Ward Academy History - A Directory and Related Articles and Photos

This page still needs to be edited and fact checked and is not final

The Ward Academy History - Centered Around Charles Nash’s Directory of Faculty and Students

Ward Academy, a Christian residential school established in 1893 in Academy in Charles Mix County, South Dakota – was central to the life of the Charles Mix County region.  Founded just five years after South Dakota achieved statehood, it was part of a developing settler community.  Religious and educational institutions were central to community life, and Ward Academy was just that - supported by the farmers and business people of the region who sent their children.  For almost forty years it was a major institution in Charles Mix County.  There was a touching article written about Ward Academy that is linked here and captures the pioneering community that it once was.

This is a story of a bustling community institution, tied to families throughout the region. The last academy class graduated in 1930, so at this point, there are no Ward Academy alumni, staff, or faculty members still alive. Most of the buildings are gone - the church and the monument remain at the academy site.  But it is a story that needs to be remembered and needs to be told.

Fortunately, much has been left behind that tells the story.  The directory posted here - as well as photos, news articles, a history, a catalogue, and other mementos are what is left of the thriving community that meant so much to those who worked there, studied there, and were alumni with memories for over sixty years after it closed.  Those items are posted here among the pages of the directory. The history “This One Thing I Do”, published in 1952 provided photos and anecdotes, but is largely not posted here.

Ward Academy central to the life of the Nashes of Carroll Township.  My grandmother, Josephine Nash (Ofstedahl) attended, as did her siblings and cousins, and her father appears to have been a board member. I regularly heard about Ward Academy as a child.  Josephine made lifelong friends there, especially her friend Kate Sabin (Nachtigal) and returned throughout her adult life for reunions once she left South Dakota for California.  Josephine’s oldest brother George Nash was a student at Ward Academy when he died in 1907 at age seventeen – a few letters from Academy to home are posted in the web pages on Jim Nash and Ida Christensen. My mother described in her recollections of how hard it was to get from the farm to the Academy, even though the distance was less than twenty miles, and why Jo didn’t come home very often while a boarding student.

Charles Nash, Josephine’s cousin, was a student and teacher at Ward Academy before his own education career elsewhere.  He treasured his Ward Academy years.  He authored many of the publications that preserve the memories of Ward Academy to this day, one being a 75th anniversary pamphlet for the Academy Church.  He worked with others on a monument to the Camfields and the Academy – which is at the former Academy site to this day.  I believe he was a partner in the publication of the book “This Thing I Do”, which chronicles the Camfield family and the history of Ward Academy.  And he authored a mimeographed listing of faculty, staff, and students of Ward Academy, published in 1959.  This page contains the pages of that directory, and various supporting articles and photos - including my grandmother’s copy of the 1916-1917 catalogue which describes so many pieces of life at Ward Academy. 

In Charles’ Recollections, posted on this website, he wrote about his memories of Ward Academy, and of coming back to teach at Ward Academy: “. . .  Of the seven graduates whom Dr. Camfield called back to teach at the old school, not one ever stayed more than a year.  Invariably we were just out of college and had other plans, as did I, to get married, or start up some other business.  Salaries paid teachers at Academy were too meager to start planning.  It always appealed to me that teachers who taught at Ward Academy must have a missionary spirit, as did the Camfields.”

This is the one page in this website where the content was lost – it just disappeared below the header at some point.  I have reconstructed this page (it was one of the few I did not have a backup for), and it may differ slightly from the original page that viewers might have seen, as I have enhanced the directory with different Ward Academy items, including the catalogue, my grandmother’s graduation program, a few news articles, and a few photos.  The photo of my grandmother’s class is at the header of this page – Jo is at the back left, and Kate Sabin (Nachtigal) is in the front to the left of the young man in that row. A partial key to the photograph is posted below (there are twelve in the photo, and eight identified below - Jo Nash is not on the list).  All of the class of 1917 are listed in the directory below.

This photo of Warren Hall at Ward Academy, which was the later “Girl’s Dorm” at the Academy - probably where my grandmother lived while a student. This photo was among my grandmother’s photos. The photo has been enhanced and colorized.

The photo below is of Ward Hall, the early “Girl’s Dorm”.

The Monument to the Camfields and Ward Academy that is at the Ward Academy site in Academy, South Dakota, from my own visit in 2000.

The references in “This One Thing That I Do” dates the monument from 1947 and includes a photo of the path from the highway to the monument.

“This One Thing I Do” had photos of an “old” barn - which burned - and the “new” barn, which had a metal roof.

The “This Thing That I Do” contained a photo page that had a photo of a boy’s hall (dorm?), the J. E. Lloyd  store, and a creamery - a mix of Ward Academy and Academy.  John E. Lloyd is shown in the 1900 census in LaRoche Township (where Academy was) in Charles Mix County, 37, born in Iowa, married with three children and listed as a “general storekeeper”.   Mr. Lloy’d 1958 obituary (Jan 7, 1958 Sioux Falls Argus Leader), posted below, shows he was a storekeeper in Academy for 65 years and was listed as a “pioneer” of Academy, and also served as secretary-treasurer for Ward Academy, as well as representing the area for two terms in the state legislature.

The photo below was taken at the Academy Church ca June 1993 (the date on the back of the photo). In it were Anita Dimick (Nachtigal), Shirley Nash Dimick, Marla Dimick, Ralph Laird, Keith Nash, Dorothy Ofstedahl Laird, and Rusty Dimick.  Shirley and Keith’s father Guy Nash was a first cousin to Jo Nash Ofstedahl, mother of Dorothy - and both Guy and Jo were students at Ward Academy.

The cover page of the history of the Camfields and Ward Academy is posted below. The photos from this book have been sprinkled throughout this page.

The Ward Academy Directory with Supporting Items

The Directory was mimeographed and stapled - produced by Charles A. Nash. There is no date on the directory but given the deaths listed, it was likely in 1960 or after (Ben Nash is shown as deceased, and he died in July 1960).  There is a brief history at the beginning, and Jo Nash Ofstedahl’s copy had seven pages of hand-written notes, relating to reunions I believe, which are posted following the directory. There are also a few newspaper articles, and I have posted those following the directory as well. I have also posted the 1916-1917 catalogue, which was among my grandmother’s things, which details the board, students, alumni, tuition rates, class offerings, and more. I have also posted the photos from the history of the Camfields and Ward Academy.  The cover page of the directory is just below, and the rest of the pages of the directory follow.

Many familiar Charles Mix County surnames are in this directory. I have called out family members, but there are others from Carroll Township - Slys, Hardings, and Foxleys. There are other names from throughout the region. Interestingly there are family members of two future United States Senators here. Peter Norbeck, who was later Governor and Senator from South Dakota, lived in Charles Mix County where his father was a minister in Bloomington and Platte. Peter Norbeck was a well driller by profession and drilled wells for the Nashes in Carroll Township.  J. J. Exon was a Senator from Nebraska and various of his Exon family from a previous generation are shown here as well.  Senator Exon was born in Geddes in 1921.

The photo below is from “This One Thing I Do” and is of Rev. Camfield and his wife and child.

The Camfield’s home was pictured in the “This Thing That I Do” and is posted below.

Charles Nash entry as a faculty member is shown just below - the author of this directory and cousin of my grandmother - showing his Ward Academy subjects and his later degree at Yankton College.

The history “This One Thing I Do” contains photos of various Ward Academy faculty members. I have posted them just below, and they match up with this directory’s listings.

Mabel Toland, who met Ben Nash at Ward Academy and later married him - wrote a biography published by grandson Steve Langenfeld in 1981. The section on Ward Academy details how she didn’t get along with Sara Hughes (whose photo is just below) and how that relationship eventually led to her leaving Ward Academy. Since it is one of the few contemporaneous accounts of life at Ward Academy, those pages will be posted just below Sara Hughes photo.

Listed below as an early student is Mary (“Mate”) Nash (Elfes). She was the daughter of George Nash and the sister of Jim Nash, and the aunt of my grandmother Jo Nash (Ofstedahl). She was born in 1870, so she was a late in life Ward Academy student.  Alton Parish is listed as a student.  A card from him to George Nash is posted in the page on Jim Nash and Ida Christensen Nash.

Helen Larson, later a teacher for many decades in Charles Mix County as Helene Just. She was the one teacher my mother had that she remembered and who made a big impression on her.  She saved the 1955 article below, noting that Mrs. Just was her third grade teacher, indicating that Mrs. Just had taught three generations of one family.

My grandmother saved a clipping from a 1938 Platte Enterprise edition - which included the celebration of Jim and Ida Nash’s 15th wedding anniversary, and Jim Nash’s brother Orson building a corn crib and granary, which is the reason it was saved. Yet the first item shows that there were 55 students enrolled at Ward Academy in October 1903.

Ruby Carroll is shown below in a 1904 class. Her mother Climena Blodgett was the sister of Phoebe Blodgett Nash - the wife of George Nash and grandmother to most of the Nash’s that attended Ward Academy. Ruby’s father was Henry Carroll, for whom Carroll Township in Charles Mix County - where the Nashes lived - was named.  Henry ran an early ferry service from Wheeler to the other side of the Missouri River.  Ruby’s brother Harry was shown below in the 1905 class.

George Nash - the son of Jim and Ida Kate Nash - died while a student at Ward Academy in 1907 just short of his seventeenth birthday. A few letters from him at Academy are posted in the first page of Jim Nash and Ida Christensen. There are a few names of Ward Academy students listed there. Unfortunately, he is not listed in the directory as having been a student. He did not live to graduate, but he was definitely a student there during this period.

One photo from “This Thing That I Do” is of students in front of the church in 1908. Note the few students sitting up in the tower.

The photo below is of the Ward Academy “Assembly Room” in 1908. It looks like a classroom.

Charles Nash, author of this directory, is shown below in the class of 1909. Frank Nash, Charles’ brother and a future sheriff and state legislator, is shown below in the Class of 1910.

Rena Lunders provided a photo of students, faculty and staff at Ward Academy. She believed to be taken between 1895-1900, but the book “This Thing I Do” contains the photo and dates it from 1910. The photo has been colorized and is posted here:

A second photograph of students on a post card I found and purchased online. I colorized it and it is posted below. There are no items from the message side that identify a date or further information.

Florence Camfield, the daughter of the Ward Academy founders, is shown below in the Class of 1911. Ora Elfes is also shown below, the daughter of “Mate” Nash and cousin of Jo Nash Ofstedahl.

Ray Nash, the son of Orson Nash and Charles and Jo’s first cousin, is shown in the class of 1913. He died in 1914.

I have a photograph of the Ward Academy baseball team. I show a date of 1910, but Ben C. Nash is in it - and he was shown below in the Class of 1913. The photo has been colorized and is posted below. Ben Nash is in the front left.

The photo of the 1913 Ward Academy football team is from “This Thing I Do” and they are named below the photo - Emil Nachtigal, future husband of Kate Sabin, is one:

Mabel Toland is shown below in 1914. She married Ben Nash in 1916. Family lore says she was Jo’s roommate at Ward Academy and that’s how she met Ben Nash.  Leila Jones is shown below in the class of 1915.  She married Frank Nash.

Among my grandmother’s items was the invitation to her class’ 1917 graduation. The class listing inside is posted below.

In addition to Jo Nash in the class of 1917, her brother Ted Nash is listed below as well. Emil Nachtigal is shown below as well - he married Jo’s classmate Kate Sabin.  Arch Dimick is shown below as well - his son Rusty married Guy Nash’s daughter Shirley.

One of the items my grandmother left behind was the Ward Academy catalogue for the years 1916-1917 - when she was a senior. The catalogue is a window into life at Ward Academy. The cover is posted below, with her name hand-written in the upper corner. The full catalogue is posted after the directory pages.

The article below is from the Huron (South Dakota) Daily Plainsman of May 23, 1930.

The article below is from the Mitchell Evening Republican of March 17, 1930.

The typed page with the school song was tucked into the directory and is posted below, as is a handwritten version, which was tucked in my grandmother’s 1916-17 catalogue:

Above with Jo’s class in the directory is posted the cover page of the 1916-1917 Ward Academy catalogue. The full catalogue is posted just below, closing with the back side page. It is significant because it lists board members (Jim and Guy Nash are listed), students, alumni (and where they were living afer Ward Academy), tuition, and many other parts of academy life and operations - giving a flavor of all aspects the academy and its life.

Dr. Camfield’s obituary was in the October 2, 1941 Sioux Falls Argus Leader: