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Josiah William Ware and His First Wife, Francis
Josiah William Ware
- Photo
owned by James and Judy Ware
Colonel Josiah William Ware was the owner of Springfield plantation and the son of
James Ware III and his first wife, Elizabeth Snickers Alexander Ware. He was born on August 19, 1802. The property upon which he built his
lovely home
originally belonged to Elizabeth’s grandfather, Edward Snickers
(a large landowner in Virginia around 1760) and was called “Springfield” even at
that time. Mr. Snickers left the
land to his daughter Sarah, who married Morgan Alexander. She, in turn, willed it to their
daughter Elizabeth (Mrs. James Ware III), and they subsequently bequeathed the
property to their son, Josiah Ware.
(Ref. 160)
Josiah was very active in the politics of the day and corresponded frequently
with such influential men as John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, President John
Tyler, President Zachary Taylor, Henry Clay, and especially President Rutherford
B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy Ware Hayes, a cousin.
In the 1830’s, he played an important role in the formation of Clarke
County for “throughout the controversy he
was the most articulate and visible advocate of a new county.”
(Ref. 48)
In addition to politics, Josiah
was known internationally for raising prize-winning English Cotswold sheep and
breeding fine thoroughbred race horses.
By importing the highest quality stock into northern Virginia, he helped
establish the agricultural reputation of the Shenandoah region. As his granddaughter, Cornelia Ware
Anker, wrote in a letter, Josiah “was
president of the American Agricultural Society for at least two years and
founder of the Maryland and Virginia Agricultural Association; this was the
beginning of the U.S. Department of Agriculture into which it merged. I have been told that he was asked to
be the first Secretary of Agriculture, but refused, saying he did not feel
capable of undertaking it.”
(Ref. 3)
There is no further documentation at this time to substantiate the position
Josiah may have held in the national agricultural records, but the New York
Times does have on archival files several articles concerning the subject from
the years 1858 through 1860. Josiah
is mentioned repeatedly as being on the Executive Committee of the United States
Agricultural Society.
By
New York State Agricultural Society
Executive Committee—Henry
Wager, New-York; J. McGowan, Pennsylvania;
Josiah Ware,
Virginia; Frederick Smyth, New-Hampshire; Henry
Wilson. Ohio; John Merryman. Maryland ; James W. Brown, Illinois.
Other publications of the time, such as
American Agriculturist, Volume 18, The Cultivator, and
American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine also featured articles concerning Josiah.
He actually was the “lead-in” story in 1860 for the work he did with the United
States Fair.
See below
~~~~~~~~~~
THE UNITED STATES FAIR.;
CINCINNATI, Thursday, Sept. 20, 1860.
If the Eighth National Fair has done nothing else
for the country, it has at least been productive of one remarkable discovery,
for which it, or rather one of its officers, has a fair chance of general
notoriety. Col. JOSIAH W. WARE, of
Virginia, is an old gentleman of high respectability and famous as a breeder of
Cotswold sheep. He has also been, in his time, a fancier of thorough-bred
horses, it is said, but at any rate possesses such qualifications, in that
respect, as to have been deemed a proper person to make Chairman of the Judges
on thoroughbreds.
~~~~~~~~~~
Josiah served briefly during
the Civil War, and was, at one point, imprisoned by the Union Army at Old
Capitol Prison in Washington D.C. As
with so many other Southerners, he lost his fortune and family estate once the
war ended. Springfield was sold to
the Clagett family, and Josiah and his wife spent their final years at “Durham”
– the home that Edmonia had inherited from her family. Josiah died on August 13, 1883, and
was buried in Grace Episcopal Cemetery.
Upon the news of his death, The Baltimore Sun newspaper wrote the
following tribute:
“Colonel Ware, during the magisterial system, was for many years a member of the
court of his county. It was stated
at the bar today that although hundreds of cases came before him, he was never
reversed. The court adjourned at 12
o’clock today until 10 o’clock tomorrow, as a mark of respect to the memory of
the deceased. Before the Civil War,
Col. Ware was the most extensive sheep raiser in the valley of Virginia and did
more than any man in his section to improve the breed of sheep by importing from
England.” Baltimore Sun
Rev. Hayden wrote:
“It is said that he
[Josiah Ware] was eminently useful as a
citizen, both in private and public life.
His methodical and industrious habits enabled him for many years to
render important services to his friends and neighbors, who he was always happy
to assist. Cheerful and buoyant, his
presence was hailed with delight by the young, in whom he always seemed to feel
a special interest and who looked up to him with pleasure and respect. His was an old age free from those
infirmities of body and mind which so often mar the happiness of persons in
advanced life. . .” (Ref.
6)
Obituary for Josiah Ware
and grave of Josiah Ware Both provided courtesy of James and Judy Ware
The inscription on the grave for Josiah reads as follows:
JOSIAH Wm. WARE
SON OF
JAMES AND ELIZABETH
WARE
BORN AUG. 19, 1802
DIED AUG. 13, 1883
“I AM THE RESURRECTION
AND THE LIFE”
In my hand no
present
bring
Simply to thy cross
I cling
WARE
Transcription of the Obituary for Josiah William Ware
Death of Col. Ware – Col. J. W. Ware, a prominent and highly respected citizen
of this county, died at his home on Monday morning after a brief illness. On the 5th he attended
church, and seemed to be enjoying the vigorous health and activity so remarkably
displayed by one who had passed his fourscore years, but during that week he was
partially paralyzed, which was aggravated by softening of the brain, and on
Monday morning he breathed his last, aged nearly 81 years. Col. Ware was as well known in some
of the counties of Maryland as in the counties adjoining Clarke, owing to the
great interest he always manifested in agriculture, having, in his younger days,
imported stock for the improvement of horses and sheep. No man labored harder and was more
instrumental than Col. Ware in getting the legislative to authorize the
formation of the present county of Clarke, which was done, we believe, in the
year 1835. Under the old magistrates
court system he filled one of the positions on the bench for a number of years, and since the war
has been an advocate for the restoration of that system as more economical and
better adapted to the necessities of the people.
Col. Ware, like many other men of influence, property and credit,
suffered the loss of his old home by the depreciation in property that followed
the financial panic of 1873. He
several times aspired to be a member of the Virginia Assembly, but failed as an
independent candidate. His remains
were deposited in the graveyard attached to Grace Church on Tuesday evening.
The tall, slender, white
tombstone that sits immediately to the right of Josiah’s has many of his
immediate family’s names engraved on it.
Although this is probably the location where Josiah’s first wife,
Frances, was buried, the tall monument was clearly added at a later date. All the children’s names appear on
the stone, but we know two of the son’s bodies were actually buried elsewhere.
Grave
of Frances Toy Glassell Ware -
photo courtesy of James and Judy Ware
The inscription on the
front of the tombstone reads as follows:
FRANCES T. WARE
WIFE OF
Josiah
Wm. Ware
daughter of
JOHN
GLASSELL
born July 25th 1809
died May 10th 1842
Frances Toy Glassell was the daughter of Louisa and John Glassell. We know from a letter written by
Sigismund S. Ware in 1930 that “Fannie Glassell was sent to school in Winchester & stayed at the Episcopal Rectory
with Reverend Alexander Balmain, who had married her aunt; Miss Lucy Taylor.”
(Ref. #340)
On February 22, 1827, Fanny (as
she liked to be called) was married to Josiah Ware. He was 25 years old and she was 18.
From a family letter written to Josiah in response to his wedding news, we can
see how devoted the couple must have been to each other. His cousin wrote back to Josiah that
“as there is nothing but darts and
heartache, smiles, dimples and happiness, matrimony and the consummation of
bliss, I could have no such good reason either for surprise or astonishment.”
(Ref. 141)
Frances and Josiah celebrated 15 years of marriage together before her untimely
death in 1842.
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