Biography of Rev. Stephen B. Ward, pages 482/483/484. 
History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, 
Inc., Indianapolis, 1914.



The importance that attaches to the lives, character and 
work of the pioneer ministers of the gospel in any 
community, and the influence they have exerted on the cause 
of humanity and civilization is one of the most absorbing 
themes that can possibly attract the attention of the local 
historian. If great and beneficent results---results in the 
endure and bless mankind---are the proper measure of the 
good men do, then who is there in the world's history that 
may take their places above those sturdy, self-sacrificing, 
God-fearing and consecrated men who,  without thought of 
personal comfort or the promotion of their own interests, 
have devoted their lives to the uplifting of their fellow 
men and the building up of their Master's kingdom on earth. 
In the history of DeKalb  county of a past generation no 
figure stand out with more prominence, because of faithful 
service and beneficent results, than that of Stephen B. 
Ward, who gave the best years of his life to the service of 
God and his fellow men and who, though long since passed to 
the higher life, is still remembered with grateful 
appreciation by many who knew him and sat under his blessed 
ministrations.  Stephen B. Ward was born in Randolph, 
Portage county, Ohio, on July 22, 1816. His parents, Josiah 
and Mindwell (Harris) Ward, both died before he was four 
years old, and he was bound to William Jones, of Randolph, 
with whom he remained until he was nineteen years old. He 
was given the advantage of a good practical education in 
the common schools and by private study, having followed a 
systematic course of reading. After his marriage, which 
occurred in 1839, he lived in Randolph and in Columbiana 
county, Ohio, until 1842, when, on January 22d, he moved to 
DeKalb county, Indiana, settling on land which he had 
previously purchased in Wilmington township and to the 
improvement and cultivation of which he now devoted his 
attention. At the age of sixteen years Mr. Ward had been 
converted and joined the Congregational church, but in 1841 
he united with the Baptist church, and was soon afterwards 
licensed to preach. After coming to DeKalb county, and 
while engaged in farming, he had appointments to preach in 
different parts of the county, traveling through the woods 
on foot or on horseback, often riding twenty or thirty 
miles a day in order to fill his appointments. In the 
summer of 1847 he was regularly ordained as minister and 
thereafter he devoted the greater part of his attention to 
the preaching of the gospel. And pastoral work up to about 
1880, when advancing age compelled him  to relinquish he 
work and retire to more private life. He had moved to 
Auburn in 1852, and there his death occurred on January 30, 
1894, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. As  a preacher 
Rev. Ward possessed peculiar force and power, at times 
rising to heights of oratory and always commanding the 
close attention of his hearers. During his active years he 
was a busy man and it is said that he performed more 
marriage ceremonies and held more funeral service than any 
other minister in DeKalb county. He was a most earnest and 
zealous Christian, his life being a beautiful example of 
simple, trusting faith. He loved his fellow man and it was 
his great, absorbing desire to bring them into a knowledge 
of a nobler and higher life. He was one of the strong 
pillars of this church in this community and was public 
spirited in his attitude towards all movements for the 
general welfare. He took a high moral stand on all 
political questions of the day, and was a strong advocate 
of temperance in both public and private life, his own life 
being in strict accord with his teachings. He was a member 
of the Indiana Legislature in 1857.  In 1839 Rev. Stephen 
B. Ward was married to Laura Atherton Brooks, who was born 
at Dalton, New Hampshire, on February 10, 1823, and who 
died in Auburn, Indiana, on March 20, 1907. She was a 
daughter of Dr. George W. and Mary (Atherton) Brooks. Th 
mother died when her daughter, Mrs. Ward, was but and 
infant and the latter was taken by her father to New York 
and latter to Lorain county, Ohio, where her marriage 
occurred. She also made a public profession of religion at 
an early age and joined the Baptist church, of which she 
remained an earnest and steadfast member until she passed 
from the church militant to the church triumphant. She was 
to her husband a true helpmate in the fullest sense of the 
word, enduring the hardships and privations of the early 
days, and in after year she recital of pioneer incidents 
was both interesting and instructive. To Rev. Stephen B. 
and Laura Ward were born three children, namely: Mary A., 
born January 15, 1850, who became the wife of Lieut. John 
H. Ehlers, of the Eleventh Indiana Battery in the Civil 
war, a rank practically the same as captain in the infantry 
service. Mr. Ehlers became a prominent druggist at Auburn, 
where he lived until his death, which occurred on June 22, 
1882. His widow, who continues to reside in Auburn,  is 
well known for her religious and educational work, having 
been for a number of years after her husband's death 
engaged in the work of the Woman's Baptist Home Mission 
Society, her labors calling her frequently into the 
Southern states, where she spent much of her time. She was 
for several years an instructor in Shaw University, and in 
the Baptist Mission training school at Chicago. Harris D. 
Ward, born January 8, 1847, is a successful merchant at 
Kendallville, Indiana. He married Florence Iddings July 8, 
1869, and their only son, Lewis Ward, is with his father in 
the store.  He was married to Mary Mallory November 10, 
1897, and is the father of a daughter, Florence, born 
December 31, 1899. Vesta M., born April 26, 1841, who is 
the widow of the late Dr. David J. Swarts, resides in 
Auburn, where she is practicing medicine. She and her late 
husband are mentioned at length elsewhere in this work.

Submitted by: 

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com