• "A minister, educator, government leader, humanitarian and easterner."

• Sen. George McGovern used those words to summarize the life of the Rev. Joseph Ward when cosponsoring a resolution that a statue of Ward be placed in the nation's Capitol.
• Ward's life and accomplishments are a silver thread that runs through the history of Dakota Territory. His efforts helped lead to South Dakota's becoming a state 125 years ago.

• Ward was born on May 5, 1838, near Perry Center, N.Y. When he was about 18, he journeyed to the frontier of Illinois and spent a year as a teacher and farmer. He returned to the East to attend Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., a boarding high school. He went on to graduate from Brown University at Providence, R.I., and at Andover Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, interrupting his studies to serve on the Union Army in the Civil War.
• When finishing his studies at Andover Theological Seminary, Ward accepted a call to be a pastor in California. Just as he was about to sail for California, he received word that the church had called another man to be its pastor. Ward accepted a call that he had turned down while still in seminary - taking charge of a new missionary effort in Dakota Territory. Dakota Territory had been organized in 1861 and consisted of what are now North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
• Ward and his wife, Sarah, arrived at the territorial capital of Yankton on Nov. 6, 1868.
• He was "a little more than six feet tall, straight as a bean pole, heavy burnside whiskers that reached out to his shoulders, heavy mustache, high forehead, light hair, and those wonderful eyes that spoke love, brotherliness and kindness wherever they turned," was the description given to Ward by Dr. Reuben A. Beard during a program honoring Ward.
• As the first minister called to the first Congregational Church in Dakota Territory, Ward presided over a congregation of about 10. The first service took place in the

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