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James Joseph Couzens
- Wayne State University Press
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James Joseph Couzens 1872-1936 "The paradox is that but for Couzens and his organization and domination of sales and finance FordMotor Company would not have lasted long." —Charles E. Sorensen* The role of James Couzens as an officer of Ford Motor Company has been almost totally eclipsed by Couzens's later role in city and national politics. Ford Motor Company 's success in its very early years was publicized as Henry Ford's achievement. The vital business functions necessary for success during those crucial formative years must be credited, however, to Couzens. Born in Chatham, Ontario, James Joseph Couzens was son of James Joseph Couzens, Sr., who had come from London, England, in 1870 and had married Emma Clift of Chatham in 1871. James Jr. was born August 26,1872, and grew up in Chatham, where his father had held a rather miserable job in a soap factory. But the father soon became a soap salesman, and James Jr., at a young age, often accompanied his father in his business rounds, thus learning about simple and not so simple business transactions. James's parents were strict and frugal Presbyterians, his father very dignified in appearance and very demanding in discipline. James grew up somewhat like his father, although he had extremely resented his father's strict orders. Young James liked his mother better; she was under the same strict discipline as he. In 1891, James Sr. went into the soap-making business on his own, organizing the Chatham Steam Soap Works. The family had by that time enlarged, and now, with James the oldest, there were also two brothers, Albert and Homer, and two sisters, Rosetta and Alice. At about age twelve, James attempted a job as bookkeeper, but was not successful and returned to finish high school. He also completed courses at a business college in Chatham before deciding to leave home for a larger city—Detroit. He did not want to work under his father's dominance. *Charles E. Sorensen, My Forty Years with Ford (New York: W. W. Norton, 1956), p. 43. 67 Henry's Lieutenants In Detroit, he was hired as a car checker by the New York Central Railroad . He worked at this position for three years, from 1890 to 1893. While working for the New York Central, at age twenty-six, Couzens married Margaret Manning on August 31,1898. Their first child, a son, died an infant in 1899. A second child, Homer, was born in 1900, and another son, Frank, in 1902. In the railroad freight office, young Couzens's exactitude was observed by one of the railroad's steady customers, Alexander Y. Malcolmson , who operated a large coal dealership in Detroit. Couzens was hired by Malcolmson as an assistant bookkeeper and general office employee at seventy-five dollars per month. He remained with Malcolmson for the next eight years. During this same interval, Henry Ford was attempting to market an automobile. Ford had failed twice (the Detroit Automobile Company and the Henry Ford Company), primarily because of Ford's slowness in perfecting a machine that would meet his own goals as well as those of his sponsors. But in 1902, Ford was successful in races with cars he and his mechanical assistant, C. Harold Wills, had built to their own specifications . Ford was organizing a third venture in 1902. Malcolmson was interested in this. Couzens also became interested in the success of the FordMalcolmson venture, because Malcolmson had insinuated that if the auto business should become a success, Couzens would manage Malcolmson 's coal business. It soon became apparent that producing the Ford-Wills-designed car in quantity would require more money than Malcolmson could furnish. Ford was not to invest any money for the 50-percent interest he would obtain. So, rather than having the company be owned 50-50 by Malcolmson and Ford, other stockholders were solicited. One of the investors was Malcolmson's cousin, John Wendell Anderson, a lawyer who invested $5,000; another was Malcomson's uncle, John S. Gray, a banker who invested $10,500. Other major stockholders included the Dodge brothers, John and Horace, who accepted stock in payment for auto parts such as engines to be used in the vehicles . Couzens struggled to raise $2,500, based considerably on promissory notes accepted by Malcolmson. Couzens induced his sister, Rosetta , a teacher in Chatham, to invest $100. The Ford Motor Company was founded on June 16,1903, with Gray as president, Ford as vice president...