A well-to-do and leading business man of Obion, as a man who has in more than one line given worthy public service, and as a member of organizations that tend toward the betterment of humanity, L. A. Ward is one whose life is of interest to historian and reader. Of his forty odd years in the lumber industry more than a score have been spent in the city of Obion.
Greenwood, Indiana was the place of L. A. Ward’s birth and January 21, 1853, was his natal day. His parents were James and Martha Ward, the father a native of Xenia, Ohio, and the mother one of Indiana’s daughters. They removed from the Hoosier state to Tennessee, where the boyhood of L. A. Ward was spent and where he has lived his subsequent life of usefulness. He early became interested in saw-mills and lumber, entering this line of business when only sixteen years of age-in 1869.
The year 1887 was a doubly important one in the life of Mr. Ward, for it was marked both by his marriage and by his initial residence in Obion. On March 24, of the year mentioned, Miss Joe Thornton, of Weakley County, Tennessee, joined her life’s fortunes with his. In the years that have followed, their home has been gladdened by the coming of three children. Cosler, the first born and Miles Thornton the youngest, have passed from this life. Owen Stanley, the second son, was born February 21, 1893.
Mr. Ward and his family are connected with the Church of the Disciples, or Christian Church, of which they are substantially helpful members. The fraternal society of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons is honored by his affiliation with the local lodge. His politics is that of almost every other son of “the solid south” and he has cheerfully and ably performed such public duties as have devolved upon him. For the past fifteen years he has served as an alderman of Obion and has also been an efficient member of the Obion School Board.
The property of Mr. Ward includes about seven hundred acres of land, of which a tract of one hundred acres is devoted to the production of rice. His lumber business is of course the most significant feature of his property. His mill and yard cover a space of three acres in Obion. He employs ten men throughout the entire year and at busy times often has as large a force as thirty.
In his plant the lumber manufactures include everything required for the building of a house, with the single exception of blinds. His business is of prime importance to Obion and the adjacent vicinity and he is personally a gentleman whose worth and influence are held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens of the community.
