“Joseph Ware, son of Ichabod and Sarah (Skinner) Ware, was born Oct. 11, 1761, in Wrentham, Mass.  He was a descendant of Robert Ware, of Dedham.  His early life was spent on his father’s farm in that part of Wrentham called Plainville.  The farm is still owned and occupied by a descendant of the same name.  About 1784 Mr. Ware removed to West Medway and engaged in agriculture, his farm being the near property now owned and occupied by A.M.B. Fuller, Esq.  He united, June 12,1785, with the Second Church of Christ, in Medway, and in 1798 was elected deacon of that church, ‘in which office he served with promptness and fidelity’ until his removal from Medway to North Wrentham, in 1813.  In 1703 he married Esther Holbrook, of North Wrentham, who died Nov. 10, 1808.  His second wife was Mary Blake, of North Wrentham.  She died March 23, 1829.  ‘Both of these women sustained a reputation for piety and usefulness.’

On his removal to North Wrentham, Deacon Ware was chosen deacon of the church in that place.  He owned a farm, a part of which in now comprised in the place known as ‘Highland Lake Grove.’  Deacon Ware married his third wife, Mrs. Abigail Green,of Medway, an died in North Wrentham, Jan. 12, 1837.  The following extracts were taken from an obituary published in the Congregationalist, of January, 1837: ‘Very few can be found whose example, take it all in all, has been more unexceptionable, and there is but here and there an individual who sustains so many excellent traits of character.’  ‘He was a kind husband, provident father, an obliging neighbor, and a pillar in the church.’  ‘May the church, in which he was a pillar and an officer, so improve this heavy stroke of bereavement that God may be pleased to enrich them, both with grace and with numbers.’ ”

Source:  The History of Medway Massachusetts 1713 -1885, by Ephriam Orcutt Jameson and George James La Croix, Published by the Town,1886, pages 1-2