The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1910-06-09
JOHN O. A. WARD, SCULPTOR.
Famous Artist Who Was Called Maker
of American History.

of American History.
John Quincy Adams Ward. dean OF
American sculptors and one Of her
greatest, who died recently at his home
in New York city in his eightieth year,
was born in Urbana. o.. on June -.
1880.
Mr.. Ward spent practically his entire
life in New York city. having gone
there from Ohio in his youth. His
first teacher in the art of sculpture
was Henry X. Brown, with whom he
collaborated on the famous equestrian
statue of Washington In New York
| Among his other well known works
are equestrian statues of Sheridan and
| Hancock In Philadelphia. aud In New
! York the statues of THE Indian Hunt
err" ''The Pilgrim" Shakespeare. all in
| Central park. New York; Henry Ward
| Beecher In Borough hall park. Brook
Ign; also statues of Commodore Perry
at Newport. X. l., and Israel Putnam
at Hartford. Conn.
Daniel c. French. a pupil of Ward.
in paying tribute TO his genius re-
called how Edwin Booth. the great
tragedian. posed for the Shakespeare
statue In Central park and gave help
full suggestion for arranging the folds
Of the cloak. But his greatest work"
said Mr.. French. "a work which st.
Gaudens pronounced the finest eques-
trian statue in the world. is the statue
OF General Thomas IN Washington.
There the horse is a real horse In
every detail Mr.. Ward knew horses
and loved them"
The ancestral Wards landed Mt
jamestown. Va. in 1907. and some of
them moved westward in the course of
time. stopping at Urbana. o., Mr..
Wards birthplace. He never saw
piece OF sculpture before he was fif-
teen years old, but long before that
he had learned how to make such
queer figures with mud and clay that
the country people called him Wards
queer boy"
One day he went to Cincinnati,
where he saw for the first time a piece
of real sculpture. the work of Hiram
Powers Returning home. he attempt
ed to mold figures of his own. without
encouragement from his parents. how
ever, who regarded the boys efforts |
as foolishness.
If il had not been for sister Ward |
might have remained resident of Ur- |
bana. The sister came from Brooklyn |
to visit her parents and managed TO
arrange for her brother to return with
her TO New York for instruction. To
ward the end of seven years time he
turned out THE Indian Hunter"
which is one of the notable bits of
sculpture at present in Central park,
New York
The first work for which Mr.. Ward
was paid was the execution of n VOLTS
head for a fountain in Mexico. He
was given $40 for IT, Mr. Ward was
'ond of fishing. and his real home of
ate years had been on his estate of
1000 acres at Peekamoose lake. in the
Iatskills. Here the sculptor had
arge house as well as clubhouse and
in them large parties of
lis friends. When he was in his
rhine Mr.. Ward was skillfuI boxer.
nd up to the end of his life he was q
hercules for strength.
One of his paterna ancestors, John
Ward. reached this side of the Allan
ic in 1919, landing at Jamestown.
"a. and a maternal ancestor settled
4 Pennsylvania in 1885. His lineage.
be fact that he never studied abroad
nd the character of his work made
i'm what his brother artists have
ften called him, an indigenous artist.
one of the makers of American his
Dry" In another sense he was
maker of American history" since he
ad preserved its chapters for all time
! the faces and figures of his many
Oted statues.
Mr.. Ward was married three times.
e had been an academician since
1868.