Manuscript Group 286, Stafford-Ward Family Papers, 1811-1957 (Bulk dates: 1811-1836)

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Manuscript Group 286,
Stafford-Ward Family

Papers, 1811-1957 (Bulk
dates: 1811-1836), 0.25 linear feet / 1 small box

Call Number: MG 286

Summary

• Biographical
  Note

• Provenance
  Note

• Scope
  and Content Note

• Folder
  List

Summary:

Family correspondence,
documents, and genealogical notes pertaining to the Stafford and Ward families
of Newark, New Jersey.  Includes letters of Hannah Ward Stafford and her
father Thomas Ward (ca. 1759-1842), a Democratic politician and U.S.
Congressman, as well as letters to his son Thomas Ward (1807-1873), a poet and
playwright.  There are letters and documents recommending Rev. Ward
Stafford, signed by Archibald Alexander, DeWitt Clinton, and Theodore
Frelinghuysen.  Ward Stafford moved to Youngstown, Ohio in 1829 or 1830
with his wife Hannah Ward Stafford, accepting charge of a Presbyterian church.

Biographical
Note:

Hannah Ward Stafford was the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Ward (ca. 1759-1842).  She was born on June 25, 1791,
the sixth of eleven children.  Her father, Thomas Ward, was a lawyer,
judge, Congressman (1813-1817), and, until his death, a General in the
cavalry.  The Ward family resided in Newark, New Jersey.  General Ward’s
children were: Matthias (b. 1781), William (b. 1783), Thomas (b. 1786), Betsey
(b. 1788), Isaac (b. 1790), Hannah (b. 1791), Isaac (b. 1793), Sally (b. 1795),
Jane (b. 1797), and Sally (b. 1800).

Hannah Ward married the Reverend Ward
Stafford of New York City on March 30, 1819.  Ward Stafford was a
Presbyterian clergyman, who was active in missionary work.  About 1829,
Rev. Stafford accepted the position of minister for a church in Youngstown,
Ohio, and moved his family there.  Hannah Ward Stafford had five children
while still residing in Newark and three more after the move to Ohio.  They
were: Henry Martyn (b. 1820), Mary (b. 1821), Ward D. (b. 1823), Thomas Ward (b.
1825), Julia (b. 1828), Elizabeth Harper (b. 1831), John (b. 1834), and Jane (b.
1836).  Hannah died on December 13, 1836 probably of complications from
childbirth.  The baby, Jane, lived only one day.

Rev. Ward Stafford remarried after the
death of Hannah.  His second wife, Mary ( ) died in 1843.  Ward
Stafford died in 1851.

Provenance
Note:

The source of this collection is unknown.

Scope
and Content Note:

This collection dates from 1811-1957 with
bulk dates of 1811-1836, and is primarily made up of the correspondence of
Hannah Ward Stafford to her husband Ward Stafford, and to her father, Thomas
Ward.  The letters have been divided by author and recipient and then
arranged chronologically.  The remainder of the correspondence is that of
Ward Stafford and includes letters of recommendation from Theodore Frelinghuysen,
Dewitt Clinton, Archibald Alexander, and H. McCauley.  These letters
include those Ward wrote to his father-in-law upon Hannah Ward Stafford’s
death.

There is also one folder of miscellaneous
items.  Of particular interest is a short play in the hand of Hannah Ward
Stafford called, “The Great Assize or Day of Judgement.”  This
folder also contains a small amount of genealogical information.

Folder List:

Processed by Kim Charlton, November 1999 as part of the “Farm to
City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications
and Records Commission.

Container list by C.A.L., 1984

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