Deacon Nehemiah Ward

Male, #735, (19 May 1751 - 18 January 1831)
Deacon Nehemiah Ward|b. 19 May 1751\nd. 18 Jan 1831|p735.htm|Timothy Ward|b. 17 Mar 1714\nd. 12 Nov 1757|p733.htm|Margaret Woodward|b. 14 Jan 1715\nd. Jul 1761|p734.htm|Edward Ward|b. 13 Mar 1671\nd. Jan 1749|p731.htm|Grace Lovering|b. a 1677\nd. 30 Nov 1754|p732.htm|Jonathan Woodward|b. 28 Sep 1685\nd. 2 Apr 1745|p841.htm|Patience Ward|d. 18 Oct 1719|p843.htm|
North Orange Church founded by Nehemiah Ward
     Deacon Nehemiah Ward was born on 19 May 1751 in Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.1,2,3,6,4,5 He was the son of Timothy Ward and Margaret Woodward.1,2,3,4,5 On 4 October 1773 in Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Nehemiah married Sarah Whitney, daughter of Jonas Whitney and Sarah Perry. Sarah was the sister of Desire, who married Nehemiah's brother, Edward. Pierce (1895) gives the marrage date as 1775.1,2,3,6,4,5,7 Deacon Nehemiah Ward and Sarah Whitney moved in 1774 to Athol, now Orange, Franklin County, Massachusetts.2 Nehemiah was a deacon and a selectman. 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.8 Deacon Nehemiah Ward appeared on the Census of 1790 in Orange, Franklin County, Massachusetts.9 He served between 1794 and 1796 in the District of Orange, Franklin County, Massachusetts, as a Selectman.8 He died on Tuesday, 18 January 1831 in Orange, Franklin County, Massachusetts, at age 79 years, 7 months and 30 days.2,3,4,5
Charts
Ancestry of Robert Roy

Children of Deacon Nehemiah Ward and Sarah Whitney

Citations

  1. Woods, Henry Ernest. Vital Records of Newton, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historic-Genealogical Society, 1905.
  2. Martyn, Charles. The William Ward Genealogy - The History of the Descendants of William Ward of Sudbury, Mass. 1638-1925. New York: Artemas Ward, 1925.
  3. Woodward, Norma Slater. Descendants of Richard Woodward New England 1589-1982. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1982.
  4. Jackson, Francis. A History of the Early Settlement of Newton, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, from 1639 to 1800. 1854. Reprint Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 1987.
  5. Ward, Andrew Henshaw. Ward Family: Descendants of William Ward. Boston: Samuel G. Drake, 1851.
  6. Roy, Robert Alan. Extracts from the Genealogical Files of Barbara Crosby. Orange, Massachusetts: manuscript, 1980.
  7. Pierce, Frederick Clifton. The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came From London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635. Chicago: Press of W. B. Conkey Company, 1895.
  8. Ward, Martha E.. History of North Orange, Massachusetts, Including Leading Events from the First Organization of Orange, 1781-1924. Orange, Massachusetts: North Orange Reunion Association & Enterprise and Journal, 1924.
  9. United States Census 1790 for Massachusetts.
  10. Systematic History Fund. Vital Records of Athol, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. Worcester, Massachusetts: Franklin P. Rice, 1910.
  11. Eldredg, Ruth DeFonda. Transcription of Early Handwritten Records of Orange, Franklin County, Massachusetts , Volume 1. Wheat Ridge, Colorado: Search and Reserach Publishing Corp, 2001.