Eber Brock Ward
| Eber Brock Ward | |
|---|---|
ca. 1875
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| Born |
Eber Brock Ward Dec. 25, 1811 Applegaths Mills, Ontario |
| Died | January 2, 1875 Detroit, Michigan |
| Cause of death | stroke |
| Resting place |
Elmwood Cemetery Detroit, Michigan |
| Residence | 807 Fort Street, Detroit |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | E. B. Ward Eber B. Ward |
| Education | elementary |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | Industrialist |
| Net worth | $6,000,000 at death >$133,000,000 of 2010 $$ |
| Title | Captain of Industry of the Midwest |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary McQueen (first wife) Catharine Lyon (second wife) |
| Children | 28 including those of two wives and adopted children |
| Parent(s) | Eber Ward, Sr. Sally Totten Ward |
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Eber Brock Ward (December 25, 1811 – January 2, 1875) was an American iron and steel manufacturer and shipbuilder. He was known as the "steamship king of the Great Lakes" and as the "first of the iron kings." Ward became Detroit's first millionaire. He was the wealthiest man in the Midwest, in his time, due his steel factories.
Ward was into several industries in Michigan and the Midwest. He accumulated timberlands and lands that contained iron ore, copper and silver. He branched into several industries including newspapers, railroads, glass manufacturing, banking, steamships, and insurance companies. He even was one of the promoters of the Soo Locks of which he was one of the first to use, as at first he hauled schooners overland around the Soo Rapids to sail Lake Superior.
Ward was born in Applegaths Mills, Waterloo County, in the Canadian province of Ontario, on December 25, 1811. He was one of four children. The eldest was Emily, who remained a spinster until her death, Sallie the second, Eber Brock the third, and Abbie the forth. Ward was an American citizen. His parents had grown up in Vermont and soon after they were married they moved to Onondaga County, New York shortly before Ward's birth. Shortly thereafter they moved to Waterloo County, Ontario, not far from York (modern Toronto), unsuccessfully trying to avoid the pending War of 1812 in the United States.
Ward's parents moved back to Vermont and their old homestead and stayed there for the next five years until he was about six years old. The town they lived in was Wells, Vermont, near the city of Rutland. In 1817 his parents started a move to Kentucky with the family. While they were in Waterford, Pennsylvania his mother fell ill and died. His father with the family then changed his plans of moving to Kentucky and went to Ohio instead. Once in Ohio for only a short time his father decided to move to Detroit, which they reached by 1821 when Ward was nine to ten years old. Detroit had been destroyed some sixteen years earlier and what Ward saw was a small town of 1,400 but the capital of the Michigan territory.
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Wikipedia