North Dayton News

John T. Ward was a conductor in Ohio’s Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people in the South escape to freedom, The Columbus Dispatch reports. During the Civil War, he worked as a contractor, moving supplies and equipment for the U.S. Army to Camp Chase. Ward soon realized that those skills moving people and supplies could be useful in the business world and in 1881, he and his son William Ward launched their moving company, then known as the Ward Transfer Line. Before the end of the 19th century, the company was renamed E.E. Ward Transfer and Storage Co., after John T.’s grandson, Edger Earl Ward, who had taken over the business. What started with just two horses and a wagon has now grown into a 140+-year-old business. Today, the E.E. Ward Moving & Storage Co. is the oldest known continuously operating Black-owned business in the United States, as acknowledged by the U.S. Department of Commerce and recorded in the 2003 Congressional Record. E.E. Ward Moving and Storage is now a nationally recognized leader in the transportation and relocation industry, it has earned numerous honors for exceptional service and historical achievement, including the Super Service Award from Angie’s List (2002); MBE Supplier of the Year Award (2010 and 2017); Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council); Torch Award for Ethics, (2012) from the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio, North American Van Lines Driver of the Year (2015); Corporate Caring Human Services Award (2016) from Columbus Business First); Outstanding Diverse Organization Award (2017) from Columbus Business First); Moving and Storage Agent of the Year Service Excellence Award (2017) from the American Moving and Storage Association); and the North American Van Lines Power of Blue Team of the Year (2019). 

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