The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-10
FERDINAND WARD TO RETURN.
COMING TO LIVE N NEW YORK
WITH HIS son. HE SAYS.
The BOY Has III Estate Of 1l3s .Os'O 10
SIBO.OOO Derived From ITS Mother
-pIa,f to Ills Father on the Sons Death
Once the Father Tried to Kidnap Him.

Ferdinand Ward. who ruined Gen Ulysses
s. Grant and caused tho great Wall Street
crash of 1884. is coming back to New York
10 live
Since he go, ont Of Sing Sing Prison in
1892 Ward has been irving 20 get the custody
OF his son Clarence, now 10 years old. The
relatives Of the boys mother the first.
Mrs. Ward, SUCCESSFULLY fought his efforts
For more than a year Ward did not know
where the boy was He has now located
him al Princeton, where the boy is IN his
second year.
Ferdinand Ward was in New York .ast
week making arrangements 70 move here
from Geneseo. n. Y, aud he told a friend
that he and his s~on had come 10 an under
standing and, tina, the boy now wsitcd to
i've with hyp,s Ward has given up his
place rs a cs,rk Ia the Surrogate Office
at (ieneseo n sake UP "a residence here
with HIS sors' 81 I,
The first Mrs. Ward was Miss Ella Greene,
who, ri the time Of her marriage. lived al
~ Monroe place. Brooklyn. Her father
was bank cashier. When Ward was sem
fenced 70 ton year in Sing Sing, rs result
of.Irs tinanuiat reckiessness which brought
failure to tha Marine Bank. and left the
firm Of Grant & Ward owing N<.OOo. 600,
Mrs Ward sav'd part of her personal for
tune Dying, she left an estate Of So 900
TO Ter son Her brother, Frederick ID.
Greene OF Thompson. Conn, was appointed
guardian OF the boy. who was only years
old. g.
The estate was put in the care of the
Franklin Trust Company Of Brooklyn.
The cost of young Wards maintenance
has been light, as he lived with his uncle
until he went tp Princeton. and In con-
sequence the estate has grown, so that its
estimated value Is how between Si250Oo
and si50oO0
Two years after Ward got out Of Sing
Sing he married a second time. The bride
was Miss Belle Storer Of Richmond Valley,
Staten Island The ceremony took place
az Wards home in Geneseo. Ward was
then working in New York as a
solicitor for printer and stationer. He
made fair living by getting orders from
his former associates In Wall Street, who
were willing to forget his singular opera
lions a. the directing genius of the wonderful
firm of Grant 4 Ward. But he could not
stand such a dull life in New York, 40 close
to the theatre of his spect scular move
ments ten years before. He went back
TO Geneseo, where he made his first living
setting type.
Friends whom he had entertained 80
lavish, in the days OF his wealth inter-
ceded to get him q place transsthiog
iccords in tJs Surrogate si..o,. fic~got
only 81 so IA day. The second Mrs. Ward
seemed quite content to share his poverty,
and did her own housework Occasionally
Ward seemed to have a quantity Of money
for d short period He generally spent il
quickly. No one knew just where it came
from.
Meanwhile from time to time he made
an effort to get his son. In September
1894, an attempt was made to kidnap the
boy, Private detectives" who said they
were engaged by Ward, seized him a. he
was on his way to school at Thompson
Conn, one morning. Clarence had teen
instructed What to do in such an event
for his uncle had expected Ward to take
some such step TO get the child Young
Ward screamed lustIly. His cousin saw
the men grab the boy and gave an alarm
and the detectives" were uyeItaken anC
the boy was recovered.
Again il October, 1894. he tried To got tho
custody Of Clarence through a civil action
| hut lost it. He tried again in December
500. hu' the courts refused 10 reco gniz,
| lis claim
By the terms Of the will under which
| Clarence inherited his mothers fortune
| ic can Use only the interest up 10 the time
| lie is % years old, when the principal j. I,
| he delivered TO him IN case of the boy,
| death the will directs that half the cSta',
| 10 paid TO Ferdinand Ward
Mr.. and Mrs Ward came 10 New Norl
together last week 10 make arrau cement,
| for residence here. Mr.. Wards plan j,
10 have his son with him between terms Al
Princeton and at the end Of his college
career. He was not prepared TO announce
| his own business plans. The sons inCom,
| Is sufficient to maint ain them both.
Ferdinand Ward is now hut ~ wear,
| old, although his Napoleonic rise and fal
are remembered but ha7iy in Wall Street
He has changed very little since he cam,
| fu, of prisop