Ward, Aaron Montgomery (1844-1913), an American businessman, pioneered in the mail-order business in the United States. As a traveling salesman in the Midwest, he conceived the idea of buying merchandise in large quantities from manufacturers for cash and selling it directly to farmers for cash.
Ward was born on Feb. 17, 1844, in Chatham, New Jersey. In 1872, he and his partner, George R. Thorne, began in the mail-order business in a livery-stable loft with $2,400 capital and a single-sheet catalog listing a few dry goods items. When Ward died on Dec. 7, 1913, the capital had risen to $40 million.
