Submitted by
I have been researching the John Ward (b. 1796 NC)
from Falls Co, Texas for about 30 years. I have recently found some
information that I would think the researchers for this line would like to
know.
Here
is a summary of what I have found.
(1) The cemetery tombstone and the History of Falls
County book have Stephen Sterling Ward (son of S. S. Ward) born in 1860.
In the 1870 census there is a boy in the S. S. Ward family that is 9 years old
but he is listed AFTER a clerk and a publisher that are boarding with the
family. Then in 1880 census, this same family has a Sterling S. Ward
listed as 9 years old! Can't be the same child. The Falls County
web site has is obituary from the Marlin Daily Democrat 1936 and it states that
he was 66 years old and therefore would be born in 1870. So that matches
the 1880 census.
So who is this 9 year old S. S Ward on the 1870
census? The key is in the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Cameron Texas. The
stone there says, "Enoch Ward Nov 21, 1830 - Aug 14, 1866 Erected by Son,
S. S. Ward". Then in Mrs. Emily Crawford's Obituary on the Falls Co.
site, it says that she is survived by her nephews "Jno., Will, STERL, and
Frank Ward of Marlin" and "S.S. Ward of Artesia, New
Mexico". The STERL is the one born in 1870 and lived all his life in
Marlin and married Lillie Nunnelley and the S. S. Ward born in 1861 is the son
of Enoch Ward. I found him in Robertson Co, TX and in Artesia, NM with a
wife Kate Sanders and his family.
(2) He was born in Robeson County, North
Carolina and had a brother Enoch and seven sisters! His father was
William Ward and his mother was Elizabeth Sterling.
Please feel free to contact me for further info or if you have
anything you would like to share.