Henry Ford
Henry Ford was born on July 30,
1863 in Greenfield Township, Michigan. His parents, William and Mary Ford, were
hard working farmers. Mary was Belgian, the youngest of her family. William was
Irish, and came over to America when the Potato famine hit Ireland. He moved to
America with his parents and siblings at age 21. They were all farmers.
Eventually he settled down, got married, and had Henry. Henry had 4 siblings:
Margaret, Jane, William, and Robert. Henry was the oldest in his family. When
Henry turned 15, he decided he didn’t want to be a farmer, so he became an
inventor.
In 1879, he went to Detroit to work as a machinist, first with James F.
Flower& Bros., and later with the Detroit Dry Dock Co. In 1882, he returned
home to work on the family farm. In 1891, Ford became an engineer at the Edison
Electric Company, and was promoted to head engineer in 1893. After being
promoted, he started experimenting with various types of vehicles, particularly
gas powered ones. The first thing he developed the Quadricycle, also known as
the “horseless carriage.” In
1896, Ford met Thomas Edison at a staff meeting. Edison approved of Ford's
vehicle experiments. Edison encouraged Ford to build a second vehicle, which was
completed in 1898. In August, 1899, backed by investments from William H.
Murphy, a Detroit lumber baron, Ford resigned from the Edison Electric Company
and founded the Detroit Automobile Company. However, the automobiles produced
were of a lower quality and higher price than Ford wanted. Ultimately, the
company was not successful and was shut down in January 1901.
Later in 1901, Ford built and raced
a 26-horsepower automobile. On November 30, 1901, Murphy and a group of
stockholders in the Detroit Automobile Company formed the Henry Ford Company.
In 1902, Murphy brought in Henry M. Leland as a consultant. This led Ford to
leave the company sill bearing his name. With Ford gone, Murphy renamed the
company the Cadillac Automobile Company. In 1902, Ford created an 80+ horsepower
racer and called it “999.” Barney Oldfield was able to drive this car to victory
in a race in October of 1902. That year, Ford received financial backing from an
old acquaintance, Alexander Y. Malcomson, a coal dealer from the Detroit area.
They formed a partnership called “Ford & Malcomson Ltd.” to manufacture
automobiles. Ford worked on designing an inexpensive automobile while Malcomson
worked with the owners of the building they were leasing, John and Horace E.
Dodge, to eventually get them to supply over $160,000 in supplies. Sales slowed
and a crisis arose when the Dodge brothers demanded payment for their first
shipment of parts and funding. Malcomson, being the business man of the
company, brought in another group of investors and convinced the Dodge brothers
to accept a portion of the company as payment. On June 16, 1903, with $28,000
capitol, the company was renamed the Ford Motor Company. Ford then brought back
his old “999” and, to prove that his cars would someday be a hit, drove the car
1 mile across the ice of St. Clair Lake, in 39.4 seconds, which would calculate
to 91.3 miles per hour. Impressed by this record-breaking speed, Barney
Oldfield drove the car around the country, making the Ford brand a well known
name. Ford was one of the early backers of the Indianapolis 500 as well.
The Model T was introduced on October 1, 1908. Unlike other
automobiles, it had a steering wheel on the left side of the car, an entirely
enclosed engine and transmission, four solid block cylinders, and a suspension
that used two semi-elliptic springs. In 1908 it cost $825, equivalent to about
$21,340 today, and by the 1920s, a majority of Americans had learned to drive on
the Model T. To increase efficiency, Ford introduced the moving assembly belts
into his plants in 1913. Henry Ford was considered the inventor of the
automotive assembly line. The assembly line reduced the assembly time for each
Model T from 12 hours per car to 2.5 hours per car. Sales passed 250,000 by
1914. In 1916, the price for the basic touring car was dropped to $360,
equivalent to $7,020 in 2008, and sales reached 472,000. By 1918, half of all
cars in America were Model T’s. Until the development of the assembly line,
Model T’s only came in black. Production continued until 1927 and the final
total production was 15,007,034. In 1918, Ford turned the company over to his
son, Edsel Ford. Henry then started another company, Henry Ford and Son, and
made a show of taking himself and his best employees to this new company, hoping
to scare all shareholders of Ford Motor Company into selling their shares back
to him before they lost value, and ultimately, to gain full control over the
company. This worked as planned and Henry and Edsel Ford now completely owned
the company. By 1926, quickly dropping sales of the Model T convinced Henry to
create a new car, the Model A. This car was introduced in October of 1927 and
produced until 1931, with a total output of well over 4 million. Henry Ford died
in Fair Lane, Dearborn, Michigan on April 7, 1947 at age 83. His cause of death
was a Cerebral
Hemorrhage.
1863 in Greenfield Township, Michigan. His parents, William and Mary Ford, were
hard working farmers. Mary was Belgian, the youngest of her family. William was
Irish, and came over to America when the Potato famine hit Ireland. He moved to
America with his parents and siblings at age 21. They were all farmers.
Eventually he settled down, got married, and had Henry. Henry had 4 siblings:
Margaret, Jane, William, and Robert. Henry was the oldest in his family. When
Henry turned 15, he decided he didn’t want to be a farmer, so he became an
inventor.
In 1879, he went to Detroit to work as a machinist, first with James F.
Flower& Bros., and later with the Detroit Dry Dock Co. In 1882, he returned
home to work on the family farm. In 1891, Ford became an engineer at the Edison
Electric Company, and was promoted to head engineer in 1893. After being
promoted, he started experimenting with various types of vehicles, particularly
gas powered ones. The first thing he developed the Quadricycle, also known as
the “horseless carriage.” In
1896, Ford met Thomas Edison at a staff meeting. Edison approved of Ford's
vehicle experiments. Edison encouraged Ford to build a second vehicle, which was
completed in 1898. In August, 1899, backed by investments from William H.
Murphy, a Detroit lumber baron, Ford resigned from the Edison Electric Company
and founded the Detroit Automobile Company. However, the automobiles produced
were of a lower quality and higher price than Ford wanted. Ultimately, the
company was not successful and was shut down in January 1901.
Later in 1901, Ford built and raced
a 26-horsepower automobile. On November 30, 1901, Murphy and a group of
stockholders in the Detroit Automobile Company formed the Henry Ford Company.
In 1902, Murphy brought in Henry M. Leland as a consultant. This led Ford to
leave the company sill bearing his name. With Ford gone, Murphy renamed the
company the Cadillac Automobile Company. In 1902, Ford created an 80+ horsepower
racer and called it “999.” Barney Oldfield was able to drive this car to victory
in a race in October of 1902. That year, Ford received financial backing from an
old acquaintance, Alexander Y. Malcomson, a coal dealer from the Detroit area.
They formed a partnership called “Ford & Malcomson Ltd.” to manufacture
automobiles. Ford worked on designing an inexpensive automobile while Malcomson
worked with the owners of the building they were leasing, John and Horace E.
Dodge, to eventually get them to supply over $160,000 in supplies. Sales slowed
and a crisis arose when the Dodge brothers demanded payment for their first
shipment of parts and funding. Malcomson, being the business man of the
company, brought in another group of investors and convinced the Dodge brothers
to accept a portion of the company as payment. On June 16, 1903, with $28,000
capitol, the company was renamed the Ford Motor Company. Ford then brought back
his old “999” and, to prove that his cars would someday be a hit, drove the car
1 mile across the ice of St. Clair Lake, in 39.4 seconds, which would calculate
to 91.3 miles per hour. Impressed by this record-breaking speed, Barney
Oldfield drove the car around the country, making the Ford brand a well known
name. Ford was one of the early backers of the Indianapolis 500 as well.
The Model T was introduced on October 1, 1908. Unlike other
automobiles, it had a steering wheel on the left side of the car, an entirely
enclosed engine and transmission, four solid block cylinders, and a suspension
that used two semi-elliptic springs. In 1908 it cost $825, equivalent to about
$21,340 today, and by the 1920s, a majority of Americans had learned to drive on
the Model T. To increase efficiency, Ford introduced the moving assembly belts
into his plants in 1913. Henry Ford was considered the inventor of the
automotive assembly line. The assembly line reduced the assembly time for each
Model T from 12 hours per car to 2.5 hours per car. Sales passed 250,000 by
1914. In 1916, the price for the basic touring car was dropped to $360,
equivalent to $7,020 in 2008, and sales reached 472,000. By 1918, half of all
cars in America were Model T’s. Until the development of the assembly line,
Model T’s only came in black. Production continued until 1927 and the final
total production was 15,007,034. In 1918, Ford turned the company over to his
son, Edsel Ford. Henry then started another company, Henry Ford and Son, and
made a show of taking himself and his best employees to this new company, hoping
to scare all shareholders of Ford Motor Company into selling their shares back
to him before they lost value, and ultimately, to gain full control over the
company. This worked as planned and Henry and Edsel Ford now completely owned
the company. By 1926, quickly dropping sales of the Model T convinced Henry to
create a new car, the Model A. This car was introduced in October of 1927 and
produced until 1931, with a total output of well over 4 million. Henry Ford died
in Fair Lane, Dearborn, Michigan on April 7, 1947 at age 83. His cause of death
was a Cerebral
Hemorrhage.