William Ward of Salt Lake City was Utah's major sculptor in stone as well as a good architect, a painter, and essentially one of the least known of our really important pioneer artists. Originally from Leicester, England north west of London, Ward was trained almost from infancy as a stonemason by his father. He moved on to become an apprentice to an architect in the English Gothic tradition, and also managed to gain some knowledge of painting technique. Such skills were put to important use upon his arrival in America (1840s-50s): he sculptured the Baptismal Font for the Nauvoo Temple, The Deseret Bloc for Washington Monument, The Couchant Lion for Brigham Young's Lion House which Ward designed; had a "lion's share" in the design of the Salt Lake City Endowment House. Then he left town because of his working relationship with Truman Angell.

In the 1880s and 90s, Ward taught mechanical and architectural drawings at the University of Deseret (U. of U.), came in "second best" in the first Salt Lake City and County Building competition and designed the Armstrong house.

Biography courtesy Artists of Utah