17 Facts About Artemas Ward

Artemas Ward was an American major general in the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from Massachusetts.

Artemas Ward was considered an effective political leader, President John Adams describing him as "universally esteemed, beloved, and confided in by his army and his country".

Artemas Ward was born at Shrewsbury in the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1727 to Nahum Ward and Martha Ward.

Artemas Ward's father had broad and successful career interests as a sea captain, merchant, land developer, farmer, lawyer and jurist.

Artemas Ward graduated from Harvard in 1748 and taught there briefly.

The young couple returned to Shrewsbury where Artemas opened a general store.

Between 1755 and 1757, Artemas Ward was called to active duty at intervals that alternated with his attendance at the General Court.

In 1755 the Massachusetts militia was restructured for the war; Artemas Ward was made a major in the 3rd Regiment which drew its company mainly from Worcester County.

At first Artemas Ward directed his forces from his sickbed, later moving his headquarters to Cambridge.

Artemas Ward was continuously elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1779 through 1785, leading it as Speaker in 1785.

Artemas Ward was appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1780 and 1781, and from 1791 to 1795 was elected twice to the United States House of Representatives after being an unsuccessful candidate in 1788.

Artemas Ward was one of nine representatives to vote against final passage of the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Artemas Ward died at his home in Shrewsbury on October 28,1800, and was buried with Sarah in the town's Mountain View Cemetery.

In 1837, the town was renamed to Auburn, Massachusetts after complaints from the US postal service that the name Artemas Ward was too similar to the nearby town of Ware.

The home is known as the Artemas Ward House and is a museum preserved by Harvard University.

Artemas Ward Circle is a traffic circle at the intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts Avenues in Northwest Washington, DC The land on three sides of Artemas Ward Circle is owned by American University.

The great-grandson of Artemas Ward gave over four million dollars to Harvard University on the condition that they erect a statue in honor of Artemas Ward, and maintain his home in Shrewsbury.