Z 1826.000 Ward (Benjamin F.) and Family Papers

Benjamin F. Ward was born in Abbeville County, South Carolina, on February 25, 1836. He was the seventh child of William F. and Martha Mecklin Ward. After the death of her husband, Martha Mecklin Ward moved her family to Choctaw County, Mississippi, in 1846. Benjamin F. Ward attended school in Choctaw County; later taught school in Carroll County; and began studying medicine privately. His first formal medical training was at the University of Louisiana (now Tulane University). Ward completed his medical training at Atlanta Medical College, graduating in 1859. He returned to Carroll County and established a medical practice.

Dr. Ward enlisted as a private in the Carroll Rifles in 1861, and he became a field surgeon in 1862. He was later appointed as a senior surgeon on the staff of General Joseph R. Davis. Dr. Ward served in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia during the Civil War. He was chief surgeon during the battle of Gettysburg and was later captured and imprisoned for five months at Fort McHenry. Dr. Ward was exchanged as a prisoner of war and continued serving until the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. After the war, Dr. Ward settled in Winona, Montgomery County, Mississippi, where he continued practicing medicine.

On June 3, 1868, Dr. Ward married Tennessee native Mary Hardin Hardeman, who had been raised in the home of an uncle in Grenada County, Mississippi. The Wards were the parents of seven children: Annie Bruce (b. June 7, 1873), Thomas Hardeman (b. September 26, 1875), William Constant (b. 1877), Mary (b. July 23, 1879), Maggie (b. September 3, 1882), Benjamin F., Jr. (b. October 11, 1880), and Melzana, who later married Henry Hart. Dr. Ward was president of the Mississippi State Medical Association between 1881 and 1882. He served as a member of the Mississippi State Board of Health from 1886 to 1892. Dr. Ward was later president of the Mississippi State Board of Health from 1903 to 1905. He was also a member of the American Medical Association. For many years, Dr. Ward served as chief surgeon of the United Confederate Veterans of Mississippi. Dr. Ward died at the home of his son-in-law, Henry Hart, in Winona on August 26, 1920. He was interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Winona.

Benjamin F. Ward, Jr., was born in Winona, Montgomery County, Mississippi, on October 11, 1880. He was a legislative page who later served two terms as sergeant-at-arms of the Mississippi legislature. Ward moved to Washington, D.C., in 1902 to work for United States congressman W. S. Hill. He and his business partner, George Williams, purchased the Winona Times in November of 1907. However, Ward had sold his interest to Williams by April of 1908. However, he remained active in business and politics until his death of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-two on March 28, 1912. Ward was interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Winona.

Scope and Content:

This collection includes correspondence of Ward family members or friends with Benjamin F. Ward, Jr. The letters mainly reflect the interest of the Wards in the educational, political, and vocational endeavors of their son, Benjamin F., Jr., from 1894 to 1905. Examples include Ward’s attendance at Marion Military Institute, Marion, Alabama; his service as a page and as sergeant-at-arms of the Mississippi legislature; and his editorship of the Winona Times. The letters also provide details of Dr. Ward's medical practice and express his concern for the health of his son. Included is a description of the inaugural exercises of Governor James K. Vardaman, which were attended by the Wards. There are four scrapbook volumes of Dr. Ward covering 1867 to 1920, the majority of which consist of newspaper clippings. They contain anecdotes, articles on the Civil War and medicine, editorials, obituaries, and poetry, which are mainly undated. Included is a register of Armstrong and Kelly, druggists, Winona, recording dispensed prescriptions that were written by Dr. Ward or several other local doctors around 1895 or 1896.

Series Identification:

1. Correspondence 1894-1905. 1.17 cubic ft.

   This series consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence pertaining to the Ward family. Principal correspondents include Dr. Benjamin F. Ward, Mary Hardin Hardeman Ward, Benjamin F. Ward, Jr., W. T. (Buddie) Atkins, and McDaniel Pettway; subordinate correspondents include Melzana Ward Hart, John R. Dinsmore, A. F. Fox (two telegrams), Monroe McClug, James McCool, and W. F. Stevens. There are letters written to Benjamin F. Ward, Jr., which mention his appointments as page, sergeant-at-arms, and assistant commissioner of the Mississippi legislature. Other letters were written to Ward while he was a student at Marion Military Institute, Marion, Alabama, and at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. They discuss Ward’s enlistment during the Spanish-American War and the Winona yellow-fever epidemic of 1899. There are three letters concerning Governor James K. Vardaman, including one describing his gubernatorial inauguration, which was attended by Dr. and Mrs. Ward. Other letters reflect Dr. Ward's investments at the turn-of-the-century. Interspersed are several letters where Dr. Ward describes his medical practice. Included is a valedictory speech prepared by Dr. Ward for his son to deliver when he was an officer of the Philo Society at the Marion Military Institute. There are two 1945 resolutions sent to Mrs. Henry Hart by the board of directors of the Columbus and Greenville Railway Company, which express their admiration for the late Henry Hart.

   Box 1: 1850-1896
   Box 2: 1897-1898
   Box 2: 1898-1899
   Box 3: 1899-1900
   Box 3: 1900
   Box 4: 1901
   Box 4: 1902-1905; 1945

2. Scrapbooks. 1867-1920. 0.66 cubic ft. (4 volumes)

   The scrapbooks reflect the diverse interests of Dr. Benjamin F. Ward, and they may be those actually referred to in an April 17, 1901, letter from his wife (see series 1). The majority of the clippings concern Dr. Ward’s lectures, articles on medical topics, commencement addresses, Confederate veterans' affairs, editorials, obituaries, poetry, and tributes. Many of the clippings are unidentified, untitled, or undated.

   The scrapbooks contain several articles written by Dr. Ward, including “The Effects of Alcohol Upon Man”; “The Gallant Belo: Story of His Duel with Cousins, Told by an Eye-Witness” [Dr. Ward]; “The Lincoln Picture,” discussing why former President Lincoln's portrait should not hang in the Mississippi Hall of Fame in Jackson; “Mississippi,” an address delivered to the Mississippi Press Association; “The Old South,” a defense of southern culture prior to the Civil War, “Oratory”; and “Theodore Roosevelt.”

   There are numerous articles written by Benjamin F. Ward, Jr., for the Winona Times, including “Campaign Methods” (July 31, 1908) and “The Congressional Candidates” (July 10, 1908). Other articles are entitled “The Dying Sage,” a tribute to the late Dr. Ward by Morris Golden; “The Ethics of Politics”; “Ex-Senator J. K. Vardaman's Tribute to the Late Doctor B. F. Ward”; and “A Malicious Concoction of Falsehood.” There are several obituaries of Dr. Benjamin F. Ward, Mary Hardin Hardeman Ward, and Benjamin F. Ward, Jr. There are also several obituaries and tributes written by Dr. Ward in honor of his family, friends, and colleagues. The scrapbooks also contain an article on the history of the surname Ward and a facsimile of the Ward coat-of-arms. Due to the fragile condition of the original scrapbooks, reference photocopies must be used instead.

   Box 6 (reference photocopies)
   Box 7 (original scrapbooks; restricted).

3. Prescriptions Register. ca. 1895-1896. 0.15 cubic ft.

   Register of prescriptions dispensed by Armstrong and Kelly, druggists, Winona. The prescriptions were written by Dr. Ward or Drs. Armstrong, Carson, Franklein, Greene, Holmes, Kent, Kerch, McLean, Redditt, Reed, Stone, Taylor, Trotter, Whitehead, Wilburn, and Wood of the Montgomery County area.

   Box 5

4. Miscellaneous. 1891-1942. 1 folder.

   This series consists of newspaper clippings that are similar to those in the scrapbooks of Dr. Ward (see series 2). Articles of special interest include the poem, “Alone,” by Dr. Ward, reprinted in Vardaman's Weekly, March 18, 1920; “History of Montgomery County,” ca. 1940, which relates Dr. Ward's return on horseback from Appomattox, Virginia, to Carroll County, Mississippi, after the Civil War; and “Winona Fifty Years Ago,” an undated article. Included is a photograph of Dr. Ward. Due to the fragile condition of the original items, reference photocopies must be used instead.

   Box 6 (reference photocopies)
   Box 7 (original newspaper clippings; restricted).