William Hayes Ward

For other people named William Ward, see William Ward (disambiguation).

William Hayes Ward (June 25, 1835 - August 29, 1916) was an American clergyman, editor, and Orientalist, born at Abington, Mass.

After attending Berwick Academy in Maine, adjacent to the family Hayes House, Ward from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1852, Amherst College in 1856, and the Andover Theological Seminary in 1859. He served as pastor of a church at Oskaloosa, Kans. in 1859-60, and as professor of Latin at Ripon College in Wisconsin (1865–68). He joined the editorial staff of the New York Independent in 1868 and remained with the Independent thereafter, rising by degrees to editor in chief (1896–1913), and then honorary editor. He directed the Wolfe Expedition to Babylonia (1884–85) and was twice president of the American Oriental Society (1890–94 and 1909–10). He was the father of Herbert D. Ward. His works include:

• The World's Christian Hymns (1883), with his sister Susan Hayes Ward
• Report of the Wolfe Expedition to Babylonia (1885)
• Biography of Sidney Lanier (1885)
• Cylinders and Other Ancient Oriental Seals in the Library of J. Pierpont Morgan (1909)
• The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia (1910)
• What I Believe and Why (1915)