Friends, Families & Forays: Scenes from the Life and Times of Henry Ford

16. Brother Will

16 Brother Will Will Ford has been described as having lived in the shadow of Henry. But Will Ford was anything but a shadowy figure. He was considered to be an upright, straightforward gentleman, less glorified but perhaps better liked by many locals than Henry. William Ford, Jr., was born on July 14, 1871, in the Ford homestead at the corner of Ford Road and Greenfield, in the house Henry Ford would move to Greenfield Village in 1941. Very little has been written about the boyhood of William Jr., the youngest of the five children of William Ford, Sr., and Mary Litogot Ford. William Jr., called Will, lived at the homestead fully twice as long as did his brother Henry. Will stayed on the farm, working the land with his father, until after he married Frances Ann Reed of Redford Township on October 27, 1897. That same year, William Sr. retired and moved into a Detroit apartment, taking his two unmarried daughters, Margaret and Jane, with him. Henry at this time was married and working for the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. While farming at the homestead, Will and Frances had two sons, Lewis W. on February 25, 1899, and Burnham T. on February 19, 1902. Also while at the homestead, W. D. Ford was operating a business . His stationery in 1899 read: “Dealer in All Kinds of Farm Machinery.” Will Ford stayed at the homestead until 1903, when the house had to be moved several hundred feet to the east to allow Greenfield Road to be extended southward to Michigan Avenue. At that time, Henry Ford took possession of the house and farm while Will and Frances moved into Detroit to the corner of what is now Tireman and Scotten Avenues. The Detroit City Directory in 1904 lists William D. Ford as an “engineer” living at the Holden-Scotten address. He is said to have been working at the Detroit Lubricator Company, first as a machinist and later in sales. Will seems to have continued in the farm implement business to an extent during this period. 118 Previously published in the Dearborn Historian, Vol. 32, No. 4, 1992. On January 15, 1906, twin girls, Mary Ellen and Myra Frances, were born to the Will Fords. Mary Ellen died only three months later. In 1907, a William D. Ford is listed as living on the south side of Larchmont Avenue west of Grand River Avenue. On July 10, 1910, Edith Margaret Ford was born. In 1912, William D. Ford is listed as a “farmer” living on Grand River Avenue. He was operating farm threshing machinery in the Dearborn area. He had two or three threshing crews with steam traction engines, separators, and water wagons making the rounds each summer. As Henry Ford began farming in this area, Will did threshing for him and by 1914 sold his equipment to Henry and became superintendent of Ford Farms, a position he held until 1921. From about 1907, Henry Ford had been experimenting with gasoline farm tractors. Both Will and Lewis became especially interested in 119 Henry took this photograph at the Ford Homestead in 1896. From left to right are Margaret, Henry’s sister; Jane, his other sister, holding Edsel; Will Ford, Henry’s brother, who was working the farm; and Clara, who appears to be eating some grapes.This is definitely a candid shot; the photographer does not have their attention at all.Will’s playful dog in front of Clara may have been the attraction. (0.1112) the development of the Fordson tractor in 1915. Along with his job as farm superintendent, Will was put in charge of the service department at the tractor plant on Elm Street in Dearborn, and Lewis Ford became a tractor test driver. The family moved into the village of Dearborn in 1916. Charles Sorensen, superintendent of the tractor plant, judged Will as being too generous with his services; his department was spending too much. Will was then made employment manager at the tractor plant, a position he kept for about two years. When World War I was over and Fordson tractors were in great demand, Will and Lewis obtained the Fordson tractor distributorship for sections of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. Their business was the William Ford Tractor Sales Company with headquarters on Monroe Avenue in Dearborn. But on February 16, 1919, Lewis died at age nineteen, presumably from an attack of influenza...