THE HONORABLE W.G. WARD
(from the biography by his daughter, Mrs. D.S. Cummings)
William Grosvenor Ward was b. Dec. 26, 1827 in Boonville, N.Y., the sixth child in a family of twelve.

Possessing an inquisitive mind, naturally studious and reflective, he readily absorbed all that the high school was able to offer, and at an early age was graduated from the Boonville Academy where he had earned his tuition by tutoring the younger pupils. Although excelling in his favorite study - that of mathematics in all its branches - much of his time was devoted to perfecting his knowledge of Latin and Greek.

At the age of seventeen, having proved himself a brilliant scholar and already showing those traits of character which made him conspicuous in later years, to the great grief of his mother, who fully realized his natural ability, instead of entering, a sophomore, in Union College, he began the practice of civil engineering.

Rapidly rising in the profession for which he was so well equipped, he became in turn chief engineer and road master on the Long Island railroad during the construction of two new branches, and superintendent of car and engine repairs of the entire road with headquarters in the city of Brooklyn.

At this time, the year 1852, occurred his marriage to Martha E. Dodge. This union was blessed by a family of two children,
1) Clarence T. and
2) Annie L.

Soon after, he became first assistant engineer on the Lake Ontario and Auburn railroad, after which he was given a similar position with the Utica and Black River railroad. With visions of better things in the opening of new country, the year 1856 finds him turning westward to take his place as chief engineer on the Watertown and Madison (Milwaukee & St. Paul in 1905) system, after which came the construction of the Oconomowoc and Columbus railroad.

The financial crash of 1857, which involved so disastrously the whole country, put a halt to further projection of railroad systems, and Mr. Ward began the study of law in Madison, Wisconsin, with the firm of Wood and Blake. He was admitted to the bar and practiced only long enough to try one case when the war broke out, and he was appointed quartermaster in the Thirty-fourth Wisconsin. For three years after that, he held the appointment of postmaster in Madison.

In 1865, he was called upon to sustain the loss of his wife who died in Jefferson. After taking his motherless children East to place them in the care of relatives, Mr. Ward resumed West to remain railroading, this time as chief engineer in the construction of the Winona and St. Peter railroad. This line was completed in 1868. Investing largely in property in and about Waseca, he became one of the early promoters of resident industries.

In 1867, he was married to Ella C. Trowbridge, youngest daughter of the founder of Waseca. He built a home to which, in time, there came four children:
1) Martha E.,
2) Roscoe Percy,
3) Florence Trowbridge, and
4) Earl W.

Always an ardent politician, Mr. Ward spared neither pains nor expense in the support of republican candidates for office, generally taking an active part in the campaign. He was twice elected to the legislature as state senator, and was, in 1880, the republican candidate for congress, but, owing to party differences, was not elected.

In whatever place we find him, as a youth and in studies and athletics; or in maturer years, directing the laying out of many lines of traffic, or presiding with unwonted grace and dignity in the senate chamber, Mr. Ward was a leader of men. His commanding presence attracted the
beholder, whose attention was held by the eloquence and versatility of a ready talker. A constant student all his life, his mind was stored with great learning - science, history, theology, poetry, - the best the great minds had to offer, all were his.

His last days of suffering were lightened and uplifted by the ennobling sentiments inspired by long hours of companionship with his beloved books. In September, 1892, after a long illness, death brought him relief from pain.

The poor had lost a friend to whom they never turned in vain, and, if his enemies did not regret the sharp spur of his active animosity, his hosts of friends do not yet cease to mourn the loss of one who never wearied in deeds of kindness for those who merited his esteem.

Mr. Ward built a home that stands on Second Avenue
N.E. across from the Waseca Co. Hist. Soc. Museum.