Letter from Artemas Ward to Benjamin Stone, 1787 July 18

Artemas Ward wrote this letter to Benjamin Stone on July 18, 1787, expressing his concern about the expense of his son, Henry Dana Ward's, imminent studies at Harvard. Ward complains to Stone about his own debts and the failure of the government to honor their financial obligations to him, and he also expresses hope that the President of Harvard will allow his son to spend part of his time "keeping a school" during his freshman and sophomore years, thus earning an income sufficient to pay for his studies. Ward also suggests that it might be preferable that his son board with a respectable family, rather than live at the College.

Letter is matted alongside an engraved portrait of Artemas Ward. Also includes a twentieth century transcription.

Title supplied by cataloguer.

Benjamin Stone was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts in 1756. He received am A.B. from Harvard College in 1776 and an A.M. in 1779. He was the first teacher and preceptor employed by the Leicester Academy, holding those positions from 1784 to 1787. He was later preceptor of Westford Academy. Benjamin Stone died in 1832.

Artemas Ward was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts on November 26, 1727. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1748 and an A.M. in 1751. He is perhaps best known for his service as the first commander in chief of the American Revolutionary War and for his later service as second in command to George Washington, though his career and accomplishments were extensive. He served in the Continental Congress and in two of the Federal congresses. Artemas Ward died on October 28, 1800.

Henry Dana Ward was one of Artemas Ward's eight children, born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts on February 6, 1768. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1791 and an A.M. in 1794. Afterwards, he moved to Columbia, South Carolina and studied law. He practiced law there for the rest of his life and was a member of the South Carolina legislature. He returned to the north in the summers and died of typhus fever in Middletown, Connecticut on August 20, 1817.