Artemas Ward was born on November 26, 1727, in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's degree in 1748, and a Master's degree in 1751, serving as a justice of the peace and on the Massachusetts Bay Colony's general court from 1752 to 1755. He was commissioned a Major in the British Army's 3rd Regiment in 1755, and a Colonel in the Regiment in 1757, participating in the French and Indian War from 1755 to 1758. Col Ward remained in the Massachusetts Militia after the war, and was made a General and Commander-in-Chief of the Massachusetts Militia in 1774. He was made a Major General in the Continental Army as 2nd in Command to General Washington on June 16, 1775, and served until his poor health forced him to resign on March 20, 1777. After leaving the Army, Ward was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1779 to 1791, served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1780 to 1781, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 2nd and 7th Districts on March 4, 1791, serving until March 3, 1795. Artemas Ward died on October 28, 1800, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He married Sarah Trowbridge (1724-1788) of Groton, Massachusetts, on July 31, 1750, and they had eight children together: Ithamar in 1752, Nahum in 1754, Sara in 1756, Thomas in 1758, Artemas Jr. in 1762, Henry Dana in 1768, Martha in 1760, and Maria in 1764.