Biography
Hamilton Ward Jr. was born in Washington, DC on January 20, 1871, while his father Hamilton Ward Sr. was serving in Congress. The younger Ward was educated at Saint Paul's Hall in Salem, New York and the Vermont Episcopal Institute in Burlington, Vermont, Burlington. He studied law with his father and his father's partner, Elba Reynolds. Ward was admitted to the bar in 1892 and practiced in Philipsville, now Belmont, New York. He later relocated to Buffalo, New York, where he was Erie County, New York, Erie County's collateral inheritance clerk and an assistant district attorney. He fought in the Spanish–American War in Cuba as a captain. In 1907, he was Commander-in-Chief of the United Spanish War Veterans. As a United States Republican Party, Republican, he was New York State Attorney General from 1929 to 1930, elected in New York state election, 1928, 1928. Ward was a prominent Buffalonian and an ardent conservationist who was instrumental in the establishment and design of Chesnut Ridge Park in the 1920s. A memorial to Ward exists in the southern part of the park. He also founded Allegany State Park, as well as the Erie County Parks Commission, which was vital in forming the first four county parks of Chesnut Ridge, Ellicott Creek, Como Lake, and Emery. Upon his death, he bequeathed several hundred acres of his property to the county that became part of Chesnut Ridge Park. He died from pneumonia in Buffalo, New York, and was buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Belmont, New York. His brother was Episcopal Bishop John C. Ward.Sources