Margaret Ward

Margaret E. Ketchum Ward (born December 15, 1840 in Augusta, Georgia; died April 7, 1919 in Birmingham) was proprietor of the Relay House hotel and an influential society matron, the mother of Mayor George Ward and sometimes called the "Mother of Birmingham".

Margaret Ketchum was the only child of William Ketchum of New Jersey and Jane Griswold Demming Ketchum of Connecticut. She was a grand niece of school historian Samual "Peter Parley" Goodrich and of Connecticut governor Roger Griswold. She was also related to the earlier Roger Griswold who presided over the convention which ratified the United States constitution in 1788 and to Alexander Griswold, the first Episcopal bishop of the Eastern diocese, covering all of New England.

She attended Shorter College in Rome, Georgia before marrying George R. Ward in 1857 when she was sixteen years old. The couple accompanied her parents to Birmingham in 1872 and helped operate the Relay House, which was at the time the only hotel operating in the city and served as an important meeting place. She became known as a well-informed, witty and wise conversationalist, a gracious hostess, and as a loyal friend. Her influence in elevating the "rough" society of Birmingham through her example was widely appreciated. She labored to help found the Cathedral Church of the Advent and remained active "in every movement of the church" for forty years.

Ward died in 1919 after a long illness and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery.

References

• Cruikshank, George H. (1920) History of Birmingham and Its Environs: A Narrative Account of Their Historical Progress, Their People, and Their Principal Interests 2 volumes. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections