A blacksmith by trade, Bard was also a lay leader in the German Methodist Church; he passed his career in Adams and York Counties, Pennsylvania, and Frederick County, Maryland.
[1] He is among the most prolific fraktur artists known to have lived or worked in York County, alongside Daniel Peterman.
[2] A large portion of his work consists of copies of baptismal certificates published by a printer in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
[3] Unusually, some of his pieces incorporate American symbols and themes into their decorative schemes.
[3] Many examples of Bard's work, mainly writing samples but including other pieces as well, can be found in the collection of the Winterthur Museum.