REV. GEORGE KEMP WARD, who has been for more than twenty years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Dansville, was born in the city of Rochester, N.Y., January 9, 1848. His father, Levi A. Ward, and his grandfather, also named Levi, were natives of Connecticut, where the latter was a physician in the town of Lyme. Dr. Levi Ward removed to Bergen, Monroe County, N. Y., and later to Rochester, where he was a pioneer in the practice of medicine, and continued his professional career up to the time of his decease. He reared a large family.
Levi A. Ward, son of Dr. Ward, was educated in the public schools of Rochester. When he was still a very young man, and Rochester was but a small town, he and his brother William started in trade. In 1838 they dissolved partnership, and Levi A. accepted a position as agent of the AEtna Insurance Co., of Hartford, Conn., having the very first insurance office established in Rochester. He continued to represent this well-known company until his decease, a son assisting him during his latter years; and the business is still carried on by a grandson of its original promoter. Levi A. Ward was a very prominent man in Rochester, highly successful in business, and was Mayor of that city about the year 1855. He died at the age of eighty years, esteemed and respected by a large circle of friends and associates, leaving a widow, whose maiden name was Harriet Kemp. Mrs. Ward’s father was George Kemp, who had been a whaleship-owner at the Isle of Wight, England, and who, while emigrating to Michigan, stopped at Rochester, and, meeting some old friends, was finally induced to go up the Genesee valley to Groveland, where he purchased a farm known at the present time as the Kemp farm, upon which he resided for some time. Later he removed to Michigan, where he died at the age of eighty years. The Kemps were members of the Congregational church. Harriet was one of a large family, of whom seven are still living. She was the second wife of Mr. Levi A. Ward, and reared six out of eleven children, including: Mary E.; Levi F., who followed his father in the insurance business; George Kemp, the subject of this sketch; Frank A., business manager of Ward's Natural Science Establishment, Rochester; and Herbert I.., a lawyer of the above named city. Mrs. Harriet Kemp Ward still resides in Rochester, at the age of eighty three, and is a member of St. Peter's Presbyterian Church of that city.
George K. Ward passed his boyhood in Rochester, obtaining his preparatory education at the Geneseo Academy, which he attended for three years, and the Rochester Collegiate Institute. In 1864 he entered the University of Rochester, but, after pursuing his studies for a period of six months, was obliged to relinquish them for a time on account of illness. The next year he entered Princeton College, class of 1869, was graduated at the end of the course, and for a year was a private tutor in Rochester. He then returned to Princeton, entering the Theological Seminary, where he pursued a three years’ course of study. At the end of his second year he was called to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church in Dansville. He, however, preferred to complete his theological course before entering upon the arduous duties of a pastor, and was not ordained till after graduating from the seminary. Since Mr. Ward became pastor of this church in 1873 its membership has increased from two hundred and twenty-one to over four hundred. The present new structure was erected in 1891 at a cost of about eighteen thousand dollars. With one exception, it is the finest church edifice in the county. The society is the very strongest, and, under the wise guidance of Mr. Ward, is in a most flourishing condition, financially as well as spiritually.
In 1873 the Rev. George K. Ward was united in marriage to Miss Caroline E. Pierpont, the estimable and accomplished daughter of E. Pierpont, of Rochester, Secretary and Treasurer of the Monroe County Savings Bank, and a prominent business man of that city. She was one of four children. Mr. and Mrs. Ward have five children, as follows: Edward P., Levi Alfred, Ruth, Charles Sloan, and Kenneth Kemp. Edward P. is a graduate of the Dansville public schools, and now a student at Princeton, in the class of 1896, preparing for a professional life. Levi Alfred was educated at the public schools of Dansville, and is now occupying a position as assistant book-keeper in the Merchants’ and Farmers’ National Bank of Dansville.
The Rev. Mr. Ward has always been a very close student, not only of theology and kindred branches, but in other fields of thought and learning. At college he was a member of the Delta Psi. He has devoted considerable time to literature, and this, too, with success. Among his productions may be mentioned a very interesting volume entitled “After Nine Years," a history of his class for that number of years after graduation. Later this was carried forward in “The Vigentennial," or the record of the class for twenty years. His last publication, issued in 1894, is a unique, tasteful little volume called “The Record of a Life, " containing poems appropriate to various phases and events, such as birth, baptism, parentage, the covenant of marriage, and death. It has received flattering notices from the press, and has called forth numerous complimentary personal letters.
During his long residence in Dansville the Rev. Mr. Ward has always taken a deep interest in social, moral, and political questions, as well as religious matters, and his influence has been widely felt as a power for good in the community. He is a worker of untiring energy. His preaching is simple, forcible, and interesting; and his popularity as a pulpit orator is made manifest by the large numbers outside of its regular membership who attend his church. His long and unbroken connection with his society is sufficient proof of mutual esteem and unaffected love. Mrs. Ward is a most able and faithful helper in all church affairs, and is President of the Woman's Society for Foreign Missions.
