Samuel Ward papers

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Collection Data

Description
Samuel Ward (1814-1884) was an American lobbyist, financier, author, and adventurer. He was the son of the banker Samuel Ward (1786-1839) and the grandson of Samuel Ward (1756-1832) soldier and merchant. His sister was Julia Ward Howe, author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic". After leaving his father's banking house, Prime, Ward & King, he visited Latin America on behalf of U.S. corporate and government interests. By the end of the U.S. Civil War he was settled in Washington, D.C. where he lobbied the government on behalf of financiers. Collection contains the papers of Ward, his father, his grandfather, and other family members, as well as his collection of autograph letters of mathematicians and scientists. Papers include handwritten and typescript letters, notebooks, transcripts, photographs, and printed matter. Samuel Ward correspondence, 1825-1882, concerns his activities, intellectual and literary matters, and family concerns. Many letters were written by friends who were historical figures. Autograph collection, 1647-1856, comprises letters by famous mathematicians and scientists acquired by Ward with his purchase of the library of mathematician A.N. Legendre. Also, Ward's travel notebooks, and letters, photographs and other papers of various members of the Ward family.
Names
Ward, Samuel, 1814-1884 (Creator)
Armstrong, John, 1758-1843 (Contributor)
Bancroft, George, 1800-1891 (Correspondent)
Bayard, Thomas F. (Thomas Francis), 1828-1898 (Author)
Bernoulli, Jean, 1667-1748 (Author)
Brady, Mathew B., approximately 1823-1896 (Photographer)
Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909 (Author)
Cutler, M. Eliza (Author)
Euler, Leonhard, 1707-1783 (Author)
Evarts, William Maxwell, 1818-1901 (Author)
Felton, C. C. (Cornelius Conway), 1807-1862 (Correspondent)
Francis, John W. (John Wakefield), 1789-1861 (Correspondent)
Halleck, Fitz-Greene, 1790-1867 (Correspondent)
Halley, Edmond, 1656-1742 (Contributor)
Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910 (Author)
Lagrange, J. L. (Joseph Louis), 1736-1813 (Author)
Legendre, A. M. (Adrien Marie), 1752-1833 (Addressee)
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1646-1716 (Author)
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882 (Author)
Rosebery, Archibald Philip Primrose, Earl of, 1847-1929 (Author)
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891 (Signer)
Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 (Correspondent)
Ticknor, George, 1791-1871 (Correspondent)
Ward, Francis Marion, 1820-1847 (Author)
Ward, Henry, 1818-1840 (Author)
Ward, Samuel, 1756-1832 (Author)
Ward, Samuel, 1786-1839 (Author)
Ward, Samuel, 1814-1884 (Author)
Ward, Samuel, 1814-1884 (Addressee)
Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1647 - 1912
Library locations
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Shelf locator: MssCol 3221
Topics
Banks and banking -- New York (State) -- New York
Mathematics
Mines and mineral resources -- Nicaragua
Science
Capitalists and financiers
Lobbyists
Europe -- Description and travel
Mexico -- History -- 1821-1861
New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs
United States -- Intellectual life -- 1783-1865
Ward, Samuel, 1814-1884
Ward family
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Genres
Documents
Correspondence
Clippings
Photographs
Notebooks
Books
Autographs
Notes
Biographical/historical: Samuel Ward (1814-1884), lobbyist and financier, was the son of the banker Samuel Ward (1786-1839) and the grandson of Samuel Ward (1756-1832), soldier and merchant. Among his immediate and extended family were his sister Julia Ward Howe, author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", his brother-in-law the sculptor Thomas Crawford, and his nephew the novelist F. Marion Crawford. Ward was born in New York City and attended the Round Hill School and Columbia College, which granted him a B. A. in 1831. He subsequently traveled to Paris to study mathematics, purchasing there the library of the mathematician Legendre, which he later donated to the Astor Library. He spent time in Germany and received a doctorate from the University of Tubingen. In Heidelberg, he met another American abroad, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who became a lifelong friend. Following his return to New York, Ward dabbled in mathematics and entered his father's banking house, Prime, Ward & King. In 1837, he married a daughter of William B. Astor, Emily, by whom he had a daughter, Margaret. Emily and a son died subsequent to the latter's birth, and in 1844 Ward married Medora Grymes. Ward eventually separated from Medora, and his two sons by her both died in the 1860s. Ward left Prime, Ward & King sometime after his father's death in 1839 and had lost his inherited fortune by 1849. He joined the gold rush to California - assuming a rough-and-ready lifestyle there - and visited Mexico, Nicaragua, and Paraguay on behalf of United States corporate and government interests. By the end of the Civil War, he was settled in Washington, D. C., where he engaged in the lucrative business of lobbying the government for financiers. He was known as a charming gourmet, and his success as a lobbyist earned him the epithet "King of the Lobby. " Over the years, Ward had developed friendships with many noted individuals including Thomas F. Bayard, William Maxwell Evarts, William Henry Hurlbert, George Ticknor, and the Earl of Rosebery. He died in Italy in May 1884.
Content: The Samuel Ward Papers span the years 1647 to 1912. They include the papers of Ward, his father, his grandfather, and other family members, as well as his collection of autograph letters of mathematicians and scientists. The papers consist of handwritten and typewritten letters, clippings, photographs, notebooks, printed books, transcripts, and other documents and are organized into seven series.
Additional physical form: John Armstrong letters, 1804-1810, available on microfilm; New York Public Library.
Content: Collection guide available in repository and on internet.
Content: Processing information: jds, August 1973
Physical Description
Extent: 2.5 linear feet (8 boxes)
Type of Resource
Text
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b11992523
MSS Unit ID: 3221
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 638b1280-a220-0139-80d7-0242ac110002
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