Background
Samuel Ward, the second son of Gov. Samuel Ward, 1725-1776, and Anne (Ray) Ward, was born in Westerly, R. I.
Samuel Ward, the second son of Gov. Samuel Ward, 1725-1776, and Anne (Ray) Ward, was born in Westerly, R. I.
He was a member of one of the early classes of Rhode Island College (later Brown University), where he graduated with honors in 1771.
His father and his uncle were both prominent in colonial affairs, and upon the outbreak of the Revolution he was among the first to answer the call to arms. Commissioned as captain in the 16t Rhode Island Regiment in 1775, he served with distinction in many campaigns. At the siege of Quebec he was taken prisoner (December 31, 1775), and remained in Canada until his release, in August 1776. Promoted to the rank of major in January 1777, he fought with Washington's army at Morristown and in October was with the forces that defeated Burgoyne. On April 12, 1779, after his regiment had made an attempt to force the British out of Newport, he received the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1781 Ward retired from the military service to begin the life of a merchant. Sometime after the conclusion of the war he established himself in New York, in the firm of Samuel Ward & Brother. His business interests required frequent traveling, and he sailed all over the world. Making the arduous voyage to Canton, China, in 1788, he was one of the first Americans to visit the Far East, and he was in Paris when Louis XVI was sentenced to death. Though he had no ambition to play as active a part in public life as had his father and grandfather, the tradition of his family, his commercial wisdom, and his scholarly interests caused him to be highly respected. He became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati in 1784, was elected a delegate to the Annapolis Convention in 1786, was president of the New York Marine Insurance Company from 1806 to 1808, and was one of Rhode Island's representatives at the Hartford Convention in 1814. In 1804 he had moved his residence back to Rhode Island, to East Greenwich, and in 1816 he removed to Jamaica, L. I. In 1828, however, he returned to New York City, where he died.
On March 8, 1778, he had married his first cousin, Phebe, daughter of William Greene and Catherine (Ray) Greene of Warwick, R. I. They had ten children, of whom seven lived to grow up. One of these, Samuel, 1786-1839, was the father of Julia (Ward) Howe.
