Contributed by Jamie Burnett

The following will appeared in the Clermont Sun on 26 Jan 1887, page 1, columns 2 and 3.

DURBIN WARD

Patriotic Will of the Old Tribune

Providing for the Publication of His Letters and Speeches

His Stirring Charge to the Heir Who Receives His Sword—Command Never to Draw it in a Bad Cause, or Leave it Sheathed When His Country Needs Its Service

The Democracy of Clermont county will ever cherish in their memories the stirling [sic] qualities, noble deeds and unflinching principles of that old war-horse in the Democratic cause, General Durbin Ward, who is better known throughout the State as the "Tribune of the People."

Although not rich in this world's goods, he has bequeathed to the rising generation a legacy of which any man might well feel proud. The announcement is made that the writings and speeches of General Ward will Boon appear in book form in compliance with the request of his will. One of the peculiarities of the will is that it starts out with the list of his writing which he was anxious should be published after death.

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

Schedule Marked (A)

Catalogue of writings, manuscripts, and papers referred to in said will:

Chicago Reunion, 1868

Sherman's March to the Sea, I869

Decorating Soldiers’ Graves, 1870-74

Jones Monument, 1871

Urbana Monument, 1871

Dayton Reunion, 1872

Annual Oration at Pittsburg [sic], 1873

The above are already prepared for publication, and can appear in any order that the publisher prefers. Other papers, are in course of preparation, and, if finished will be so marked and filed with these and are to be considered as embraced in this schedule.

There are also some more elaborate works for which I am making notes, but if not finished and marked finished are not to be held as inclu­ded in this schedule, but if so finished and marked and found among my papers, they are to be Included as mentioned in this schedule.

They need not be mentioned except to say that they are all likely to be comparatively brief unless it be two, to- wit: "The 'Federal Institutes' and The ‘Studies of History.’”

These works are intended, if time can ever be got, to be carefully prepared, and if finished, and if only a part of my writings can be published, these two last are to be preferred in their order.

Durbin Ward

Lebanon, O, June 21, 1874

Signed, sealed as a part of his will in our presence by Durbin Ward, and on the day and
year of the execution of his will, to which this paper is attached.

D. Allen

S.W. Probasco,

Witnesses

Be it known to all whom it may concern, that I, Durbin Ward of Lebanon, Ohio, do make and publish this, my last will and testa­ment:

Item 1. I give, bequeath and devise unto my dearly beloved wife, Elizabeth P. Ward, except as otherwise provided in this will, all property, real and personal, moneys, credits, stocks, bonds, policies of insurance, and every other description of pecuniary interest, which may belong to me in whole or in part, in possession or in expectancy at my death, to have and to hold the name, to her and her heirs forever.

Item 2. I give and bequeath to my execu­tors, hereinafter appointed, all such writings or papers, whether in manuscript or already printed, as are mentioned in the schedule marked 'A,' hereto attached and made part of this will, together with the sum of $1,000 in money, to be paid out of my estate within one year after my death, said writings, manuscripts and papers, together with said sum of $l,000, to be taken and held in trust by said executors for the uses and purposes hereinafter in this item stated and di­rected, to-wit: Said writings, manuscripts, and papers shall be offered for sale and disposed of, if it can be done, to such reliable and responsi­ble book publisher in New York, Boston, Phila­delphia or Cincinnati as will become bound to my said executors to publish in book form the most thereof for the least money as a bonus; or if any such publisher if found willing to publish the same, or any such portion thereof as will be sufficient to constitute a volume of not less than four hundred pages octavo, without bonus, or will pay for the privilege of copyrighting and publishing the same, or such part thereof as aforesaid, then the same shall be disposed of on the best terms that can be obtained, the publisher to be preferred (all other things being equal) who will publish all or the greatest amount of said writings, manuscripts, and papers. If some of said writings, and so forth, can be got published, as above mentioned, without bonus, or should sell for a price, and others thereof can not be so disposed of then whatever is needed out of said $1,000 or out of the proceeds of such manuscripts, &c., as can be sold on the terms aforesaid or out of both, shall be appropriated by my executors to the publication of these last in book form in any way that may seem to them best. It is the intention of this item to secure, if it may be done, the publication of those writ­ings, &c., in the schedule (A) mentioned, with-out further charge to my estate (and in no event is further charge for such purpose to be made thereon than said $1,000 herein devised for that purpose, and my executors are hereby directed to charge all their personal expenses and legal, charges and fees in carrying out the provisions of this item of my will to this fund only, and if they can succeed in securing the objects of this item, whatever remains of the fund of $1,000, or of any profits arising from the sale or publica­tion of these writings, &c., hereinbefore provid­ed to be made, if anything shall so remain, I give and bequeath to such of my executors here­inafter named as shall take upon themselves the execution of my will, to be divided equally, share and share alike among them.

Item 3. I give and bequeath to my namesake, Wm. Ward Probasco my gold-headed cane, pre­sented me by the ladies of Warren County, O.; and also my field glass which I carried in the war.

Item 4. I give and bequeath my nephew, Wm. Scott, my father's hickory cane which I cut with my own hands from Mt. Vernon, and presented to my father who carried it to the close of his life. And I also give my nephew, that he may amuse himself therewith, and his children after him, my Morocco-bound "Ara­bian Nights Entertainment.”

Item 5. I give and bequeath to my friend and relative, Samuel W. Probasco, Esp., my gold watch and chain.

Item 6, I give and bequeath to my dear little grandniece, Jessie Nipgen, my New Testament and my Book of Common Prayer, both of which I carried with me in the army.

Item 7. I give and bequeath to my niece, Sallie Jarvis, as a remembrance my Morocco-bound
"Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress" and "Holy War”. "i .

Item 8. I give and bequeath to Durbin Ward Walker, the son of my old comrade in arms, Captain Wm. H. Walker, of the 17th O.V.I., my gold badge of the Society of the Army of the
Cumberland.

Item 9. I give and bequeath to the drummer boy of the Seventeenth Regiment O.V.I. in the late war, known to the regiment as "Old Man," my old rebel canteen, picked up by me on the battlefield at Jonesboro, Ga., not because it is of any value in money, but to remind him that I have not forgotten the true-hearted boy who could brave danger and suffer wounds with the fortitude of a man.

Item 10. I give and bequeath to the Master of Lebanon Lodge, in which I was made a Mason my carved Masonic cane, which was presented while in the army to me by a brother in the Army Lodge, bearing my name, with the re­quest that it be kept perpetually as an heir-loom of the Lodge, and that the custody belong from year to year to the Master of the Lodge for the time being.

Item 11. I give and bequeath to my friend and relative Samuel J. Baird, Esq., my army pistols, with the ardent hope that war may never require him to remove the rust of peace from the weapons.

Item 12. I give and bequeath to my beloved niece Ella Ward, my father's family Bible and his Book of Common Prayer as the most touching family remembrance I can give, and to her my last bequest, except to my dearly beloved wife, is made to remind her that she stands next to my wife in my heart's affection. I give and bequeath to her also, in trust, my jewel-mount­ed sword (so highly prized because given me by the privates of my old regiment), with the in­junction that she shall deliver it to her oldest son, should she ever be blessed with one, and if he should die, to the next oldest in succession, and with it the charge from me to never draw it in a bad cause, and to never leave it sheathed should a good one require its aid, and command him also to send it down to posterity to the old­est son in the direct line so long us any Ward blood can wield a sword, until that blessed time shall come when all swords shall be beaten into plow-shares. If during her life-time my beloved niece shall have no son, or they should all die before her, then I wish for at her death to will the sword to the male person, whoever he may be, if he has not tarnished the family honor, who is most nearly related in blood to me; and to the oldest male, if there be more than one in equal degree, giving him the same charge, so that the sword may remain in the family forever.

Item 13. And now finally, I will that the seal ring which I wear on the last finger of the left
hand shall be buried with me as a token that I carry with me, even in to the grave, an unfaltering
love for the constant and devoted wife who gave It. And I affectionately request of my dearly beloved wife that she take all other golden arti­cles and ornaments, which I habitually wear about my person (except the gold watch and chain already bequeathed} and use them or have them made into such articles or ornaments as she may conveniently use on her person as tokens of our too brief years of married happiness. And I also affectionately request her, at her death, to give to my niece, Ella Ward, or if she is deceased, to any child or children she may leave surviving her, the little-bronze statuette (in the library) of the Roman Matron and Minerva, and the picture in the parlor known as the "Old Oaken Bucket," and any other keepsakes of like kind my wife may choose to give, so that each child of my niece Ella Ward, living at my wife's death, may get something to remember me by. And as my last words should it so happen that before my death we shall yet have offspring; it is the express intention of this will that such event shall revoke no part thereof except that all the directions given my beloved niece, Ella Ward, so far as they relate to my sword, shall then apply to my own sons, and shall be imposed on my dearly beloved wife instead of my beloved niece.

Top of Page

Selected Articles from the Clermont County