Thomas Walter Ward 1758
Born in 1758 in Shrewsbury, he fought in the American Revolution, including the Battle of Bennington. He married Elizabeth Denny in 1782 and fathered 10 children. In 1785 he moved into the old part of the Artemas Ward House while his father, Artemas Ward, occupied the new part. As a member of a cavalry regiment, he helped to suppress Shays Rebellion in 1787. Thomas served as Sheriff of Worcester County for 18 years and served as a township moderator (“mayor”) and treasurer, and as Justice of the Peace. He died in 1835 in Shrewsbury.
The Henshaw farm, which was adjacent to the Ward farm, had been leased to tenants who paid the Wards with a share of the produce. In 1843 this arrangement ended and the main farm took over all agricultural production.