While there, he entered the Society of Jesus on August 6, 1832, and proceeded to the Jesuit novitiate at White Marsh Manor in Maryland.
[6] Around this time, he developed health problems that left him temporarily unable to speak and later with impaired speech, which prevented him from preaching.
[8] On one occasion, while the President of Georgetown College, James A. Ryder, was away from the school, a student rebellion broke out, which Ward was able to quell.
Ward played a key role in the early years of Loyola College in Maryland, which was founded in 1852.
[13] On August 15, 1861, Ward succeeded Bernardin F. Wiget as the master of novices of the Jesuits' Maryland Province and Angelo M. Paresce as the rector of the St. Stanislaus Novitiate in Frederick.
[16] Following the war, he returned to Georgetown in 1865 as vice president, prefect of studies, and professor of rhetoric, where he remained until August 15, 1869, when he again became the rector of the St. Stanislaus Novitiate, succeeding Joseph O'Callaghan.
[15] For many years, Ward was also the socius (assistant) to the provincial superior, which required him to live near St. Francis Xavier College in New York City.
[18] For ten years, Ward was the prefect of studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and at Loyola College in Maryland, and then returned to the Frederick novitiate as the master of novices and vice rector from September 14, 1889, to December 17, 1891, succeeding Michael O'Kane and being succeeded by John H.