Historical note:

            The bulk of the papers in this collection are those of Governor Samuel Ward (1725-1776) and his son Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Ward (1756-1832) of Westerly, Rhode Island. The remainder are those of their immediate family members, and their descendants who settled in New York. Both Governor Ward and his son Samuel Jr. served the cause of American independence: Governor Samuel, in the Continental Congress, and Samuel Jr. (“Sammy”) in the First Rhode Island Regiment.

            Governor Ward was an ardent defender of the American colonists’ rights to liberty and representation. Published accounts of his life, and his papers, indicate that he had begun to build an argument against British abuses for close to ten years prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, including the years when he was governor of the colony. He was reportedly the only colonial governor to refuse to sign the oath to enforce the Stamp Act of 1765. His death in Philadelphia in March, 1776, just weeks before he would have signed his name to the Declaration of Independence, seems, in this light, almost a tragedy in the classic sense. It should be noted, however, that Ward, along with others in the Continental Congress, was a slave owner. Papers in this collection indicate he had purchased a slave as late as 1771, and there were two slaves listed on his estate inventory dated May, 1776. Cudgoe, a slave Ward had purchased in 1768, was with him in Philadelphia at the time of his death.

            Governor Ward was born May 27, 1725 in Newport of Richard and Mary (Tillinghast) Ward. His father was a Newport merchant and Colonial Governor of Rhode Island from 1740 to 1743. Little is known of Ward’s youth. He married Anna Ray, daughter of Simon and Deborah (Greene) Ray of Block Island, at Westerly in 1745, and moved there after the marriage; exactly when is unknown. (Anna’s half-brother was Gideon Ray (b. 1698), a sea captain, who was probably the author of the receipt/memoranda book in Series 7.)

            Before becoming a public figure Ward was a farmer and store owner. His public life began in 1756 when he was elected one of Westerly’s two deputies to the Rhode Island General Assembly. He served in the Assembly until May, 1758. In 1757, a feud developed between Ward and Governor Stephen Hopkins when Ward published statements against Hopkins during his campaign for governor against William Greene. Ward ran for governor against Hopkins four times between 1758 and 1761, losing each time. In the meantime he served as moderator of Westerly town meetings; was one of Rhode Island’s delegates to the 1758 Hartford Conference, called by Lord Loudoun (John Campbell) to discuss contributions expected of New England and New York in the French-Indian War; and in 1761 was elected Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court by the General Assembly. He served as Chief Justice for one term.

            In 1762 Ward succeeded in his bid for governor of the colony. He was elected again in 1765 and 1766, the period during which the Stamp Act was to take effect. While he served in a public capacity, he also was concerned with farming and merchant activities on the home front. As of 1765, Ward had a shop on Thames Street in Newport, but how long it was there prior to or after that date is unknown. In 1770 Ward was defeated in a run for governor against incumbent Joseph Wanton. His wife Anna died the same year.

            In 1774, the Rhode Island legislature elected Ward and Stephen Hopkins as delegates to the first Continental Congress to be held in Philadelphia. The pair were elected again to the second Continental Congress which convened in Philadelphia in May, 1775. Approximately three months prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on March 25, 1776, Ward died of smallpox. His place at the Continental Congress was taken by William Ellery of Newport. Bernhard Knollenberg’s biography of Ward observes that, by the end of 1775

...Ward, perhaps because in better health than Hopkins, perhaps because of his bolder stand, seems to have become more of a figure in Congress than Hopkins. Ward was now usually chosen Chairman when Congress resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, and he, rather than Hopkins, was elected a member of the especially important standing committees of Congress, the Secret Committee for supplies from foreign sources and the Committee on Claims, both established in September, 1775.

Knollenberg also notes that a diary kept by Yale president Ezra Stiles (1727-1795) listed “the Cardinals...or men of greatest Abilities and Influence” in the Congress in order of importance, and that Ward was third after Samuel and John Adams.

            Ward was originally buried in the First Baptist Churchyard in Philadelphia. In 1860, his remains were re-interred by his descendants in the Common Burial Ground in Newport, Rhode Island. The children of Samuel and Anna Ward were:

            Charles, born 1747, a soldier in the Revolution

            Hanna (1749-1774)

            Anna (1750-1798)

Catherine (1752-1782), who married Colonel Christopher Greene

            Mary, unmarried (1754-1832)

            Samuel Jr. (1756-1832)

            Deborah (1758-1835), second wife of Colonel Christopher Greene

            Simon Ray (1760-1835)

            John (1762-1823)

            Richard (1765-1808)

            Elizabeth (1767-1783)

            Governor Ward’s second son, Samuel Jr. (“Sammy”) was born November 17, 1756 in Westerly. He graduated from Rhode Island College (Brown University) in 1771 at the age of fifteen. His military career began when he was commissioned a captain in the Army of Observation in May, 1775, at the age of eighteen. He participated in Benedict Arnold’s attack on Quebec in December, 1775, under his brother-in-law Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Greene (husband of his sister Catherine), and was taken prisoner by the British. He was released in August, 1776. Subsequently Ward was promoted to the rank of major in the First Rhode Island Infantry and, between 1776 and 1778, served with his regiment at Morristown, New Jersey (1777); Peekskill, New York (1777); Red Bank (Fort Mercer) under Christopher Greene (1777); Valley Forge (1778); and the Battle of Rhode Island (1778).

            Col. Ward married Phebe Greene in 1778 while on leave from military duties at Valley Forge; she was the daughter of Governor William Greene and Catherine (Ray). Ward returned to Rhode Island from Pennsylvania in the summer of 1778, and along with Christopher Greene recruited African-American men for a new Rhode Island regiment. These troops played an instrumental role in the military action on Aquidneck in August. In May, 1779, Ward was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Rhode Island and detached to command a Light Corps of troops near Providence, then was stationed at North Kingstown and Newport.  

            In early 1781, Congress ordered the First Rhode Island to merge with the Second Rhode Island, and several officers, including Ward, were forced to retire. In a letter dated April 16, 1781 Christopher Greene tells Ward “I often very agreeably reflect upon the Toils and Dangers we have gone through together during the Course of this horrid War and nothing cou’d halve been more agreeable than to have had your company in commd to the end of it, But so cou’d not be...we therefore must for the present be a part.”

              Ward went into business as a merchant in Warwick, where he remained until about 1787. During 1788 and 1789, Ward sailed to China for the Providence firm Brown & Francis as supercargo for the vessel General Washington, the first Rhode Island ship to engage in the China trade. He moved to New York in late 1790, doing business with his brothers Richard and John under the firm name Samuel Ward and Brothers. Ward returned to Rhode Island in 1804; then went back to New York in 1807, though his wife Phoebe remained in Rhode Island. He was president of the New York Marine Insurance Company until about 1808. He returned to Rhode Island in 1809 and stayed until about 1816, then made his permanent home in New York: first in Jamaica, Long Island, then in New York City, where he died in 1832.

            Samuel and Phoebe (Greene) Ward’s children were:

            William Greene (1779-1798)

            Henry (b. 1784)

            Samuel (1786-1839)

            Ann Catherine (1788-1837, unmarried)

            Phoebe (1791-1825, unmarried)

            Richard Ray (b. 1795)

            John (1797-1866, unmarried)

            William Greene (b. 1802)  

            Samuel (III) was a member of the firm Prime, Ward & Sands (later Prime, Ward & King) and father of Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. His son Samuel (IV) became a famous lobbyist. Richard Ray Ward was a lawyer and antiquarian, and John and William Greene Ward were bankers in Ward & Co. of New York.

Bibliography:

Biographic Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Rhode Island (Providence, National Biographic Publishing Co., 1881), 95.

Hedges, James B. The Browns of Providence Plantations: Colonial Years (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1952), 82.

Kellner, G. H. and J. Stanley Lemons. Rhode Island, the Independent State (Woodland Hills, Winsor Publications, Inc., 1982), 39.

Knollenberg, Bernhard and Clifford P. Monahon. Correspondence of Governor Samuel Ward and Genealogy of the Ward Family (Providence, Rhode Island Historical Society, 1952).

Walker, Anthony. So Few the Brave (Newport, Seafield Press, 1981), 8, 12, 65, 76, 129.

Ward, Col. John. Letter to John Austin Stevens, undated, in the Ward Family Papers, Rhode Island Historical Society, series 8, box 3, folder 47.

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Scope and content:

            This collection is divided into eight series: the papers of six individual family members; one group of miscellaneous Ward papers; and one group of research notes on Ward genealogy. The largest and most important series are Series 4 and 5: the papers of Governor Samuel Ward and his son, Col. Samuel Ward, respectively.

            Correspondence predominates the Ward Family Papers. Among the papers of each series are also a few financial and estate papers, deeds, memoranda books, and/or Revolutionary War documents.

            In Series 4, Governor Ward’s papers, several political issues of colonial and Revolutionary America are addressed: the attempt at collecting monies due the Rhode Island colony for military contributions to England during the French-Indian War, 1762; a dispute over the British vessels St. John, Squirrel, and Maidstone while at anchor in Newport Harbor in 1764; antagonism between colonists and customs officials in Newport in 1765; the Boston Port Bill; and the developing movement toward American independence: specifically, Ward’s activities on the Westerly Town Council and Committee of Correspondence (early 1774), and as a delegate to the Continental Congress. Exchanges of correspondence in 1762 and 1765 are especially enlightening as to the way in which colonial and British officials antagonized each other in reaction to increasing political tensions in the colonies. There is much correspondence during the year 1772 from Henry Marchant, William Ellery, and James Mitchell Varnum, but most of it is legal advice pertaining to a land dispute between Ward and Joseph Noyes.

            There are several items in Governor Ward’s papers relating to African and Native Americans, including a 1745 receipt, and 1762 indenture, relating to Native American servants of Ward; two bills of sale, one dated January 14, 1768, from Isabel Marchant to Ward, for a “Negro Man Slave named Cajoe aged about Thirty three Years”, and a 1771 bill of sale for a slave purchased by him; and a 1774 Rhode Island census which includes the total number of “Indian” and “Negroes” assessed. Cudgoe, the slave purchased in 1768, accompanied Ward to the Continental Congress, and is mentioned in the letter from Philadelphian Mary House to Ward’s children dated April 27, 1776. Ward’s indexed Newport account book, 1753 to 1763, contains occasional designations as to ethnicity, genealogy, residency, rank, or occupation of the persons listed.

            The correspondence of Governor Ward’s son Col. Samuel concerns primarily his war service, his attempts to rectify back-pay issues to discharged officers, and his business activities in Rhode Island, China, Europe, and New York. There are also ship’s papers and journals from his voyage to China. Letters written during Ward’s military years are vague as to military and political activity. Briefly touched upon are his trek to Quebec in 1775 and, in letters from his father, his subsequent imprisonment. There are four letters written from Ward to his wife Phoebe from Valley Forge in 1778, and six written to her from Aquidneck during August of 1778, including one describing action on the 28^th. There are approximately four letters from Colonel Christopher Greene between 1780 and 1781. A copy of a letter from Jeremiah Olney, dated June 21, 1781, discusses the dispensation of Greene’s effects after his death in May, 1781. A letter written May 23, 1783 from Ward to William Ellery mentions the general opposition in Rhode Island to “any pecuniary considerations or even honorary distinctions” to Revolutionary War officers. Other correspondents to Ward in the 1780s include Connecticut legislator Jeremiah Wadsworth; James Mitchell Varnum; and Ward’s brothers and business partners John and Richard. Also noteworthy is an 1806 certificate from the Westerly Town Council naming “Cuggo” (Cudgoe), the slave who had belonged to Ward’s father, and another slave named Pegg, who “hath for some time past and still Remain in want and need some speedy support” from Governor Ward’s heirs. There is also a letter from Ward’s niece Celia Greene, written from the Troy Female Seminary in 1827, describing her education and defending female intelligence.

            There is a large amount of correspondence to Ward’s wife Phoebe (Greene), mostly from Ward concerning his business travels and prospects. Other correspondents to Phoebe include her parents Gov. William and Catherine (Ray) Greene (1792 forward); her children, especially her sons William Greene, Henry, and Samuel; and Anne (Vernon) Olyphant, her husband’s cousin.

            The remainder of correspondence in the collection belongs, for the most part, to Ward family members living in New York, and contains little Rhode Island content. Exceptions are letters to Colonel Samuel’s son Richard Ray Ward written between 1845 and 1846 from Rhode Islander William Gammell, about a biography of Governor Ward and the loan of Ward papers. Additionally, there is a note to Richard from his niece Julia (Ward) Howe, the daughter of Richard’s brother Samuel (1786-1839), dated June 6, 1861. There is also a copy of her famous poem The Battle Hymn of the Republic (Series 7) written in the hand of her uncle Richard.

             In Series 7, the receipt book believed to belong to Block Island sea captain Gideon Ray contains receipts for payments to crew members for extremely early voyages to South Carolina on the sloop Shorham (1723) and the sloop Block Island (1724); also for voyages to what appears to be Martinique (1725). There is also one receipt entry dated February, 1723, out of Port Royal, Jamaica. One other vessel, the Abigale, is mentioned in an entry on the book’s inside cover. In addition to receipts, the book also lists supplies for voyages, including an undated list for rum, sugar, and cocoa shipped to various parties; and accounts. The latest entry details the division of the land of Simon Ray, father of Anna (Ray) Ward, to three of his children, and are written in a hand different from earlier entries.

            Other substantial collections of Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Ward’s papers can be found at the New York Public Library (2.5 feet) and the Houghton Library at Harvard University (3 boxes). The NYPL collection includes a small number of documents relating to Gov. Samuel and Col. Samuel. It appears from photostats in the collection that there may also be papers at the John Carter Brown Library in Providence, and the William L. Clements Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Series list:

Series 1: Henry Ward (1731-1797)

Series 2: John Ward (1797-1866)

Series 3: Richard Ray Ward (1795-1873)

Series 4: Governor Samuel Ward (“SW I”) (1725-1776) and Anna (Ray) Ward (1728-1770)

Series 5: Colonel Samuel Ward (“SW II”) (1756-1832) and Phoebe (Greene) Ward (1760-1828)

Series 6: Samuel Ward III (1786-1839)

Series 7: Miscellaneous Ward Family

Series 8: Ward Family Genealogy

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Provenance:

            Due to the complexity of the provenance of this collection, its complete history is stored in the collection file. The bulk of the papers were in the hands of Governor Samuel Ward’s grandson Richard Ray Ward (son of Col. Samuel Ward II) in the 1840s. They continued to be passed down to a number of Ward descendants, remaining in the family until 1945, when they were sold to the Rhode Island Historical Society for $5000. This purchase comprised the bulk of the present Ward Papers, including about fifteen hundred documents dating from 1732 to 1850.

            Another important lot of Ward Papers also appears to have passed through the possession of Richard Ray Ward. It is unknown whether they continued on through the same complex route as the other papers, or whether they were inherited by Richard’s daughter and sole heir, Gertrude R. (Ward) Dodd (b.1838). In any event, they somehow passed into the private collection of Charlotte and Edgar Sittig, who were Pennsylvania manuscript collectors, by the mid-twentieth century. The Sittig Collection was placed up for auction in May of 1999 by Horst Auctioneers in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. The Sittigs’ batch of Ward Papers were sold off in 68 lots. Eight lots totaling about 0.5 linear feet were purchased at the auction by the Rhode Island Historical Society. The purchased lots included: 78 items relating to Maj. Samuel Ward III, 1804-1838; 38 items relating to Richard Ray Ward, 1820-1865; a 1762 indenture and 1745 receipt relating to Native American servants of Gov. Samuel Ward; a 1771 bill of sale for a slave purchased by Gov. Samuel Ward; 40 items from Col. Samuel Ward II’s 1788-1789 voyage to China as supercargo aboard the ship General Washington; a 1791 Henry Marchant letter; two Asher Robbins letters; and two Tristam Burges letters. In November of 1999, the Society purchased, from dealer Charles Apfelbaum, 23 items relating to Colonel Samuel Ward that had originally been dispersed to Apfelbaum at the Horst auction.

             An anonymous letter to Governor Samuel Ward and Stephen Hopkins (3/18/1768?) was a gift from the Providence Washington Insurance Company in 1845. Governor Ward’s draft of a letter he wrote to George Washington, dated September 9, 1775, was the gift of John Ward in 1873. Ward’s Continental Congress diary, dated 1774-1775, was purchased form University of Virginia librarian Harry Clemons in 1945 for $135. Some “Samuel Ward letters” were purchased from Parke-Bernet in 1957; accession records do not indicate the number of letters nor to which Samuel they belonged. A letter from Colonel Samuel Ward to an unidentified recipient, dated April 3, 1799, was purchased from the Carnegie Book Shop in 1968. Three Ward family letters dated from 1805 to 1810 were purchased of the Manuscript Company of Springfield in 1983. An 1822 lease from Samuel Ward III to James V. Turner for Warwick land was donated by Cherry Fletcher Bamberg in 2001; she had purchased it at Internet auction.

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Processing note:

            In folder labeling, Governor Samuel Ward (Series 4) is designated as “SW I”, and his son, Colonel Samuel Ward (Series 5), is designated as “SW II”. Governor Ward’s grandson Samuel (Series 6) is “SW III”, and his great-grandson Samuel (Series 7) is “SW IV”.

            Most of the letters among Governor Ward’s papers (Series 4) are originals, or Ward’s copies of his outgoing correspondence. However, some are photostats of letters in other repositories, and manuscript and typescript copies made presumably by Ward’s descendants. For preservation purposes, photostat copies found among the Governor Ward letters were filed in separate folders. Photostats that were duplicates of originals in the collection were weeded out. Some photostats are marked with the name of the repository from which they were copied.

             Many of Governor Ward’s letters from May, 1775 to March, 1776 have been published in Correspondence of Governor Samuel Ward, compiled by Bernhard Knollenberg and Clifford P. Monahon. Earlier letters are not, for the most part, in the book, except for a few that are extracted or published in full in its introduction, and two items found in box 1, folder 53: Ward’s “A Prayer”, and his statement of faith to the Sabbatarian Church in Westerly and Hopkinton. When possible, pre-1775 letters in this collection that have been fully or partially published have been so marked in the attached calendar to Governor Ward’s correspondence.

            Three items from Governor Ward’s papers are filed in oversized storage: an agreement concerning the dispute between Gov. Ward and Stephen Hopkins, dated March 12, 1767; a letter from “The Friends of America” concerning New York loyalist printer James Rivington; and a deed from Ethan Clarke in settlement of Ward's estate (1777). Archival copies have been filed in their places.

            Series 7 contains papers from two William Greene Wards, both sons of Colonel Samuel Ward, born twenty-three years apart. The first son of that name died in 1798. Since undated correspondence to “William Greene Ward” could be intended for either the first William (born 1779), or his brother (1802-1848), undated letters have been filed separately.

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Inventory:

Series 1: Henry Ward (1732-1797); R. I. Secretary of State

Correspondence.

Box 1, folder 1. 1761 - June, 1775.

Box 1, folder 2. 1775, July - October.

Box 1, folder 3. 1775, November.

Box 1, folder 4. 1775, December.

Box 1, folder 5. 1776 (no 1777).

Box 1, folder 6. 1778 (no 1779).

Box 1, folder 7. 1780 and undated.

                        Series 2: John Ward (1797-1866); son of Colonel SW

Correspondence.

Box 1, folder 8. 1813-1828 (no 1829).

Box 1, folder 9. 1830-1836.

Box 1, folder 10. 1837-1839.

Box 1, folder 11. 1840-1863 and undated.

Box 1, folder 12. Financial papers, 1830, 1862-1866.

                        Series 3: Richard Ray Ward (1795-1873); son of Colonel SW

Correspondence.

Box 1, folder 13. 1787-1796.

Box 1, folder 14. 1817-1827.

Box 1, folder 15. 1828-1834.

Box 1, folder 16. 1835-1843.

Box 1, folder 17. 1844-1848.

Box 1, folder 18. 1849-1862.

Box 1, folder 19. 1863-1869 and undated.

                        Series 4: Governor Samuel Ward (1725-1776) and Anna (Ray) Ward (1728-1770)

Volume 1. Ledger, 1763-1767. Includes some loose accounts. Some pages mutilated.

Correspondence.

Box 1, folder 20. SW I, 1739-1756.

Box 1, folder 21. SW I, 1757-1760.

Box 1, folder 22. SW I, 1761-1764.

Box 1, folder 23. SW I, photostat correspondence, February, 1762 - June, 1766.

Box 1, folder 24. SW I, 1765, January - June.

Box 1, folder 25. SW I, 1765, July.

Box 1, folder 26. SW I, 1765, August - October.

Box 1, folder 27. SW I, 1765, November - December.

Box 1, folder 28. SW I and ARW, 1766, January - March.

Box 1, folder 29. SW I and ARW, 1766, June - December.

Box 1, folder 30. SW I and ARW, 1767-1768.

Oversize: Agreement re dispute between Ward and Hopkins, 1767/03/12.

Box 1, folder 31. SW I and ARW, 1769.

Box 1, folder 32. SW I, 1770-1771.

Box 1, folder 33. SW I, 1772.

Box 1, folder 34. SW I, 1773.

Box 1, folder 35. SW I, court case vs. Joseph Noyes, 1773-1775.

Box 1, folder 36. SW I, 1774, January - March.

Box 1, folder 37. SW I, 1774, April - June.

Box 1, folder 38. SW I, 1774, July - October.

Box 1, folder 39. SW I, 1774, December (no November).

Oversize: Letter from “Friends of America” re James Rivington of NY, 1774/12/05.

Box 1, folder 40. SW I, 1775, Jan. - June.

Box 1, folder 41. SW I, 1775, July - Dec.

Box 1, folder 42. SW I, photostat correspondence, 1775-1776.

Box 1, folder 43. SW I, 1776.

Box 1, folder 44. SW I, letters from ARW, undated.

Box 1, folder 45. SW I and ARW, undated.

Box 1, folder 46. SW I, deeds, agreements, 1755-1775.

Box 1, folder 47. SW I, diary (Continental Congress), 1774-1776.

Box 1, folder 48. SW I, diary transcriptions (manuscript and typescript).

Box 1, folder 49. SW I, financial papers, 1744-1775 and undated.

Box 1, folder 50. SW I, fragments, undated.

Box 1, folder 51. SW I, ledger (indexed), 1753-1763.

Box 1, folder 52. SW I, loose papers, probably Continental Congress circa 1774-1776.

Box 1, folder 53. SW I, miscellaneous. The folder contains

            Census, Rhode Island, 1774

            “A Prayer” (original and partial copy), undated.

            “Proposal for setting John Brands affairs”, undated.

            Statement of dissension (SW and Robert Potter) re: granting flags of truce, undated.

Statement of faith to Sabbatarian Church of Christ, Westerly and Hopkinton, undated (original and copy).

            Tally of inhabitants of colonies and proportions of monies to be redeemed to each, undated.

            Vote count, Hopkins vs. Ward, 1764.

            Vote count, Hopkins vs. Ward, undated.

Box 2, folder 1. Newspaper clippings re: SW I, 1851-1860.

Box 2, folder 2. SW I and ARW, wills and estate papers, 1770-1776.

Oversize: Deed, Ethan Clarke as administrator of Ward estate, June, 1777.

Series 5: Colonel Samuel Ward (1756-1832) and Phoebe (Greene) Ward (1760-1828)

Volume 2. SW II, cash journal, 1785-1828. (Includes vital records of some Ward family members at front and back.)

Correspondence.

Box 2, folder 3. Abstracts of letters at other repositories (ca. 1772-1826).

Box 2, folder 4. SW II, 1766-1773 (no 1774).

Box 2, folder 5. SW II, 1775, March - June (no January - February).

Box 2, folder 6. SW II, 1775, July - December.

Oversize: Letter, Gov. Samuel Ward to SW II, 1775/07/29.

Box 2, folder 7. SW II, 1776-1777.

Box 2, folder 8. SW II and PGW, 1778-1779. (includes transcriptions)

Oversize: Resolutions concerning pay to officers for rations, 1778/06/09.

Box 2, folder 9. SW II, 1780, January - July.

Box 2, folder 10. SW II, 1780, August - December.

Box 2, folder 11. SW II, 1781.

Box 2, folder 12. SW II, 1782.

Box 2, folder 13. SW II, 1783.

Box 2, folder 14. SW II, 1784.

Box 2, folder 15. SW II, 1785-1786.

Box 2, folder 16. SW II and PGW, 1787, January - May.

Box 2, folder 17. SW II and PGW, 1787, June - September.

Box 2, folder 18. SW II, 1787, October - December.

Box 2, folder 19. SW II and PGW, 1788.

Box 2, folder 20. SW II, General Washington (ship) documents, 1788-1789.

Box 2, folder 21. SW II, journals, General Washington, circa 1788-1789.

Box 2, folder 22. SW II and PGW, 1789.

Box 2, folder 23. SW II and PGW, 1790.

Box 2, folder 24. SW II and PGW, 1791.

Box 2, folder 25. SW II and PGW, 1792, January - August.

Box 2, folder 26. SW II and PGW, 1792, September - December.

Box 2, folder 27. SW II, letter book/account book, 1792-1793.

Box 2, folder 28. SW II and PGW, 1793, January - April.

Box 2, folder 29. SW II and PGW, 1793, August - December.

Box 2, folder 30. SW II and PGW, 1794.

Box 2, folder 31. SW II and PGW, 1795-1796.

Box 2, folder 32. SW II and PGW, 1797-1798.

Box 2, folder 33. SW II and PGW, 1799-1800.

Box 2, folder 34. SW II and PGW, 1801.

Box 2, folder 35. SW II and PGW, 1802, January - May.

Box 2, folder 36. SW II and PGW,1802, June - December.

Box 2, folder 37. SW II and PGW, 1803.

Box 2, folder 38. SW II and PGW, 1804.

Box 2, folder 39. SW II and PGW, 1805.

Box 2, folder 40. SW II and PGW, 1806, January - July.

Box 2, folder 41. SW II and PGW, 1806, August - December.

Box 2, folder 42. SW II and PGW, 1807, January - May.

Box 2, folder 43. SW II and PGW, 1807, June - August.

Box 2, folder 44. SW II and PGW, 1807, October - December.

Box 2, folder 45. SW II and PGW, 1808, January - March.

Box 2, folder 46. SW II and PGW, 1808, April - June.

Box 2, folder 47. SW II and PGW, 1808, July - December.

Box 2, folder 48. SW II and PGW, 1809.

Box 2, folder 49. SW II and PGW, 1817-1811.

Box 2, folder 50. SW II and PGW, 1812, January - May.

Box 2, folder 51. SW II and PGW, 1812, June - December.

Box 3, folder 1. SW II and PGW, 1813.

Box 3, folder 2. SW II and PGW, 1814, January - May.

Box 3, folder 3. SW II and PGW, 1814, June - December.

Box 3, folder 4. SW II and PGW, 1815.

Box 3, folder 5. SW II and PGW, 1816 (no 1817).

Box 3, folder 6. SW II and PGW, 1817-1832.

Box 3, folder 7. SW II, undated.

Box 3, folder 8. PGW, from Anna (Ward) Clarke (sister-in-law), undated.

Box 3, folder 9. PGW, from Catherine (Ray) Greene (mother), undated.

Box 3, folder 10. PGW, from SW III (son), undated

Box 3, folder 11. PGW, mixed authors, undated.

Box 3, folder 12. SW II, deeds and indentures, 1802, 1803.

Box 3, folder 13. SW II, expense/account book, 1783-1786 and memoranda book, 1792.

Box 3, folder 14. SW II, financial papers, 1775-1810 and undated.

Box 3, folder 15. SW II, memoranda/account book (business travels), 1802-1808.

Box 3, folder 16. SW II, miscellaneous. The folder contains 

            Account of pay? for 2nd Regiment, July 2, 1777

            Draft by Col. SW concerning Gov. SW’s estate, September, 1777.

“Officers & volunteers in march to Quebec in 1775 - also in attack of 31st December under Arnold” , undated.

            “Officers in the supernumerary list (Rhode Island Arrangement)”, undated.

            Settlement?, Samuel Ward & Brothers vs. Roussel & R. Mourin

            List of vessels, their guns and crews, undated.

Series 6: Samuel Ward III (1786-1839)

Correspondence.

Box 3, folder 17. 1804-1808.

Box 3, folder 18. 1809-1810.

Box 3, folder 19. 1811-1819 (no 1820-1825).

Box 3, folder 20. 1826-1836.

Box 3, folder 21. 1837-1839 and undated.

Box 3, folder 22. Balance sheets, Prime, Ward & Sands?, 1829, 1830; lease of Warwick land, 1822

Series 7: Miscellaneous Ward Family

Box 3, folder 23. Mary (Ward) Arnold (1679-1754; dau of Thomas and Amy (Billings) Ward). Petition, 1728 (18th-century copy).

Box 3, folder 24. Elizabeth (Ward) Bliss (1735-1815; sister of Governor Samuel Ward). Correspondence, 1769-1776.

Box 3, folder 25. Julia (Ward) Howe (1819-1910; dau of Samuel and Julia (Cutler) Ward). Poetry, 1862 (copy) and undated.

Box 3, folder 26. Gideon Ray (Captain), receipt/memoranda book, 1723-1762.

Box 3, folder 27. Anne Catherine Ward (1788-1837; unmarried). Correspondence, 1814-1837 and undated.

Box 3, folder 28. Charles Ward (1747-?; son of Gov. SW). Letter from sister Katy (Ward) Greene, 1776.

Box 3, folder 29. Elizabeth (Ward) Bowen (1759-1847; dau of Henry Ward, Sec. of State). Correspondence from brother Henry, 1781-1784? (Copies.)

Box 3, folder 30. Hannah Ward (probably 1749-1774, dau of Gov. Samuel and Anna (Ray) Ward). Letter from sister Kitty Ward, undated.

Box 3, folder 31. Henry Ward (Dates unknown; son of Henry Ward 1732-1797). Correspondence, 1797 (mostly copies).

Box 3, folder 32. Henry and Eliza (Hall) Ward (1784-1838; son of Col. SW). Correspondence, 1806-1867 and undated.

Box 3, folder 33. John Ward (1762-1823; son of Gov. SW). Correspondence, 1793, 1794 and undated.

Box 3, folder 34. (Col.) John Ward (b. 1838; son of William Greene Ward). Miscellaneous papers and newspaper clippings, circa 1875-1878.

Box 3, folder 35. Mary (“Molly”) Ward (1735-1771; dau of Thomas and Content (Coggeshall) Ward. Correspondence, 1754, 1756.

Box 3, folder 36. Phebe Ward (1791-1825; dau of Col. SW and Phoebe (Greene) Ward; unmarried). Correspondence, 1811-1823.

Box 3, folder 37. Richard Ward (1689-1763; father of Gov. SW). Loose papers, 1714-1759. The folder contains

                        Receipt, Capt. Seth Pope to RW, 1714.

                        Bond, Robert Hannah to RW, 1720.

                        Day book page, RW?, 1733-1739.

                        Letter, RW to William Greene (copy), 1742/3.

Bill authorizing replacement of torn paper currency/appointment of James Martin as Secretary of Colony of Rhode Island, 1742.

                        Deed, RW to Job Carr, 1744.

                        Receipt, RW and Henry Ward to Samuel and William Vernon, Jan. 23, 1759.

                        Receipt, RW and Henry Ward to Samuel and William Vernon, Jan. 30, 1759.

Box 3, folder 38. Richard Ward (1765-1808; son of Gov. SW). Letter book, with loose newspaper clippings, 1795-1806.

Box 3, folder 39. Samuel Ward (1814-1884; son of Samuel III). Correspondence, 1845 (from Jared Sparks) and 1857, and poem (assumed to be SW IV).

Box 3, folder 40. Thomas Ward (1711-1760; son of Richard and Mary (Tillinghast) Ward). Loose papers, 1734-1760. The folder contains

                        Letter (incomplete?), TW to John Tanner, October, 1734.

                        Indenture for “Indian Man & Indian Woman of Westerly” witnessed by TW, 1740.

                        “Notarial Certificate” concerning Joseph Sylvester, to TW, 1755

                        Resolutions of General Assembly, 1756

                        Obituary of TW (two copies), 1760

Box 3, folder 41. William Greene Ward (1779-1798). Correspondence, 1795.

Box 3, folder 42. William Greene Ward (1802-1848; son of Colonel SW). Correspondence, 1822-1839.

Box 3, folder 43. William Greene Ward (probably both 1779-1798 and 1802-1848). Correspondence, undated.

Box 3, folder 44. Poetry, author(s) unidentified, 1879 and undated.

Box 3, folder 45. Unidentified Ward family papers, 1828-1874 and undated.

                        Series 8: Ward Family Genealogy

Box 3, folder 46. Knollenberg and Monahon (Correspondence of Governor Samuel Ward), genealogy correspondence, 1946-1951.

Box 3, folder 47. Col. John Ward (b. 1838), genealogy correspondence, 1877-1894 and undated.

Box 3, folder 48. Richard Ray Ward (1795-1873), genealogy correspondence, 1845, 1859.

Box 3, folder 49. Miscellaneous correspondence, 1881-1951.

Box 3, folder 50. Genealogy research notes.

Box 3, folder 51. Vital records, circa 1689-1845.

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Subjects:

Afro-Americans - RI - Westerly

Abigale (sloop?)

Arnold, Welcome (1745-1798)

Block Island (sloop)

Boston Port Bill, 1774

Bowen, Jabez (1739-1815)

Brayton, Celia Greene (Clarke) (1808-1880)

Brown, John (1736-1803)

Brown & Francis

Burr, Aaron (1756-1836)

Casey, Wanton

China - Commerce

Clarke, Ethan

Dexter, Jonathan

Diaries - 1774-1776

Flagg, Henry Collins

Gammell, William (1812-1889)

Greene, Christopher (1737-1781)

Howe, Julia Ward (1819-1910)

Littlefield, William

HMS Maidstone

Manning, James (1738-1791)

Merchant marine - Rhode Island - New Shoreham

Merchants - RI - Warwick

Nightingale, Samuel (1741-1814)?

Olyphant, Ann (Vernon)

Robbins, Asher (1757-1845)

Senter, Isaac (1753-1799)

Shor[e]ham (sloop)

Sparks, Jared (1789-1866)

Sprague, William Buell (1795-1876)

HMS Squirrel

Stamp Act, 1765

Troy Female Seminary

United States - History - French and Indian War, 1755-1762

United States - History - Revolution, 1775-1783

Wadsworth, Jeremiah (1743-1804)

Ward, Anna (Ray) (1728-1770)

Ward, Richard Ray (1795-1873)

Ward, Samuel (Gov.) (1725-1776)

Ward, Samuel (1786-1839)

Westerly, RI - Commerce

Westerly, RI - Social life and customs

Willard, Emma Hart (1787-1870)

Note: additional catalogued entries can be found in the calendar of Governor Samuel Ward’s correspondence (attached). Names in bold print in the calendar have corresponding catalog card entries.

End of finding aid - return to top

RIHS1822