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Artemas Ward

Artemas Ward
Artemas Ward.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795
Serving with Dwight Foster, Theodore Sedgwick, and William Lyman (General ticket)
Preceded by Benjamin Goodhue
Succeeded by William Lyman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 7th district
In office
March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1793
Preceded by George Leonard
Succeeded by District eliminated until 1795
Personal details
Born (1727-11-26)November 26, 1727
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Died October 28, 1800(1800-10-28) (aged 72)
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, USA
Resting place Mountain View Cemetery, Shrewsbury
Political party Pro-Administration
Spouse(s) Sarah (Trowbridge) Ward
Children Ithamar (1752), Nahum (1754), Sara (1756), Thomas (1758), Martha (1760), Artemas Jr. (1762), Maria (1764), Henry Dana (1768)
Occupation Soldier, politician
Known for Revolutionary War Major General
Religion Christianity
Website Artemas Ward Museum
Military service
Allegiance  Kingdom of Great Britain
 United States
Years of service 1755–1758
1775–1777
Rank Colonel
Commander-in-chief of the Massachusetts Bay colony's militia
Major general of the Continental Army
Commands British Army's 3rd Regiment of the Massachusetts Bay militia—the militia of Middlesex and Worchester Counties
Continental Army in command of the Eastern Department April 4, 1776 -March 20, 1777
Battles/wars French and Indian War
American Revolutionary War
Boston campaign

Artemas Ward (November 26, 1727 – October 28, 1800) was an American major general in the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from Massachusetts. He was considered an effective political leader, President John Adams describing him as "...universally esteemed, beloved and confided in by his army and his country."

Artemas Ward was born at Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in 1727 to Nahum Ward (1684–1754) and Martha (Howe) Ward. He was the sixth of seven children. His father had broad and successful career interests as a sea captain, merchant, land developer, farmer, lawyer and jurist. As a child he attended the common schools and shared a tutor with his brothers and sisters. He graduated from Harvard in 1748 and taught there briefly.

On July 31, 1750, he married Sarah Trowbridge (December 3, 1724 – December 13, 1788), the daughter of Reverend Caleb Trowbridge and Hannah Trowbridge of Groton, Massachusetts. The young couple returned to Shrewsbury where Artemas opened a general store. In the next fifteen years they would have eight children: Ithamar in 1752, Nahum (1754), Sara (1756), Thomas (1758), Artemas Jr. (1762), Henry Dana (1768), Martha (1760), and Maria (1764).

The next year, 1751, he was named a township assessor for Worcester County. This was the first of many public offices he was to fill. Ward was elected a justice of the peace in 1752 and also served the first of his many terms in the Massachusetts Bay Colony's assembly, or "general court."

In 1755 the militia was restructured for the war, and Ward was made a major in the 3rd Regiment which mainly came from Worcester County. They served as garrison forces along the frontier in western Massachusetts. This duty called him at intervals between 1755 and 1757, and alternated with his attendance at the General Court. In 1757 he was made the colonel of the 3rd Regiment or the militia of Middlesex and "Worchester" Counties. In 1758 the regiment marched with Abercrombie's force to Fort Ticonderoga. Ward himself was sidelined during the battle by an "attack of the stone."


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