This collection consists of a diary kept by Samuel Ward, Jr., while travelling to Paris from London on December 24, 1792 to represent his client, William Constable (1752-1803), in the sale of land in Albany, New York, to Frenchmen seeking safety in voluntary exile to the United States. Until his return to New York City on August 1, 1793, Ward worked to conclude the transaction, explored the city, and made social calls with his friends, including Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816). He also described the proceedings against King Louis XVI (1754-1793) and the French populace on January 21, 1793, the day of the King's execution. He also recorded his accounts in this diary from December 1792 to September 8, 1794. The section of his accounts also contains copies of letters important to the land sale.
Also found within this collection are two typed transcriptions. The first transcription was completed by Rosalys Haskell Hall and Douglas Penn Stickley in 1989. This transcription is comprised of seventeen pages and includes a typed copy of Ward's diary and his accounts. There is also a presentation letter from Hall to Richard Champlin, Librarian of the Redwood Library, on September 12, 1989.
The second transcription, prepared by Samuel Hough, is comprised of fourteen pages, in which he has "provided identifications for a number of the most significant names which appear in the diary, and [he] re-edit[ed] the transcription according to [his] own reading." In his typed copy, Hough includes biographical notes on Jacques Pierre Brissot, Edmond Charles Edouard Genest, Vicomte Louie Marie de Noailles, and Gouverneur Morris.
This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Diary of Samuel Ward, Jr., with transcriptions, RLC.Ms.034, Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
This collection is arranged in chronological order.
Diary of Samuel Ward: Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Donald H. Saunders, 1989 Nov 27 A.
Transcription by Rosalys Haskell Hall and Douglas Penn Stickley: Gift of Rosalys Haskell Hall, 1989 Nov 27 A.
Transcription by Samuel Hough: Gift of Samuel Hough, 1990 Feb 2 A.
Prior to processing in 2014, the original diary of Samuel Ward, Jr. was formerly classified as m6 .W2174A with the title, "[Diary] S. Ward - Dec. 1792." The transcription prepared by Hall and Stickley was formerly classified as CS71 .W263 1792a copy 1. Samuel Hough's transcription was formerly classified as CS71 .W263 1792b. This diary was digitized in 2013 by the John Carter Brown Library as part of the Rhode Island History Project.
Samuel Ward Collection, Coll 271, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.
Samuel Ward's diary is available electronically on the Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/diaryofsamuelwar01ward).
Transcription of diary by Hall and Stickley also available in Redwood Library's circulating collections: CS71 .W263 1792a copy 2.
Samuel Ward, Jr. (1756-1832) was born in Westerly, Rhode Island to Anne Ray (d. 1770) and Samuel Ward (1725-1776), colonial governor of R.I. and Continental Congress delegate. Ward graduated from Brown University in 1771 and was commissioned as a captain in the Kings and Kent County militia in 1775. He was eventually promoted to a major in 1777 and then to lieutenant colonel in 1779 in Rhode Island's First Regiment (the "R.I. Black Regiment"). He served in the Battle of Red Bank (1777) and the Battle of Rhode Island (1778) during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Following his retirement from the Army in 1781, Ward went into business as a merchant in both East Greenwich, R.I., and New York, New York. He was sent as a delegate to the Annapolis Convention in 1786 and later to the Hartford Convention in 1814-1815.
On March 8, 1778, Samuel Ward, Jr. married Phebe Greene (1760-1828), daughter of R.I. Governor William Greene (1731-1809) and Catharine Ray Greene. The couple had ten children: William Greene (1779-1798), Samuel (1781-1785), Henry (1782-1783), Henry (1784-1838), Samuel (1786-1839), Anne Catherine (1788-1837), Phebe (1791-1825), Richard Ray (1795-1873), John (1797-1866), and William Greene (1802-1848). Samuel Ward, Jr. died on August 16, 1836 in New York.