Louisa F. Ward (maiden name: Shore) was born around 1821 in Virginia to Robert Shore. His father was a farmer who owned $4,000 of real estate by 1850. She married Robert F. Ward on May 19, 1852, and they had at least three children: Louisa, born around 1854; Sallie, born around 1857; and Robert, born around 1862. They lived in Nottoway County, Virginia, and her husband worked as a farmer. By 1870, they owned $4,000 of real estate and $450 of personal property. By 1880, they were living in their nephew Frank Ward’s household in Nottoway County. She died there on March 20, 1881.