Robert Harvey Warden (1841-1905) was born in Dundee, Scotland, and came to Canada as a young man. He studied theology at Knox College, and served as a Presbyterian pastor in Bothwell, Ontario. In 1874 he was recalled to Knox College to assist in raising funds for a new building. His proven financial and administrative abilities won him the post of agent of the Presbyterian College in Montréal in 1878; at the same time he was treasurer of the French Evangelization Fund, and active in many other Presbyterian organizations. In 1897 he was appointed agent of the Western Section of the Presbyterian Church, and served as Moderator in 1901.

Clergyman, newspaper editor, and orientalist William Hayes Ward was born in Abington, Massachusetts. He began his education at Berwick Academy in Maine; conveniently, the school was next door to his family home, Hayes House. He then graduated from prestigious Phillips Andover Academy in 1852 and Amherst College in 1856. Next came Andover Theological Seminary in 1859 and marriage to Ellen Maria Dickinson in Sudbury, Massachusetts. As a Congregationalist pastor, he worked from 1859 to 1860 in Oskaloosa, Kansas, first of many locations in a varied career. A stint as a professor of Latin at Ripon College in Wisconsin from 1865 to 1868 was followed by a move to New York City where he was on the editorial staff of the New York Independent. By 1896, he had been promoted to editor-in-chief, a post he held until 1913. His main interest, however, was ancient Middle Eastern history, and in 1884-1885, he became director of the Wolfe Expedition to Babylonia; his report on the trip was followed by several books on the subject. He was elected president of the American Orientalist Society twice (1890-1894 and 1909-1910).

W.C. Ward was a soldier in the British Army. He served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Engineers and was stationed in Quebec City in 1845.