Born at Sunbury, Liberty County, Georgia. Attended Amherst College. Married in 1839 to Olivia Buckminster Sullivan. They had eight children. He was admitted to the bar in Georgia by a special act of the legislature in 1835 before he turned 21.

In 1838 he was appointed U.S. District Attorney for Georgia. He served in the Georgia legislature 1839 to 1853. He was elected mayor of Savannah, Georgia in 1854. In 1856 he was president of the National Democratic Convention that nominated Buchanan. In 1857 he became acting lieutenant governor. In 1858 Buchanan appointed him minister to China. He left China

in December 1860 and returned to the U.S. for the beginning of the Civil War. He took no active part in the war.

Ward moved to New York City in January 1866. He

returned to Georgia in 1902 and died at Dorchester.

Ward appears on Confederate paper money:

$10 CSA Note, 1861

bio: ApCAB; DAB; NCAB 1; TCBDA; WWWA-1

Author of the Pennsylvania Almanac for the year 1832, and possibly other years.