Timeline

First American Colony in Virginia 1607.

Plymouth Settled 1621

Massachusetts Bay Colonized 1630

Harvard College Established 1636

1675 - King Philip's War

1704 - Raid on Deerfield

In response to a petition, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony allowed settlement to the west of the town of Marlboro. This new town was to be incorporated as 'Shrewsbury' after 40 families and a minister settled there. One of the petitioners was the 32-year-old Nahum Ward, who settled in the area with his wife Martha Howe. Their infant son Benjamin is the first recorded death in Shrewsbury.

Nahum Ward helped draw up the application for incorporation. After the town was incorporated, he was quickly elected to town offices and regularly reelected in the subsequent years.

A very small, saltbox style house was built, possibly for use by tenants on the Ward farm. The family lived across the street in a large two-story farmhouse.

November 26, 1727 - Artemas was the sixth child born to Nahum and Martha Ward. At this time, the family was already prominent in the new community of Shrewsbury.

 

 

After receiving his degree at Harvard College, Artemas taught school for a time in Groton MA. He married Sarah Trowbridge and returned to Shrewsbury. The newlyweds started a family, ran a General Store in the center of town and became respected members of the community.

Nahum Ward died. The house was left to his sons Artemas and Elisha.

French and Indian War in North America 1754.

Artemas began his military career when he was commissioned as a major on January 28, 1755. He did not see active service for two and a half years after his appointment, but instead carried out his duties in the Worcester militia and continued to serve in several political offices. Artemas had no prior military experience, so his commission as a major was likely due to his family's position and his education at Harvard.

By this time a lieutenant colonel, Artemas had his first taste of combat in the failed British assault on French-held Fort Ticonderoga. Even though the campaign did not succeed, Ward gained valuable experience as a provincial officer serving under seasoned commanders.

Artemas Ward took ownership of the saltbox house and moved in with his family. Prior to this point they had been living in a different house in the center of town.

Stamp Act

Boston Massacre

Boston Tea Party

First Continental Congress meets

American Revolutionary War

Battle of Lexington & Concord

Major General Artemas Ward took the oath as commander-in-chief of the patriot army around Boston on May 20, 1775. Though initially the commander-in-chief, he relinquished command to General Washington on July 7, 1775 and served directly below him. Ward was actively involved in the major military decisions of the siege of Boston, but his contributions have been overshadowed by controversy in large part due to contemporary political maneuvering and the subsequent historical treatment of the events. Ward eventually resigned his command, citing a chronic ailment that troubled and pained him in the performance of his duties.

Artemas was commissioned by Continental Congress as First Major General and Second in Command under George Washington.

Siege of Boston

Cannons taken from Ft. Ticoderoga and brought across country to Boston were mounted in the hills of Dorchester and aimed at the British occupying Boston Harbor.

Gen. Howe ordered British evacuation of Boston; Loyalists who had not already left the city fled with the British to Nova Scotia; Siege of Boston ended.

Declaration of Independence

Massachusetts state constitution ratified

Battle of Yorktown

Articles of Confederation ratified

Begining of China Trade

The house was doubled and the roof raised two stories. Artemas Ward and his family lived in the new part, while his son Thomas Walter Ward lived in the old part. The expansion made the house suitable for either double- or single-family occupancy. The house was used in both arrangements over the years, as family members aged and grown children returned home to operate the farm.

Artemas Ward, serving as a circuit judge, faced down the rebels at the Worcester Courthouse. The defeat of Shays' Rebellion was a landmark event for the stability of the young nation.

Constitution written at Philadelphia Convention

Massachusetts ratified federal Constitution

Confederation government replaced by Constitution government

Barn built

Served at Second and Third Continental Congress.

Left  position as Judge of Worcester County Court of Common Pleas.

Artemas died

 

 

 

 

Shift of power away from Federalist Party

War of 1812

Boston Manufacturing formed

Thomas Ward paid Moses Cloughlin to build a New England style barn,  but it was probably not on the Ward farm; instead, it may have been on the Henshaw farm, an adjacent tenant farm he owned.

Lowell, MA created as factory town

Erie Canal completed

Henry Dana Ward wrote Free masonry: its pretensions exposed in faithful extracts of its standard authors.

House expanded

The Liberator first published

Anti-Masonic Party

First Lowell Mill Strike

Thomas Walter died

Second Lowell Mill Strike

Financial Panic

Horace Mann became Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Education

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.

Artemas Ward Family monument was erected in Mountain View Cemetery, Shrewsbury Center.

Andrew Henshaw Ward wrote History of the town of Shrewsbury.

Barns joined

Seneca Falls Convention held in western New York State

A slaughterhouse and shop were joined together and added to the barn to create a back ell.

First historic house museum created

The first National Women's Rights Convention met in Worcester.

American Civil War

Charles Grosvenor Ward died as a soldier in the Civil War.

Financial Panic

Thomas Walter Jr died

Thomas Walter Ward II died heavily in debt, and the Worcester County Institution for Savings foreclosed on the Ward farm. Henry Galbraith Ward, a relative who had summered at the house as a child, bought the 135 acre farm and its buildings for $4500. He neither lived at the house nor planned to farm the land, but his purchase kept the property in the family.

Elizabeth and Harriet became caretakers

Elizabeth wrote Old times in Shrewsbury, a history of the town.

Financial Panic

Elizabeth died

 

 

Financial Panic

Samuel Denny Ward was the last Ward to farm the property.

Harriet died

Ella, Clara and Florence became caretakers

National Historic Preservation Act passed

The house was restored according to museum practices of the day. For instance, custom carpets with period-appropriate designs were produced and installed. The inside of the house has changed very little since this restoration, as it is no longer accepted practice to restore houses as part of the interpretation. Instead, the curator focuses on conserving and displaying the furnishings that once belonged to the house and its family.

U.S. Bicentennial

Old Sturbridge Village researchers studied the house.

Students research the house