The Ward Cemetery

The life histories of forty-six residents of the Ward Cemetery reveal what life was like in the early mining boom towns of White Pine County. Most residents of Ward were not native to the area, and many came from as far away as China and the British Isles. Life was challenging and sometimes violent; Martin Gleeson was murdered by his partner John Roach over a mining claim dispute, and Gleeson's obelisk-style headstone can be seen in the cemetery. Boomtown wives and children faced difficult adjustments to frequent moves and few conveniences. Joseph Liddle's wife Margaret bore five children in White Pine County, and records of their births offer a glimpse of the mobile lifestyle involved with mining: Mable was born in Hamilton in 1872, Arthur in Aurum in 1875, Josephine in Hamilton in 1880, Ruth in Hamilton in 1882, and Laura in Ward in 1887. The graves in the cemetery are marked by headstones, large stones, and in many cases simple mounds of earth or piles of wood.

Ely, Nevada · United States