Mike, Augustus or Arch Ward, the son of William Ward, married Eva Edwards, daughter of William Carroll Edwards whom I mentioned in the previous e-mail. William W. Ward and L.D.F. Crenshaw were close friends and prominent landowners south of Springfield along modern 160 and north of Nixa, and several articles have been written on the old Crenshaw Mansion just off Campbell Street Road or Route 160. They were said to play roles in the Underground Railroad along with my ancestor, the Rev. James W. Edwards of Nixa. All these families were intensively involved with the Macks of Maury Co., who came to dominate politics and the Greene County Courthouse in the years of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Randy McConnell P.S. The "Wilderness Road" also was used in conjunction with the Old Wire Road through the Wilson Creek National Battlefield or with the old Mt. Vernon Road that went through northern Christian Co.