Edward Ward, III

The reference below lays out the history of the family and the marriages of the children: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/wayne/history/heritage/wards.txt

Early facts about the Wards are still missing, but it is believed that the
first known forefather, Edward Ward, came from London, England, to Pitt
County, N. C., prior to 1740, and later settled on a plantation on New River
in Onslow County. He may have been a grandson of Sir Edward Ward, a London
judge. Edward Ward was a colonial sheriff of Onslow. He married Mary
Cannon, a daughter of Edward and Sara Woodard Cannon, and they had two sons,
William (born 1753) and Edward (born 1744), and several daughters.

  William Ward served in the North Carolina militia during the American 

Revolution, and a very detailed account of his service is recorded in the
Pension Records in Washington. He fought at the Battle of Moore’s Creek
Bridge on February 27, 1776, and later he was engaged in a skirmish with the
Tories at Myhand’s Bridge on Coharie Swamp in Sampson County. William Ward
married Mary Bell and first settled on a plantation in Duplin County, and
later to the Taylor’s Bridge section of Sampson County. They had the
following children: William Ward settled at Thomasville, Georgia, along
with several other families from Sampson and Duplin; Robert Ward, who married
Sarah Ann Alderman and settled at Thomasville, Georgia; Nancy Ward
(born 1802), who married Thomas Carlton and settled at Thomasville, Georgia;
Samuel Ward, who married Mary Robinson and settled in Sampson County; and
Alfred Ward (1790-1869) who married Elizabeth Robinson and finally settled
in Duplin County.