Ward, Theodore Rowland.

   In The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, the father of Charles Dexter Ward. Although initially encouraging his son in the latter’s discovery of various papers relating to his long-lost ancestor, Joseph Curwen, Ward is increasingly disturbed by his son’s strange behavior and asks the family doctor, Marinus Willett, to see if anything can be done to restore his son’s mental health. (Ward’s wife—never named—is still more disturbed, and on Willett’s advice she is sent for a rest in Atlantic City.) Ward accompanies Willett on an exploration of the abandoned Pawtuxet bungalow of Curwen and Ward, but the noxious odors emerging from an underground chamber cause him to faint, so that Willett is forced to conduct the investigation alone.