 Ward would remain in this position as a resident amongst the urban poor until being forced out by the settlement's governing council due to personal conflicts in the summer of 1900.The English-born Ward gained American citizenship on October 10, 1898, at Cook County Courthouse in Chicago, shortly after beginning his life at Northwestern University Settlement.Also in 1898, Ward received his first posting to a Methodist pastorate as co-pastor of the Wabash Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church.