Cole's Circle

W

Ward, Samuel (1786-1839)

Successful New York banker and member of the Federalist aristocracy. Ward, an Evangelical Christian and the first president of the New York Temperance Society, shared religious convictions with Cole, a member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Catskill. Ward was deeply concerned about the evils of society and commissioned Cole to create his great series The Voyage of Life (1839-40) for his personal art gallery in New York City, with the hopes that the paintings would instruct his children and his guests in Christian morals. See Abraham Hosier, The Residence of Samuel Ward, Sr.