Life & Times Stories, in text form or TV productions, focus on the wealthy and elite of society….kings, queens, politicians, movie stars, singers, sportstars and the like. This is likely the result of biographies being assembled by writers for books and TV in order to profit from an easy selling story. However, many interesting Life & Times Stories of common folks are often not tabulated in any form. The information sits in boxes, photo albums, family histories or computer files as well as in peoples’ memories. As a writer and historian, I often find a Life & Times Story of the common folks as I research for historical information concerning various families. Here is a typical example.
James Ward was born 1875 at the end of a trail facing Lac Coulonge and lived in a shanty with his parents. He was the only child of Margaret Cosgrove and John Ward. At his birth, John was 63 and Margaret was 29. When John died, James was 12 years old. His mother died when he was 28. At any rate, life was “tough”.
James, an only child, having few neighbours, must have been a quiet child growing up absorbing all that nature provided in his realm. He walked to school which was situated in a house near the present home of the late Emanuel Gervais, later to become a cheese factory. The classroom was small, without a chalk board and school supplies were meagre, a slate board, a piece of chalk and wiping cloth. The teacher had some books, but in most cases, taught from memory. James walked seven kilometres to school and received a basic knowledge of reading and writing and may have completed grade 6. He set his mind to read everything he could and was hungry for knowledge, with success his objective. He would strive to make a considerable amount of money. He devised a plan, realizing that if he could market a product in large quantities, he could make lots of money. He saved money and with his surrey and horse went on the road to sell postcards, picto-graphs, yard and household goods. He travelled Pontiac and Renfrew counties; the farms were far apart, so he had lots of time to think, plot and plan ahead.
James took a correspondence course from International Correspondence School. Being shy, he also enrolled in a Dale Carnegie course. He married Margaret Harney (1881-1962), his childhood sweetheart; the Harneys lived close by and the two likely walked to school together. They raised five children, three boys, two girls. The sons attended Ottawa U or St. Patrick’s College which was a feat in itself in the 1900’s.
In 1898, at age 29, he started WARD INSURANCE. He would go out with his surrey & horse and solicit business on both sides of the Ottawa River. At one time, most of the churches in the Ottawa Valley were covered by Ward Insurance.
He was mayor of Fort Coulonge, 1913 to 1921 and 1943 to 1945, as well as a prominent civic figure as a member of the town’s municipal council, president of the Coulonge Chamber of Commerce and Vice-President of Union of Boards of Trade. In 1917, at age 42) along with William , Sr., founded the Coulonge Rural Telephone Company. They capitalized venture by selling 1,000 shares at $10 each. While laying out the telephone lines, he installed an underwater cable across the river to provide telephone service to La Passe at Lacroix Store. The company grew and was sold to Bell.
In 1918, in partnership with a Mr. Doyle, he set up a generating station that provided Coulonge with hydro-electricity.
He vacationed in Florida in the 1920’s and found these trips very educational.
James set up a library in his house where he would retire and plan his next venture. Apparently, quite an elaborate library, referred to as the largest library after the parliamentary library in Ottawa.
For years, as President of the Pontiac Liberal Association, he would take his grandsons fishing and discuss and argue politics. He came close to running as a member of parliament.
Ventures never cease. In 1940, James, at age 65, took a course in embalming and became an undertaker. Part of his garage became the show room and embalming room. In the summer, he had a proper black hearse and in wintertime, he had a sleigh driven by two beautiful black horses. He and his assistants, all dressed in black mourning coats and beaver hats, were very serene and majestic.
Mid 1940’s, he and friends opened a Credit Union in Coulonge. It flourished, eventually sold and is still operated by La Caisse Populaire. In the 1950’s, he undertook his final project to construct a cottage to hold his family for a party and built it himself with some help from his grandsons.
James Ward, an amazing personality and a quiet man, had a vision and set a course for many to follow. The things he envisioned and set out to achieve are still used by many people today. He proved to succeeding generations that with very little money one can grow up and change living conditions for many people, especially yourself and your family.
James Ward Sr. died at the age of 83 and was laid to rest in the St. Pierre Roman Catholic Cemetery in Fort Coulonge. His wife died in 1962.
