Seth Edmund Ward (March 4, 1820 – December 9, 1903) was a trader on the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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and Santa Fe trails who parlayed his success into a real estate empire, some of which is part of today's Country Club District in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

Early life

Ward was born in

Campbell County, Virginia Campbell County is a United States county situated in the south central part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, Campbell borders the Blue Ridge Mountains. The county seat is Rustburg. Grounded on a to ...

on March 4, 1820. His father died when he was 12 and he was apprenticed to an

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

farmer. Tired of farming he returned home where his mother gave him $25 and he was left to his own devices. He traveled to

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

where he was hired by Lancaster P. Lupton to be a trapper for his company in Colorado and traveled to

Fort Lupton, Colorado The City of Fort Lupton is a Statutory City located in southern Weld County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 7,955 at the 2020 United States census. Fort Lupton is a part of the Greeley, Colorado Metropolitan Statistical A ...

Business career

In 1848 with the collapse of the fur trade business, he struck up a business with William Guerrier with the firm of Ward and Guerrier to provide supplies for settlers in Colorado and Wyoming. In 1853 he married Wasna, a Teton Sioux woman, and fathered four children. On April 30, 1857, through connections with Robert Campbell, Ward and Guerrier were commissioned to be the official

sutler A sutler or victualer is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp, or in quarters. Sutlers sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent, traveling with an army or to remote military outposts. Sutler wa ...

s at

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (; founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte Rivers. They joi ...

, giving them a monopoly at the busiest post on the frontier. They were to move later to Register Cliff. Since they were trading goods for oxen from the settlers it is said that Guerrier and Ward were the first ranchers in Wyoming history. Guerrier died in 1858 when sparks from his pipe ignited a

powder keg A powder keg is a barrel of gunpowder. The powder keg was the primary method for storing and transporting large quantities of black powder until the 1870s and the adoption of the modern cased cartridge (firearms), cartridge. The barrels had to be ...

Move to the Midwest

On February 9, 1860, Ward married Mary Frances McCarty, the widowed daughter of Col. John Harris of Westport, Kansas City. McCarty refused to live in Fort Laramie and Ward eventually moved with her to

Nebraska City, Nebraska Nebraska City is a city in and the county seat of Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 7,222. The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated city in th ...

in 1863. In 1871, when his time as official sutler expired, he moved to Kansas City where he bought the farm of a trading friend

William Bent William Wells Bent (May 23, 1809 – May 19, 1869) was a merchant, frontier trader and rancher in the American West, with forts in Colorado. He also acted as a mediator among the Cheyenne Nation, other Native American tribes and the expanding U ...

. The farm ran from State Line to Wornall Road, 51st to 55th Street. He incorporated Bent's home at 1032 West 55th St. into a 14-room mansion designed by

Asa Beebe Cross Asa Beebe Cross (December 9, 1826 in New Jersey — August 18, 1894) was an American architect. He studied architecture under Thomas Walsh and John Johnson. He primarily worked in Kansas City where it is estimated that he designed more than 1,000 ...

. In 1897 he leased the east pasture for the Kansas City Country Club's first golf course, where his son Hugh was a founding member. Seth Ward died at his home in Kansas City on December 9, 1903. He was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery. Hugh inherited his father's estate, but died only four years later, in 1908. In 1925, in a deal brokered by J.C. Nichols, Hugh Ward's widow sold the land to the widow of Jacob Loose to create a park. The Kansas City Country Club moved across the state line to adjacent Mission Hills, Kansas. The would become Loose Park in 1926. Ward Parkway which passes near the Seth E. Ward Homestead which is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

is named for family (although for his son Hugh Ward).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Seth 1820 births 1903 deaths People from Campbell County, Virginia 19th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Virginia People from Nebraska City, Nebraska Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri