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Thomas Ward Early Settler, American Revolution Patriot

 

 

Thomas Ward

 

DAR and family records indicate that SC Patriot Thomas Ward was born August 19, 1761 near the James River in the Colony of Virginia, and served during the American Revolution in SC.  He died here in the Fork Sepulga area in 1844. Patriot Thomas Ward had a patriot pension and two wives, according to family members and DAR history.

 

Patriot Thomas Ward married his first wife, Ann Goodson in 1782 in South Carolina.  They had at least four children, two sons and two daughters.  Ann Goodson Ward died in May 1826 and is buried here at Ward-Witherington Cemetery.  Thomas Ward’s second wife was the widow, Sarah Pattrick, who he married in 1828 in Conecuh Co.

 

Thomas Ward had been a major land owner in Darlington County, SC, owning a total of at least 2,184 acres between 1810 and 1820.  In Sept 1815, Thomas Ward sold 684 acres on Lynches Creek and Long Branch to Copeland Pierce.  He sold his remaining land in Darlington on Oct 5, 1819, migrating here to Conecuh Co, Alabama in early 1820s, possibly as early as the summer or fall of 1820.  He was one of the first settlers of the Fork Sepulga area.

 

We do not know if Thomas Ward was a nearby neighbor or acquaintance of William Witherington, Sr. in Darlington, SC, but both Patriot Ward and Patriot Witherington each owned 200 acres on Lynches Creek in Old Cheraws District, SC before 1800.

 

There were a number of early Ward family members that settled in this same Fork Sepulga area of Conecuh County, most appearing to have been the brothers and sons of Patriot Thomas Ward.  In fact, the land that this cemetery is located on, and on which we are standing today, was recorded in 1837 to William Ward, son of Patriot Thomas Ward.  Land recordings show that the various Ward Families owned at least 280 acres here in Section 10 near this cemetery.

 

There are a large number of descendants here today to honor the memory of their ancestors, SC Patriot Thomas Ward and his wife, Ann Goodson Ward, both buried here at Ward-Witherington Cemetery.

 

Source: This is from the dedication of the Ward-Witherington Cemetery in Conecuh Co., Alabama in November 2005. It was supplied by Bill King, a decendent of the Witherington family.