BIO: Gawn WARD, Beaver County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Joe Patterson Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver.html http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver/bios/bbios.htm Index for this bio book. _________________________________________________________________ BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 205-207 _________________________________________________________________ GAWN WARD, a very prominent citizen of Beaver Falls, Beaver county, Pa., was for many years one of the most active business men in that locality, being proprietor of a hardware store just prior to his retirement on January 1, 1899. He came to the borough when its population numbered less than three thousand, but having entire confidence in its future, he bought considerable property in what is now the, heart of the town, and conducted the first store in the section. He became a promoter of various industries, and has ever striven for the best interests of Beaver Falls. It is to the efforts of such men that the prosperity of the borough is due. Mr. Ward is a son of James and Margaret (Cleland) Ward, and was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1836. His grandfather was Robert Ward, who was born in England and moved to the North of Ireland when a young man, buying fifty acres of rich farm land. He engaged in general farming and devoted ten acres to the culture of moss. He was the father of two children by his first marriage, James and Arthur. James Ward was born in County Down, Ireland, and was instructed in the common schools, after which he bought a small farm of twenty acres. He married Margaret Cleland, a daughter of Gawn and Agnes Cleland, members of an ancient Scottish family which settled in the North of Ireland, and they had ten children, as follows: Robert; Hugh; Arthur; William; John; Agnes; one who died unnamed; Gawn; Thomas; and Matthew. All the boys took to farming and the two girls died in infancy. In 1844, James Ward came to America with his family, locating in New York City, where for sixteen years he conducted a bakery and grocery store with considerable success. In 1860, he removed to Allegheny City, Pa., where he kept a grocery store for the balance of his life. His death occurred in 1887, and in him the city lost a man prominently identified with its business 206 BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES interests, and one who was by everybody highly esteemed. He was a Republican in politics, whilst in religious attachments, he was formerly a Presbyterian, but at the time of his demise, a Methodist. Gawn Ward was instructed in the public schools of New York City, after which he assisted his father in the store, thus at an early age acquiring a thorough knowledge of business methods. When he moved to Allegheny City with his father, he conducted a store on his own account, and with good results, for a period of nine years. In 1871, he located at Beaver Falls, which was then a flourishing place of about 3,000 inhabitants. With remarkable foresight, Mr. Ward noted the direction in which the town would grow, and purchased a piece of ground in the heart of the present business district, being the first man to open up business there. Merchants in the lower end of the town were accustomed to joke him about being located in the country, but to the intense satisfaction of Mr. Ward, the wisdom of his choice was brought home, to them. The men who laughed began to regret that they had not likewise invested, when they saw the center of business gradually move in that direction, and they were reluctant to pay prices much in advance of former valuations. Mr. Ward started in a frame building on Main street, now Seventh avenue, between Tenth and Eleventh streets, and there were only two or three other houses in the vicinity, including the Economy Bank. Almost immediately the town began to build up, new factories were located there, and business was enlivened throughout that section of the county. The axe manufacturing establishment was started, also the Emerson, Smith & Co. Saw Works; the P. & L. E. R. R. came through, and numerous other enterprises started. Mr. Ward became a promoter, and was for nine years treasurer, of the Co-operative Stove Foundry, during which time he also kept a general store. The grade of the street was cut down and he erected a brick store building, which he still owns, and which is occupied by a drug store. He then dropped the general store and conducted a grocery store exclusively, but a short time subsequent thereto, he, in partnership with J. D. Perrot and Jacob Ecki, bought the Howard Stove Works. After running that for some years, he sold his interest to his partners and engaged in the hardware business, having a very large trade. He dealt in builders' supplies, house furnishings, hardware and stoves, paints and glass, and for many years was a special agent in the territory, for Baldwin & Graham's supplies, Frankie steel ranges, and Alaska refrigerators. On January 1, 1899, after a most active career, in which he acquired a handsome competency, including considerable valuable property, he retired to spend the remaining years of his life in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. He therefore sold his stock, rented his store, and took up his residence in his beautiful house located on Eighth avenue, above Twelfth street, which he built in 1896. It is one of the most striking residences in Beaver Falls, and is built from plans, of his own. Mr. Ward owns most BEAVER COUNTY 207 of the stores on one side of Seventh avenue, between Tenth and Eleventh streets, - among the best known being the offices of the Union Water Company, the Western Union Telegraph office, Schaefer's jewelry store, Nye's barber shop, a drug store and a tailor store. He also owns a corner dwelling with an adjoining office, the hardware store which he conducted for so many years, a building on Twelfth street between Ninth and Tenth avenues, and some very choice building lots in Sewickley borough, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. In New York, Mr. Ward was united in matrimonial bonds with Margaret Orr, a daughter of William and Dorothy Orr, who was born and educated in the North of Ireland, and they became the parents of ten children, as follows: Dorothy; Thomas W., who is engaged in business with his father; Margaret (Barnes), now deceased; Charles, a machinist by trade; James G., who is connected with the Heat & Light Company, of Allegheny City; William H., who was also in business with his father; Arthur, who is in the employ of the Union Drawn Steel Company; John E., who follows the trade of a machinist; and Agnes (Walters), whose husband was a prominent jeweler of Beaver Falls, and is now deceased. Politically, our subject is a Republican, and has been a member of the council for seven years, but has declined all other offices. Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a trustee, steward, and treasurer of the board. He belongs to the A. O. U. W.