Edward Ward

     Edward Ward was born on 12 January 1743/44 at Newton, Massachusetts.¹ He was the son of Timothy Ward and Margaret Woodward.¹ Edward Ward and Desire Whitney filed marriage intentions on 18 February 1769 at Dedham, Massachusetts.

Edward Ward, age 25, married Desire Whitney, age 19 , daughter of Jonas Whitney and Sarah Perry, on 9 March 1769 at Roxbury, Massachusetts.



Edwardmoved to Warwick, Massachusetts, after 1772. His name appears on a jury list in Newton in 1772. He did soon build a home in what is now North Orange.

Edward Ward, age 34, married Dorothy Twichell on 26 November 1778 at Athol, Massachusetts.



On 1 January 1781, in Benjamin Mayo's house, a committee met, which agreed to build a meeting house, more close to them. At the meeting were Benjamin Mayo; Nathan Goddard; Nehemiah Ward, serving as clerk; John Stow; Edward Ward; and Ebenezer Foskett. To this document they added the words, "Moreover, the subscribers do covenant, promise and agree that the said Meeting House is build and intended for a Congregational Church and Society to worship in; nevertheless, we do hereby covenant, promise and agree that whenever there shall be a Town, District or Parish set off by the General Court in this place then the said House shall be free for all the inhabitants thereof to hold all their legal, Town, District, or Parish meetings in." From this meeting house grew the Town of Orange, Massachusetts. The Meeting House was dedicated 31 March 1782 . Orange remained a "District" until 1810 because the Massachusetts General Court wanted to limit membership.² In 1788, he was a selectman for the District of Orange. The following notice appears in the town records: "Taken up in my encloser a black cow with a white face 7 or 8 years old. Edward Ward, March 22, 1798." Edward Ward died on 2 September 1817 at Orange, Massachusetts, at age 73.¹ He was buried at North Orange Cemetery, Orange, Massachusetts. Edward's epitaph reads: