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1783. The Ward family were a sturdy stock and were noted for their longevity. The child born on the Barrack square attained the age of 92 years, and a younger son, Charles Ward, died in 1882 at the age of 91 years. The father, Lieut. John Ward, was 92 years of age when he died on the 5th August, 1846. He was known in his later years as "the father of the city." At the semi-centennial of the Landing of the Loyalists he was honored with a seat on the left of the mayor, John M. Wilmot, on whose, right sat Sir Archibald Campbell the Lieut. Governor. On the 18th May, 1843, the sixtieth anniversary of the landing of the Loyalists, the corporation of the city waited on Mr. Ward, then aged 90 years, at his residence, and presented him with an address. The officers of the Artillery also presented an address in which they say: "We claim you with pride as one of the first officers of the corps to which we now have the honor to belong; and we hail you at the same time as one of the few survivors of that gallant band, who--surrendering all save the undying honor of their sacrifice--followed the standard of their Sovereign to these shores, and whose landing we this day commemorate. That health and prosperity may be yours, and that the evening of your days may be as free from a cloud as your past life has been unspotted, is the sincere desire of the corps in whose behalf we have the honor to subscribe ourselves." The experience of the disbanded soldiers, who wintered with their families at St. Anns, was even more trying than that of those who remained at Parrtown. The month of October was cold and rainy, and those who went up the river in boats had a very miserable time of it. A few were fortunate enough to be admitted into the houses of the old settlers, but the vast majority were obliged to provide themselves a shelter from the approaching winter by building log and bark huts. At St. Anns, where Fredericton was afterwards built, there were only two English speaking settlers, Benjamin Atherton, who lived on the site of Government House, and Philip Wade whose house stood on the river bank in front of the present Cathedral. Speaking of the hardships endured by the founders of Fredericton, Peter Fisher observes: "Scarcely had they begun to construct their cabins, when they were surprised by the rigors of an untried climate; their habitations being enveloped in snow before they were tenantable.... The privations and sufferings of so
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