Ward Engineering Company Archives and Manuscripts

Access and use

Location of collection:
West Virginia and Regional History Center
West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Restrictions:

No special access restriction applies.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Ward Engineering Company, Archives and Manuscripts, A&M 2298, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
82.2 Linear Feet 82 ft. 2 in. (178 document cases, 5 in. each); (2 document cases, 2.5 in. each); (2 flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (1 folder, 0.25 in.); (1 ledger, 1 in.); (1 oversize folder, 1 in.); (map cabinets, 80 in.)
Creator:
Ward Engineering Company and McCabe, Brooks F., Jr., 1949-
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Ward Engineering Company, Archives and Manuscripts, A&M 2298, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Records of a Charleston, West Virginia, business which introduced to the western waters of the United States a new design of towboat whose essential features were water-tube boilers, multiple-expansion engines, and screw propulsion; thus replacing the traditional paddle wheel towboats that navigated the Ohio and Mississippi river systems. Charles Ward (1841-1915), a British engineer, who emigrated to Charleston in 1871, founded the industry and designed these new boats. This collection consists of business correspondence, U.S. Government business papers, company financial papers, compensation files, deeds, contracts, photographs, diaries, scrapbooks, charts, catalogs, information on ships, blueprints, maps, patents, biographical information, and more.

For additional information, consult: Bobbitt, John M., "In Pursuit of a Wild Goose," Nautical Research Journal, 42 (1997): 197-212 (Regarding research using the Ward ship drawings.)
McCabe, Brooks F., and George P. Parkinson, "The 'Duncan Bruce': A Last Attempt to Revive the Sternwheel Towboat." IA: The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology, 4 (1978): 43-54.
Parkinson, George P., and Brooks F. McCabe, "Charles Ward and the James Rumsey: Regional Innovation in Steam Technology on the Western Rivers," West Virginia History, 39 (1978): 143-180. (This article is extensively footnoted with sources.)

Series include:
Series 1. Business Correspondence (1928–1931), boxes: Series 1, Box 1-53
Series 2. Business Correspondence -- U.S. Government (1926–1931), boxes: Series 2, Box 1-16
Series 3. Company Financial Records (1917–1931), boxes: Series 3, Box 1-73
Series 4. Miscellaneous Papers (1906–1942), boxes: Series 4, Box 1-4
Series 5. Compensation Claims (CONFIDENTIAL) (1925–1935), boxes: Series 5, Box 1-3
Series 6. Boiler Information, Catalogs, Patents, and Reprints (1912–1930), boxes: Series 6, Box 1-2
Series 7. Miscellaneous Business Records (1884, 1913-1955), boxes: Series 7, Box 1-12
Series 8. Deeds and Contracts (ca. 1871-1935), box: Series 8, Box 1
Series 9. Photographs, Scrapbooks, and Diaries (1883-1931), boxes: Series 9, Box 1-7
Series 10. Research Files (1857-1953, 1975-1978), boxes: Series 10, Box 1-3
Series 11. Specifications (1916-1931), boxes: Series 11, Box 1-2
Series 12. Ship Drawings (1887–1931) Series 13. Blueprints and Maps (circa 1900-1940)

This series includes correspondence, telegrams, advertisements, estimates, purchase orders, blue prints, etc. regarding the acquisition of equipment and supplies necessary for boat construction; arranged chronologically by year, alphabetically therein, for the years 1928-1931.

This series includes correspondence, bulletins, affidavits, bid solicitations, blue prints, etc. regarding requests for information, inspections, etc.

This series includes product advertisements, and paid invoices for supplies, equipment, shipping, etc. These records also give a snapshot of businesses in Charleston, WV in the early 20th century, as well as information on the Ward Estate.

This series includes cost charts for ward boats, material regarding investments, personal correspondence, and other material.

This series is confidential and can only be viewed 70 years after date of record creation. It includes correspondence and forms regarding workers compensation claims.

This series includes miscellaneous information on Ward boilers, a partial list of vessels built by Ward Engineering (1920-1929), equipment catalogs, patents for inventions of Charles E. Ward from the 1920s, and reprints of articles about Ward boats.

This series includes legal documents, title papers, reports, maps, blue prints, etc., regarding family and business affairs, such as real estate, insurance, and disposition of the Ward estate in the 1940s.

This series includes checks, deeds, leases, agreements, title reports, etc.

This series includes photographs, mostly of Ward engines and boats, and some of the Ward family (ca. 1890s-1920s); two scrapbooks of newspaper clippings regarding Ward Engineering and the Ward family (ca. 1897-1930s); two diaries kept by Charles E. Ward (1880s); and ledger containing a guest book from Ward's display and presentation in Machinery Hall at the Chicago World's Fair (1893), as well mathematical calculations for steam engine and ship design (1894-1913).

Photographs of boats include views of construction and close-ups of details, as well as photos of completed vessels on their launch date.

The diary of May 1883 to November 1884 is available on microfilm in A&M No. 2266. Additional photographs of the Ward family may be found in A&M 2267.

This subseries includes photographic prints that have curled over time and have been separated from the other photographs of this series due to preservation concerns.

This subseries includes the other photographic prints that have remained flat over time.

These negatives have been separated to secure storage.

These files were pulled by George Parkinson, former Head Curator of the WVRHC, to support the research and writing of an article he co-authored with Brooks McCabe, Jr. titled "Charles Ward and the James Rumsey: Regional Innovation in Steam Technology on the Western Rivers." Included are a ribbon copy of his article, his research notes, as well as original material from the collection, such as correspondence, publications, photographs, etc. For citations of articles he coauthored, see "Notes" in the beginning of this inventory. Volume of the following files can vary from one to several items. Dating in this series usually refers to date of creation, sometimes content.

These documents record in detailed narrative the design features of various bids made by Ward Engineering and others for mostly towboats, but also for boilers, a cargo barge, a packet steamer, a floating drydock, a steel motor yacht, and a home for Charles E. Ward, among others.

This series includes hundreds of uncatalogued blueprints and maps, including blueprints of Ward's home in Charleston, West Virginia, various ships, locks and dams (including those completed under the Works Progress Administration), a low-rent housing project for the Huntington West Virginia Housing Authority, U.S. Corps of Engineering plans for the Ohio River, plans for the Wilson Dam in Alabama, and many other structures in West Virginia and other states and countries.

Physical location:
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard