Glass-plate negatives, circa 1905, of the H. E. Ward family and farm, Max and Carrie Ward, Two Rivers area, people, logging, animals, and nature. Some images may be of Charlevoix or New York (State), or of Niagara Falls (New York and Ontario, Canada).
The negatives are in their original order and boxes, inside of larger, acid-free boxes (1-3) for support. The negatives are both very fragile and very heavy, and should be lifted and handled with care by researchers.
Box 4 contains prints made from the negatives in Boxes 1-3 in December 2000 and January 2001. The folders note from which box of negatives the prints were created. They are in order by large box number and then negative box numbers within each box. All the boxes are also numbered.
Biography:
Lewis Maxwell (Max) Ward was born on October 9, 1881, in Isabella County, Michigan,, the eldest of seven children born to Henry Edward Ward and Clara Rosanna Hager Ward. Max and his brothers and sisters grew up on their father’s farm just east of the Deerfield Township town, then known as Caldwell, on the River Road. Henry Ward’s farm was known as Cherry Hill Farm according to the 1915 Plat Book of Isabella County, Deerfield Twp., Section 5. Today it is a faded little settlement known as Two Rivers, close to the confluence of the Chippewa River and the small Coldwater River.
When still young, Max saved his money and bought a camera. He went all over his neighborhood taking photographs of people and places. He photographed life on the farm; harvest, horses, cattle, and sheep. He documented the raising of barns and captured proud residents and their homes. He traveled to New York (State) to visit relatives and photographed Niagara Falls. He later took photographs of his children and family gatherings.
The Ward Brothers, Max, Clayton, Charles, and Martin, grew up and learned farming skills on their father’s farm. They had three sisters: Ethel, who died in childhood; Bertha; and Celia.
Max married Carrie Louisa Vowles on September 15, 1910. The Vowles were neighbors who lived just a mile east of the Wards on the Will Vowles Farm, Section 9. Max and Carrie farmed there for 50 years. Carrie died on November 6, 1961. Max died on August 23, 1972, less than two months shy of his 91st birthday. Both are buried in the Vowles family plot in Riverside Cemetery, Mount Pleasant, Michigan. (This information is from donor.)
