George B. Ward
George B. Ward (born March 1, 1867 — died 1940) was the 16th Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama (United States) and the owner of the exotic "Vestavia" estate which gives Vestavia Hills, Alabama, its name. Early life Ward was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but arrived in the new city of Birmingham shortly after its founding in 1871. His parents, George R. and Margaret Ward, operated the Relay House hotel along with his grandparents William and Jane Ketchum. Ward's mother hosted many social events at the hotel and was one of the founding members of the Episcopal Church of the Advent. Ward attended the Powell School until he was sixteen and took a job as a runner for Charles Linn's National Bank of Birmingham. He narrowly missed a bullet fired into a mob rushing Birmingham's Jefferson County Courthouse to lynch murderer Richard Hawes on December 8, 1888. That same year, Ward enrolled in prep school at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. When he returned to the bank he was promoted, eventually to the position of paying teller. In 1899 he campaigned successfully for a seat on the Birmingham Board of Aldermen, but resigned after a few months to manage a bank in