Stephen Ward, who occupied this property prior to the Revolution, (his dwelling house standing directly on the site of the present Marble Hall, and closely resembling it in all its proportions), was the son of Edmund Ward, of Eastchester, for many years a member of the Colonial Assembly, and grandson of Edmund Ward, of Fairfield, Connecticut, who removed to Eastchester about the latter period of the 17th century. In 1700 the inhabitants of this town granted to Edmund Ward fifty acres of land, in consideration that he pay the Indians for the same. These lands were situated on the Long Reach, for the name of Edward Ward occurs in the Long Reach patent granted to William Peartree and others, A. D., 1708.

The Wards of Eastchester descend from the ancient family of that name formerly seated at Goileston and Homesfield, in the County of Suffolk, England, in 1593, who claimed to represent William de la Ward who flourished temp. Henry II, 1154-1189. Of this family was Andrew Ward, a native of Suffolk County, who emigrated to New England in 1630. He was a freeman of Watertown, Mass., and accompanied the first settlers to Connecticut, and was elected magistrate in 1636. He subsequently removed with the Rev. Richard Denton to Hempstead, Long Island, in 1643, and became a resident of Fairfield in 1649. His son was the grandfather of the former proprietor of the Somerville estate.

The Honorable Stephen Ward, above mentioned, was for many years a judge of the county, and a firm patriot throughout the Revolution. At an early period he appears to have been proscribed by the loyalist party, and a bounty set upon his head.