persuasion was the Governor, was de- 
 sired by Congress to preach a sermon, which he did, with 
 great applause.” Many years after, in 1821, John Adams 
 thus speaks of his character in a letter to one of his descend- 
 ants : “He was a gentleman in his manners, benevolent and 
 amiable in his disposition, and as decided, ardent and uni- 
 form in his patriotism as any meiriber of that Congress. When 
 he was seized with the small-pox, he said that if his vote and 
 voice was necessary to support the cause of his country, he 
 should live, if not, he should die. He died, and the cause of 
 his country was supported, but it lost one of its most sincere 
 and punctual advocates.” 
 
 Governor Ward’s remains were interred in the First Bap- 
 tist church, and a monument was erected over the spot by 
 an act of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, passed the 
 following May, which pays this tribute to his memory: 
 
 Whereas, The Honorable Samuel Ward, Esq., late a delegate for 
 this Colony in the Continental Congress, hath lately deceased in the 
 city of Philadelphia; in testimony of the respect due to his memory, 
 and in grateful remembrance of his public services. 
 
 Resolved, That his executors or administrators are desired, as 
 soon as may be, to exhibit to this Assembly an account of his funeral 
 expenses for payment. And it is further resolved, that the delegates 
 for this Colony, for the time being, be instructed to erect a decent 
 tombstone or monument of marble, with such inscription as they shall 
 think suitable, over the place where the body hath been deposited, 
 at the expense of this Colony.” 
 
 The monument was duly erected, and the inscription v/as 
 written by the celebrated John Jay. Gov. Ward’s remains 
 reposed in Philadelphia until i860, when they were removed 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 87 
 
 to the family plot in the cemetery at Newport, Rhode Island, 
 where the mounment ordered by his native Colony still covers 
 the ashes of one of the truest and most patriotic statesmen 
 of the Revolution. 
 
 A striking feature of Gov. Ward’s character was his re- 
 markable grasp of mind and statesmanlike breadth of view. 
 His letters show an appreciation of the critical situation of 
 the Colonies, before it had fairly dawned upon the minds of 
 any but a very few statesmen like himself. As the crisis ap- 
 proached, he rose to the situation, and evinced an unalterable 
 desire for independence, which was intensified as the strug- 
 gle proceeded. The noble career of his son. Lieutenant 
 Colonel (then Captain) Samuel Ward, in the Revolutionary 
 army, equalled his expectations and fanned his love of coun- 
 try to a still holier flame. The letters he addressed to his 
 favorite son and other relatives breathe a religious spirit and 
 devout trust in Providence, accompanying and enhancing his 
 intense patriotism. Gov. Ward’s religious character was re- 
 m.arkably developed, and a lofty spirituality pervades his 
 writings, apparently stimulating his courage and earnest- 
 ness in the great national work in which he was engaged. So 
 thoroughly unselfish was he, and so regardful of his duty to his 
 country, that while aware of the danger he was running of 
 taking the fatal disease of which he died, he felt that he could 
 not spare time from his patriotic labors to be inoculated, and - 
 thus fell a victim to a conscientious discharge of his public 
 duties. The country could ill afford to lose so noble an ex- 
 ample of the best virtues of that greatest period in our na- 
 tional history, the American Revolution. 
 
GENEALOGY 
 
 of the 
 
 WARD FAMILY 
 

 1 •' ' 
 
 I 
 
 
 
LIE-UZCOL FIRST .RHODE I5IAND REGIMENT/ 
 
 army OFTHCAMfRiCAN-RriVOLUTlON 
 Psm !i-v^J7« 175& 
 
 (Sec. 6, Page 94) 
 
THE WARD FAMILY. 
 
 By John Ward. 
 
 The name of Ward, or Warde, is of Norman origin, and 
 found on the ancient roll of Battle Abbey, England, as given 
 by Duchesne, Holinshed, and Leland. Arms, as borne by the 
 Family in America, and originally brought over from Eng- 
 land: ajsure, a cross pat once or. Crest: A wolfs head erased, 
 proper, langued and dentated gules. Motto: Sub cruce salus.'^ 
 
 1 . John Ward, who had been an officer in one of Crom- 
 well’s cavalry regiments, came to America, from Gloucester, 
 England, after the accession of King Charles II. He settled 
 at Newport, R. L, and is mentioned in the records in 1673. 
 He died at Newport, in April, 1698, aged 79. His sword 
 was preserved in the family for nearly a century. — Issue: 
 
 2. Thomas Ward, who preceded his father to America, 
 
 was born in 1641, married, first, Mary ? by whom he 
 
 had daughters, i, Mary, who married Sion Arnold, son of 
 Gov. Benedict Arnold, of Newport, R. I.; 2, Margaret, who 
 
 I. The arms and crest are still to be seen engraved on the monument of 
 Gov. Richard Ward, in Newport, R. I. 
 
92 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 married Capt. Robert Writington. His second wife was Amy 
 Smith (a grand-daughter of Roger Williams). He settled 
 at Newport soon after 1670, and is first mentioned in Rhode 
 Island history in May, 1671, and subsequently in 1677, when 
 he was elected general treasurer of the Colony. He was 
 elected to the upper house of the General Assembly as As- 
 sistant, equivalent to a modern senator, in 1679, and was re- 
 peatedly chosen a Deputy from Newport until his death, 
 September 25, 1689, aged 48. Backus {History Baptists, I, 
 516) says that he was a Baptist, and a very useful man in 
 the Colony of Rhode Island. His widow (Amy) afterwards 
 married Arnold Collins, and their son Henry Collins^ (called 
 by the late Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, “the Lorenzo de’ 
 Medici of Rhode Island”), born March 25, 1699, died at New- 
 port, R. I., about 1770. — Issue: 
 
 3. i. Thomas Ward, died December 22, 1695, in his 
 13th year. 
 
 4- ii. (Gov.) Richard Ward, born April 15, 1689, at 
 Newport, R. L, married Mary (daughter of John) 
 Tillinghast, Nov. 2, 1709; was many years Secretary, 
 and afterwards Governor of the Colony from 1740 to 
 1743, and died August 21, 1763. His able report to 
 the English Board of Trade, on paper money, is 
 printed in J. R. Bartlett’s R. I. Colonial Records, 
 Vol. 5, page 8. His wife died October 19, 1767, in 
 her 78th year. — Children: 
 
 i. Amy, born September 4, and died Oct. 22, 1710. 
 
 ii. Thomas, born October 24, 1711, married Content 
 
 (daughter of Elisha) Coggeshall, of Newport; 
 was for many years Secretary of State, which 
 office he held at the time of his death, December 
 21, 1760 (for issue see Coll. R. I. Hist. Soc. III., 
 310). 
 
 iii. Mary, born December 10, 1713; married Ebenezer 
 Flagg; died May 21, 1781. 
 
 iv. Elizabeth, born Feb. 19, 1715; died Aug. 27, 1717. 
 
 V. Amy, born July 21, 1717; married Samuel Vernon, 
 
 of Newport, R. L, and died Jan. 17, 1792. (The 
 geologist and author, Clarence King, is descended 
 from her). 
 
 :. A prominent member of the Newport Seventh-day Baptist Church. Editor. 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 93 
 
 vi. Isabel, born Sept. 19, 1719; married Huxford Mar- 
 chant, and died at Newport, Feb. 5, 1808. 
 
 vii. Hannah, born Sept. 24, 1721; died Dec. 27, 1783; 
 unmarried. 
 
 viii. John, born Aug. 4, 1723; died Aug. 15, 1724. 
 
 ix. Samuel, (5), born May 27, 1725; died March 26, 
 1776. 
 
 X. Mercy, born June 3, 1727; died Oct. 25, 1730. 
 
 xi. Margaret, born April 14, 1729; married Col. Samuel 
 Freebody, of Newport, R. I., Jan. i, 1765; died 
 June 27, 1765. 
 
 xii. Richard, born Jan. 22, 1730; died Aug. 7, 1732. 
 
 xiii. Henry, born Dec. 27, 1732; married Esther 
 
 (daughter of Thomas) Freebody, of Newport, suc- 
 ceeded his brother Thomas as Secretary of State, 
 which office he held, by successive annual re-elec- 
 tions, until his death, Nov. 25, 1797, at Provi- 
 dence, R. I., leaving one daughter, Elizabeth, who 
 married Dr. Pardon Bowen, of that city. 
 
 xiv. Elizabeth, born June 6, 1735; married Rev. Wil- 
 liam Bliss, 1 of Newport, and died in 1815, without 
 issue. 
 
 5. (Gov.) Samuel Ward was born May 27, 1725, at 
 Newport, R. I. ; was Chief Justice in 1761 ; and Governor of 
 the Colony from 1762 to 1763, and from 1765 to 1767. He 
 was a member of the Continental Congress in 1774, and from 
 1775 to 1776, constantly presiding in the Committee of the 
 Whole, which sat daily. Many of his letters are printed in 
 the sixth and seventh volumes of Rhode Island Colonial 
 Records, with a biographical sketch. His life by William 
 Gammell, is given in the ninth volume (new series; nine- 
 teenth, old series) of the Library of American Biography 
 conducted by Jared Sparks. He married Anne (daughter 
 of Simon) Ray, of Block Island (also a lineal descendant of 
 Roger Williams), December 20, 1745. He died of small-pox 
 at Philadelphia, Pa., March 26, 1776. His tombstone, at 
 Newport, was erected by the State of Rhode Island, and the 
 inscription was written by John Jay. His wife died at West- 
 erly, R. I., December 3, 1770, in the 43d year of her age. — 
 Children: 
 
 i. Charles, born 1747, was an officer in the Revolu- 
 tionary Army, died unmarried. 
 
 I. For many years pastor of the Newport Seventh-day Baptist Church. Editor. 
 
94 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 ii. Hannah, born April 12, 1749, died unmarried 1774. 
 
 iii. Anna, born Aug. 24, 1750, married Ethan Clarke, 
 
 and died 1790. 
 
 iv. Catharine, born Oct. 2, 1752, married Christo- 
 
 pher Greene (brother of Gen. Nathanael Greene), 
 and died 1781, leaving tv/o daughters, of whom 
 Anna married Wm. P. Maxwell, and died Nov. 
 9, 1857, aged 81. 
 
 V. Mary, born Dec. 5, 1754, died 1832, unmarried. 
 
 vi. Samuel (6), born Nov. 17, 1756, died Aug. 16, 1832. 
 
 vii. Deborah, born Oct. 12, 1758, became the second 
 
 wife of Christopher Greene, Vv^ho had married her 
 sister Catharine, and died in 1835, at Potowomut, 
 R. I. Their son, Richard Ward Greene, born Jan. 
 21, 1792, became Chief Justice, Rhode Island, 
 and died March 14, 1875. 
 
 viii. Simon Ray, born Oct. 4, 1760, Vvas a Lieutenant in 
 
 the Revolutionary Navy; married Sarah Gardner, 
 and died of yellovv^ fever in the West Indies, about 
 1790, leaving two daughters. 
 
 ix. John, born July 26, 1762, married Elizabeth (daugh- 
 
 ter of Dr. Ephraim) Bowen, of Providence, and 
 died at Brooklyn, N. Y., September, 1823, with- 
 out issue. 
 
 X. Richard, born in 1764, miarried Eliza (daughter 
 of Joseph) Brown, of Providence; where he died 
 in October, 1808, v/ithout issue, 
 xi. Elizabeth, born 1766, died at Warv/ick, R. I., 
 1783, unmarried. 
 
 6. (Lt.-Col.) Samuel Ward w-as born Nov. 17, 1756, 
 at Westerly, R. I. He was married March 8, 1778, to Phebe, 
 daughter of Governor William and Catharine Ray Greene, 
 of Rhode Island, the latter a daughter of Simon Ray, and 
 noted as the witty correspondent of Beniamin Eranklin. He' 
 died in New York Gity, August 16, 1832. His wife, born 
 March 20, 1760, at Warwick, R. L, died October ii, 1828. — 
 Children: 
 
 i. William Greene, born April i, 1779, at Warwick, 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 95 
 
 R. L; died Aug. 17, 1798, in New York, of yel- 
 low fever. 
 
 ii. Samuel, born Jan. 23, 1781 ; died Nov. 13, 1785- 
 
 iii. Henry, born Dec. 15, 1782; died Sept. 3, 1783. 
 
 iv. Henry (7), born Mar. 17, I 7 ^ 4 > died July 26, 1838. 
 
 V. Samuel (8), born May i, 1786; died Nov. 27, 1839. 
 
 vi. Anne Catharine, born Aug. 15? 17^^’ Sept. 
 
 14, 1837, unmarried. 
 
 vii. Phebe, born July 17, i 79 i> Providence, R. I. , 
 
 died at Jamaica, L. L, April 22, 1825, unmarried. 
 
 viii. Richard Ray (9), born 'in New York City, Nov. 
 
 17, 1795; died there Dec. 8, 1873. 
 
 ix. John (10), born Oct. 26, 1797, and died March 31, 
 
 1866. 
 
 X. William Greene (ii), born Aug. 7, 1802, and died 
 
 July 22, 1848, in New York- City. 
 
 7. Henry Ward, born March 17, 1784^ was married Sept. 
 2, 1818, to Eliza Hall (a daughter of Dr. Jonathan Hall, of 
 Pomfret, Conn., and Bathsheba Mumford, of Newport, R. 
 L, and a grand-daughter of Rev. David Hall, D. D., of Sut- 
 ton, Mass., and Elizabeth Prescott, of Concord, Mass., the 
 latter a great-grand-daughter of Peter Bulkley, the founder 
 of Concord, and famous in Cotton Mather’s Magnalia, who 
 was born Jan. 31, 1583, and died March 9, 1659). Henry 
 Ward had a great talent for music. He was a member of 
 the Society of the Cincinnati in New York. He was engaged 
 in business in New York, and died in that city, July 20, 1838. 
 His wife, who was noted for a remarkable talent for painting, 
 intellectual power, and great benevolence, was born Nov. 3O5 
 1789,' and died in New York City, March 17, 1872. Only 
 son: Henry Hall Ward, born in the city of New York, 
 April 19, 1820; was graduated at Columbia College in 1838; 
 was a partner of Messrs. Ward & Company, bankers. New 
 York; President of the New York Club; Treasurer of the 
 New York State Society of Cincinnati; a Knight Templar in 
 the Masonic Order; and Senior Director of the National Eire 
 Insurance Company of New York. He inherited his father’s 
 great musical talent. Died at Saratoga Springs, Aug. 27, 
 1872. 
 
96 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 8. Samuel Ward was born May i, 1786. He went into 
 business in New York City, and became a partner of Mr. 
 Prime, in 1808. The firm of Prime, Ward & Sands (after- 
 wards Prime, Ward & King) became very celebrated. In 
 October, 1812, he married Julia Rush, daughter of Benjamin 
 Cutler, of Jamaica Plains, Mass., (sister of the Rev. Dr. 
 Benj. Cutler, of St. Ann’s Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., and a 
 relative of Gen. Francis Marion, of Revolutionary fame). 
 His wife died Nov. ii, 1824. In 1828 he exerted himself to 
 procure a building for the New York Historical Society. In 
 1830, he was very active in founding the New York Univer- 
 sity. He became President of the City Temperance Society 
 in 1831, and in 1836 assisted in founding the Stuyvesant In- 
 stitute. After the financial crisis of 1836-37, the Bank of 
 England, wishing to assist the New York City banks in re- 
 suming specie payment, confided a loan of nearly five millions 
 of dollars gold to the firm of Prime, Ward & King, a re- 
 markable sign of confidence. Soon after, Samuel Ward be- 
 came President of the Bank of Commerce, in New York. 
 He had a fine gallery of paintings in his residence, corner of 
 Bond Street and Broadway, New York. He died Nov. 27, 
 1839, respected and esteemed by all. — Children: 
 
 i. Samuel Ward, born in New York City, Jan. 28, 
 
 1814, was graduated at Columbia College, 1831, 
 was formerly a banker, lately a diplomatist and 
 poet ; author of ‘‘Lyrical Recreations married 
 first, Emily, daughter of William B. Astor. [Their 
 surviving child, Margaret Astor Ward, married 
 John Winthrop Chanler.] Married second, Me- 
 dora Grymes. — Children: 
 
 1. Samuel, died in 1866. 
 
 2. Randolph G., died in 1864. 
 
 ii. Julia, born January, 1816; died in infancy. 
 
 iii. Henry, Jr., born in 1818, was graduated at Columbia 
 
 College, 1836; died in New York, 1840. 
 
 iv. Julia, born in New York, May 27, 1819, married 
 
 Dr. Samuel G. Howe, of Boston, Mass., in 1843. 
 She is the gifted authoress of “Passion Flowers,” 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 97 
 
 “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and many 
 
 other works. — Children: 
 
 1. Julia Rom ana Howe, married Michael Anagnos. 
 
 2. Florence M. Howe, married David P. Hall. 
 
 3. Henry M. Howe, married Fanny Gay. 
 
 4. Laura E. Howe, married Henry Richards. 
 
 5. Maud Howe. 
 
 V. Francis Marion was born in August, 1820; was 
 graduated at Columbia College, 1838 ; became a 
 merchant; died in New Orleans, September, 1847. 
 
 vi. Louisa Cutler was born in February, 1823, married 
 
 first, in 1844, Thomas Crawford, the celebrated 
 sculptor, who was born in New York City, March 
 22, 1813, and died in London, Oct. 10, 1857. — Chil- 
 dren: 
 
 1. Annie Crawford, married Baron von Rabe. 
 
 2. Jane Campbell Crawford, died unmarried. 
 
 3. Mary Crawford, married Hugh Fraser. 
 
 4. Francis Marion Crawford. 
 
 She married second, in 1862, Luther Terry, artist, 
 of Rome, Italy. — Children: Margaret Terry and 
 Arthur Noel Terry. 
 
 vii. Ann Eliza was born Nov. 2, 1824, married Adolphe 
 
 Mailliard, in 1846; now of San Rafael, Cal. — Chil- 
 dren: 
 
 1. Louise Marguerite Mailliard. 
 
 2. Joseph Mailiard, died young. 
 
 3. Cora Mailliard. 
 
 4. Joseph Mailliard. 
 
 5. John W. Mailliard. 
 
 9. Richard Ray Ward, born in New York City, Nov. 
 17, 1795, became a lawyer in New York. He was an honorary 
 member of the Rhode Island Historical Society from 1823, 
 and was noted for antiquarian research. He married Ger- 
 trude Eliza (daughter of Edward) Doughty, of New York, 
 November 3, 1835. She died May 21, 1859. He died in New 
 York City, Dec. 8, 1873. — Children: 
 
 i. Gertrude Ray, married Dr. Bethuel L. Dodd, of 
 
 Newark, N. J., County Physician. — Children: 
 Edward Lewis and Annie May. 
 
 ii. Annie C. 
 
98 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 10. John Ward, born Oct. 26, 1797, in New York City; 
 was brought up principally at East Greenwich, R. I. ; went 
 into business in New York, in 1818, in the office of Messrs. 
 Nevins & Towsend. In 1824, he founded the firm of John 
 Ward & Co. (Changed to Ward & Co., in 1847). 
 
 for many years Vice President, and from 1832-34, President 
 of the New York Stock Exchange, (his portrait by Wenzler, 
 is still preserved in their building), and died March 31, 1866, 
 in New York City. He was greatly respected as an able finan- 
 cier, and a man of sterling integrity. 
 
 11. William Greene Ward was born in New York 
 City, Aug. 7, 1802. He was brought up at East Greenwich, 
 R. L, and at Jamaica, L. I. He went into business in New 
 York City, became a member of the firm of John Ward & Co., 
 and displayed unusual business capacity. He was noted for 
 his excellent judgment of men and affairs. His energy was 
 indomitable. He married Abby Maria (daughter of Dr. 
 Jonathan) Hall, of Pomfret, Conn., (a sister of Mrs. Henry 
 Ward, and of the late eminent lawyers, Jonathan Prescott 
 Hall, and David P. Hall), Nov. 17, 1830. His wife was born 
 March 6, 1802. Another of her sisters was the late Miss 
 Anne Hall, the artist, several of whose miniatures rival those 
 of Malbone and Isabey. Wm. G. Ward died in New York, 
 July 22, 1848. — Children: 
 
 12. i. William Greene Ward, born in New York City, 
 
 July 20, 1832, was graduated at Columbia Col- 
 lege, 1851 ; is a banker of the firm of Ward & Co. ; 
 was in United States service as Lieut.-Colonel, 
 Twelfth Regiment, N. Y. S. M., from April 19 
 to Aug. 4, 1861 ; was Colonel of same regiment in 
 United States service from May 31 to Oct. 8, 1862; 
 participated in the defence of Harper’s Ferry, and 
 was paroled at its surrender. Sept. 15, 1862, ex* 
 changed Jan. ii, 1863; again in United States ser- 
 vice as Colonel of same regiment from June 17 to 
 July 22, 1863, being in Dana’s Division, and 
 Couch’s Corps, in the Pennsylvania campaign. He 
 partly invented, and greatly improved, the Ward- 
 Burton breech-loading rifle. He is Brigadier-Gen- 
 
GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 99 
 
 eral, First Brigade, ist Div., N. G. S. N. Y. Mar- 
 ried Emily Graham (daughter of John L.) Mc- 
 Knight, of Bordentown, N. J., June 17, 1857. — 
 Children: 
 
 1. Maria Emily G. McK., born Oct. 4, 1863. 
 
 2. Leila Eliza Prescott, born May 27, 1867; died 
 
 March 23, 1868. 
 
 3. Caroline Constantia, born April 12, 1869. 
 
 13. ii. Charles Henry Ward, born in New York City, 
 
 Oct. 17, 1833, was graduated at Columbia College, 
 1851 ; is a banker of the firm of Ward & Co. ; has 
 much taste for literature and art. Married Emily 
 Montagu (daughter of Eleazer) Family, April 
 13, 1857. — Children: 
 
 1. Charles Montagu, born June 16, 1858. 
 
 2. Francis Ehrick, born Feb. 24, i860. 
 
 3. Julia Prescott, born Jan. 23, 1862; died Jan. ii, 1864. 
 
 4. Louisa Hall, born April 4, 1864. 
 
 5. John Prescott, born April 26, 1866; died March 
 
 27, 1868. 
 
 6. William Frederick, born April 26, 1866. 
 
 7. Henry Marion, born Nov. 8, 1870. 
 
 14. iii. Anne Catharine, born May 5, 1835 ; died April 
 
 16, 1840. 
 
 15. iv. John, born Dec. 26, 1837; died Feb. 3, 1838. 
 
 16. V. John Ward, born in New York City, Nov. 30, 
 
 1838, was graduated at Columbia College, 1858, 
 and at Columbia College Law School, i860, and 
 as a Doctor of Medicine at University Medical 
 College, 1864. In United States service as ist 
 Lieutenant and Captain, Twelfth Regiment, N. Y. 
 S. M., from April 19th to Aug. 4th, 1861, serving 
 in defence of Washington and in Western Vir- 
 ginia; was Captain in same regiment, in United 
 States service, from May 31st to Oct. 8th, 1862, 
 participated in the defence of Harper’s Ferry, and 
 was paroled at its surrender. Sept. 15, 1862; ex- 
 changed Jan. II, 1863; elected Colonel 12th In- 
 fantry, N. G. S. N. Y., Jan. 4, 1867, and is still in 
 command. Lawyer, author of “Campaigns of the 
 Twelfth Infantry, N. G. S. N. Y., 1861-62-63,” 
 
lOO 
 
 GOVERNOR SAMUEL WARD. 
 
 and of “The Overland Route to California, and 
 other Poems,” etc. 
 
 17. vi. Prescott Hall Ward, born Oct. 9, 1841, was 
 graduated at Columbia College Law School, 1861 ; 
 married Marian Poyntell (daughter of George W.) 
 Turner, July 29, 1863; died in New York City, 
 
 Oct. 16, 1870.