I just watched the very moving documentary "Brother's Keeper" about the murder trial and acquittal of Delbert Ward. I wonder how people in Madison County reacted to it. Was it fair and accurate? Perhaps someone on this list would know about the Ward brothers' ancestry. Just knowing the names of their father and grandfather would be most helpful. My great-great grandfather was Wilmoth Ward (circa 1817-1893). He had a large family and had children spread over almost 30 years by two or three successive wives. He is listed in the 1880 census as a farm laborer. He lived in the Madison, Solsville and Augusta New York area all of which are very close to Munsville. So I think there is good reason to suspect a family relationship with the Ward brothers. Jeff Ward from sunny (finally) South Florida.

On 9/23/05, JeffJWard@aol.com <JeffJWard@aol.com> wrote: > I just watched the very moving documentary "Brother's Keeper" about the > murder trial and acquittal of Delbert Ward. I wonder how people in Madison County > reacted to it. Was it fair and accurate? Perhaps someone on this list would > know about the Ward brothers' ancestry. Just knowing the names of their father > and grandfather would be most helpful. My great-great grandfather was Wilmoth > Ward (circa 1817-1893). He had a large family and had children spread over > almost 30 years by two or three successive wives. He is listed in the 1880 census > as a farm laborer. He lived in the Madison, Solsville and Augusta New York area > all of which are very close to Munsville. So I think there is good reason to > suspect a family relationship with the Ward brothers. Jeff Ward from sunny > (finally) South Florida. Jeff, I am a relative of the Ward Boys. My grandfather was their father's brother. Email me and I can give you some history. As a matter of fact, I will be meeting Lyman on the weekend of the 1st of Oct. There is another brother alive. He is in a nursing home. Patty

Hello to all As most of you know, I live in Australia. Sometimes, the pangs of homesickness for America are pretty extreme and I have an experience that I'd like to share, regarding a relationship between that homesickness and the Ward brothers. I know this is a little out of the realm of genealogy, so all I ask is a little patronizing on your parts. About a year after I arrived in Australia, I was going through a pretty hard time of adjustment, as an American. I'm a somewhat spiritual type and took my woes to my Maker. For whatever reason, I woke up at about 1:00am (that night) and turned the television on and there it was, just beginning: "Brother's Keeper". I do have cable tv here, but this was being broadcast on an Australian channel. (If you are interested: A Short History of the ABC: For seventy years the ABC has been a distinctive part of the Australian way of life. Australia's only national, non-commercial broadcaster, the ABC has shared its history and development with the growth of our nation. From its beginnings during the Depression years, the ABC has grown into Australia's largest broadcaster, entertainment and marketing organisation. It has become an important part of Australia's cultural heritage, fostering the arts and reflecting the nation's cultural diversity.) Needless to say, I watched the movie and slept pretty soundly for the rest of the night. Chapter 2: I spent some time at the old homestead at Indian Opening in May of this year. As I was going through things, looking for documents that would help in my mother's genealogy, I was pleased to find a cassette of "Brother's Keeper" tucked away in a drawer that hadn't been opened for a long time... I slept good that night too, I think... I'm sorry I can't help on the genealogy end of this Ward family, but can say that it is highly likely that all of them, if they are in that area of Madison County; Solsville, Madison, Stockbridge, Munnsville, Augusta (Oneida County)... are close relatives. I believe that parts of Stockbridge were taken out of Augusta, and Oneida County, in the 1830s sometime - don't quote me on that. Good luck with your search on the family. John

Jeff, Probably Patty has given you all the info on the Wards that you need. We have exchanged information. My family had a summer camp near where the Ward brothers lived and when we and they were kids, we used to meet the Ward boys walking on the roads. We just knew them to say "hello" and that's about it. I remember Roscoe was chewing and spitting tobacco once when we met him and he was just a young boy at the time. They later became LONG "shirt tail relatives" of mine(through marriages). and we attended all the court procedures during Delbert's trial. In fact, my wife is shown leaving the court room in the movie, (one with a bright red sweater.) We also attended his "community rallies" to drum up support for him. Everbody was willing to help him, but not to socialize. At the celebration after his acquittal, there was music and some of the ladies danced with Delbert. No doubt it was the first time anybody in the community ever got that close. Heh ! I have, and probably Patty has, a narrow line of their ancestors back, I think, to the 1700's when they were in Herkimer Co. Chas ----- Original Message ----- From: <JeffJWard@aol.com> To: <NYMADISO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 6:32 AM Subject: [NYMADISO] Ward--Brother's Keeper >I just watched the very moving documentary "Brother's Keeper" about the > murder trial and acquittal of Delbert Ward. I wonder how people in Madison > County > reacted to it. Was it fair and accurate? Perhaps someone on this list > would > know about the Ward brothers' ancestry. Just knowing the names of their > father > and grandfather would be most helpful. My great-great grandfather was > Wilmoth > Ward (circa 1817-1893). He had a large family and had children spread over > almost 30 years by two or three successive wives. He is listed in the 1880 > census > as a farm laborer. He lived in the Madison, Solsville and Augusta New York > area > all of which are very close to Munsville. So I think there is good reason > to > suspect a family relationship with the Ward brothers. Jeff Ward from sunny > (finally) South Florida. > > > ==== NYMADISO Mailing List ==== > Search the list archives: > http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl - put NYMADISO for > the name of the list > >