Background

Henry Dana Ward was born in Waltham, Massachussets, the only child of Ellen Maria (Dickinson) and William Hayes Ward, and the descendant of William Ward who emigrated from England about 1638 and settled in Sudbury, Massachussets The boy's earliest memories were of Utica, N. Y. , and Ripon, Wis. , where his father was teaching. About 1868 the family settled in Newark, N. J. His mother, whose health had long been frail, died in 1873, and his father's two unmarried sisters continued to live with the family and direct the household. Under the watchful eyes of parents and aunts the boy was brought up in what he later called the "Spartan Puritan" tradition. Gray's Elegy, repeated by his father until the child knew it by heart, was his Mother Goose.

Education

At the age of seven he was encouraged to begin the study of Hebrew, while for modern languages he was sent abroad twice for periods of schooling in Germany and Switzerland. A final year at Phillips Academy at Andover prepared him to enter Amherst College, his father's college, where he graduated with the class of 1884. Though he had become a more ardent collector of minerals than candidate for the ministry, he agreed, at his father's insistence, to complete a theological course before deciding on a profession. Accordingly, after a year of teaching at Catawba College, Newton, N. C. , he spent two years at Union Theological Seminary and a year at the Theological Seminary at Andover, supporting himself in part by writing Sunday-school lessons and conducting the Biblical research department for the Independent.

Career

He was licensed to preach but never ordained. Though a man of unusual cultivation and markedly original views, he never overcame the handicap of being the son of a notable father and the husband of a famous wife. The decisive event of his year at Andover was his meeting there with his future spouse. In collaboration with his wife he wrote three novels, A Lost Hero (1891), Come Forth (1891), and the Master of the Magicians (1890), of which the last, an historical romance of ancient Babylon, was chiefly his own work. He also wrote independently several novels and collections of short stories, of which the most important were A Republic without a President (1891), The White Crown (1894), The Burglar Who Moved Paradise (1897), and The Light of the World (1901). His friendship with Daniel S. Ford, owner and editor of the Youth's Companion, and with Edwin A. Grozier of the Boston Post led him to contribute religious articles and editorials to both publications. He joined the staff of the Post for a year about 1899; with the Youth's Companion he had no official connection. He served as a member of the Massachusetts prison commission from 1891 to 1901. After his wife's death, he made his home chiefly in South Berwick, Me. , in a house inherited from his paternal grandmother. The last years of his life were occupied with publicity writing and social work. During the "Liberty Loan" drives he was a publicity agent for the federal treasury department, and later he was attached to the Italian embassy at Washington in a similar capacity. After some ten years of virtual retirement he died in the hospital at Portsmouth, N. H.

Achievements

• He wrote extensively for newspapers and periodicals. His most important works were A Republic without a President (1891), The White Crown (1894), The Burglar Who Moved Paradise (1897), and The Light of the World (1901).

Works

More photos

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  • Italys aim in the world war

    (This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)

  • The Light of the World: By Herbert D. Ward

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The White Crown and Other Stories

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Lauriel the Love Letters of an American Girl (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Lauriel the Love Letters of an American Girl...)

  • Lauriel: The Love Letters of an American Girl

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • A Republic Without a President and Other Stories

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • The New Senior At Andover (1891)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

Connections

He married Elizabeth Stuart Phelps despite her seventeen years' advantage in age, on October 20, 1888. The couple lived in Newton Center, Massachussets. After death of his first wife he married, on December 27, 1916, Edna J. Jeffress of Edwardsville, Ill. , by whom he had one daughter.

Father:

William Hayes Ward

Mother:

Ellen Maria (Dickinson) Ward

Spouse:

Edna J. Jeffress