Henry's Lieutenants

Ernest Gustav Liebold

Ernest Gustav Liebold 1884-1956 "AllMr. Ford had to say to Liebold was, 'Do this, do that,, and he'd carry out the most ambitious projects. He had a great deal of ability and was very thorough." —Irving R. Bacon * With power of attorney for both Henry and Clara Ford, Ernest G. Liebold handled practically all Ford business other than that of Ford Motor Company—and it was a tremendous amount. Without bothering Henry Ford, Liebold settled the bills, answered business inquiries, and managed personal projects large and sjnall. Liebold's name or initials are on hundreds of documents pertaining to the great multitude of personal enterprises in which the Fords engaged. Ernest Gustav Liebold was born in Detroit on March 16, 1884. He attended public schools through Detroit's Eastern High School before graduating from Gutchess College, where he majored in business studies including shorthand and bookkeeping. Immediately after graduating , he accepted temporary positions until he was hired by Peninsula Savings Bank in Highland Park, a suburb of Detroit. Beginning as a messenger at twenty dollars a month, Liebold progressed to bookkeeper and assistant teller. In 1910, he is listed in the Detroit City Directory as a teller, Peninsula Savings Bank, with residence at 49 Pasadena Avenue, Highland Park. On March 17, 1910, he married Clara Reich. He had begun by this time to prepare important legal documents for the bank, and handled a $3.4-million transaction involving W. C. Durant and the Cadillac Motor Company. During Liebold's tenure at Peninsula Savings Bank, his capabilities had attracted the attention of James Couzens, general manager of Ford Motor Company. Couzens was planning a bank near the Highland Park * From the oral remimanufacturing plant to handle the Ford payroll and otherwise serve niscences of Irving R. employees. Couzens offered Liebold the position of cashier of the pro- Bacon. 169 Henry's Lieutenants posed new bank. Liebold accepted the offer and took charge of organizing the bank. He was given ten shares of bank stock, appointed to the bank's board of directors, and made president of Highland Park State Bank. Liebold's next assignment came from Henry Ford himself. In Dearborn was the D. P. Lapham Bank, a private bank Ford had reason to believe was insolvent. Ford wanted to save this bank in his hometown. Liebold was sent to examine the Lapham Bank in February 1911. Ford bought the Lapham Bank and had it organized by Liebold as the Dearborn State Bank. In managing the Dearborn bank, where Ford had a private account, Liebold was receiving Ford's personal bills and was expected to handle their payment. This led to his answering more and more of Ford's personal business correspondence, until by 1913 Liebold is listed in the Detroit City Directory as a secretary, residing at 94 Rhode Island Avenue, Highland Park. Although Liebold's office at the time was at Ford Motor Company in Highland Park, he was paid directly from Henry Ford's account in Dearborn, not by Ford Motor Company. It is quite possible Liebold made out his own paycheck. Ford had sufficient trust in Liebold's integrity to offer him the power of attorney for both himself and Clara Ford on July 13, 1918. This power was used many times in behalf of the Fords during the next twenty-six years. Liebold regularly participated in conferences as Ford's representative . He accompanied Ford when dealing with the U.S. Shipping Board in 1917, regarding the building of ships for the Navy during World War I. Liebold is said to have convinced the board that submarine chasers would be more valuable than building additional cargo ships only to be sunk. He apparently selected the name "Eagle" for the chasers subsequently built by Ford. When Ford's World War I "Peace Ship" efforts in conjunction with the Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation were stalled because of Ford's premature return from Norway, Ford designated Liebold as overseer of the project and its termination at the Hague. Liebold, "with a mind like a balance sheet," became not only Ford's executive secretary and business representative but also accountant and financial manager of the multitude of personal projects conceived by Henry Ford—in fact, nearly all of Ford's business outside Ford Motor Company. A list of all these diverse activities would more than fill this page. One project of consequence was the Henry Ford Hospital. It had been planned as Detroit General Hospital by a group...