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Creator
Ward, Samuel, 1814-1884
Call number
MssCol 3221
Physical description
2.5 linear feet (8 boxes)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Samuel Ward papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

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.

Biographical/historical information

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.

Scope and arrangement

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.

The Samuel Ward papers are arranged in seven series:

  • I. Letters Received by Samuel Ward (1814-1884)

    Highlights of the collection are some of the Letters Received by Samuel Ward, many written by friends who were historical figures. Letters from Longfellow discuss intellectual and literary matters. Letters from Thomas F. Bayard and William Maxwell Evarts discuss social engagements and Samuel's lobbying. Other prominent correspondents are George Bancroft, C. C. Felton, John W. Francis, Jared Sparks, and George Ticknor. Fitz-Greene Halleck and the Earl of Rosebery are represented primarily by transcripts of their letters.

    There is a dearth of letters to Ward dating from his California and Latin, America period. Notable exceptions are "confidential" letters from Samuel Barlow regarding the procurement of gold and silver from Nicaragua and an 1854 commission to Ward to save the life of Count Raousset, imprisoned by President Santa Anna in Mexico. Unusual enclosures with other letters received are a musical program printed on satin, from 1839, and a Mathew Brady cabinet card of General William T. Sherman, autographed by the general.

    [other than family] - SEE: Index at end of box listing.

  • II. Letters Sent by Samuel Ward (1814-1884)

    [other than family].

    The Letters Sent by Samuel Ward are in French and are addressed to Charles F. Mersch, a German student with whom he traveled to Heidelberg.

  • III. Family Letters & Papers

    Other letters from Samuel are to relatives and highlight the Family Letters & Papers series, which also includes letters from F. Marion Crawford, M. Eliza Cutler, Julia Ward Howe, Francis Marion Ward, Henry Ward, and the elder Samuel Wards, among others.

  • IV. Miscellaneous Papers of Samuel Ward (1814-1884)
  • V. Notebooks of Samuel Ward (1814-1884) (& Other Bound Volumes)
  • VI. Collections - Autographs (collected by Samuel Ward)

    The outstanding Autograph Collection comprises substantial letters by famous mathematicians and scientists - from a 1647 letter by Marin Mersenne to Johann Hevelius to an 1856 letter from the naturalist Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland. Included are holograph letters from Jean Bernoulli, Euler, Hailey, Lagrange, and Leibniz. Most of the collection was probably acquired by Ward with his purchase of the Legendre library, some of the letters actually being addressed to A. M. Legendre.

  • VII. Transcripts of Ward Family Letters

    Miscellaneous transcripts (holograph & typewritten) especially of letters by/to Lt. - Col. Samuel Ward (1756-1832). Unsorted.

    Also: page proofs of "The Correspondence of Samuel Ward, May 1775 - March 1776, edited by Bernhard Knollenberg, Providence, R. I. Rhode Island Hist. Soc., 1952. Uncorrected proofs through p. 205 [not present: Genealogy of the Ward Family...].

Administrative information

Processing information

jds, August 1973

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Alternative form available

John Armstrong letters, 1804-1810, available on microfilm; New York Public Library