Henry's Lieutenants

Raymond Hendry Laird

Raymond Hendry Laird 1898-1968 'You know, I used to thresh for his grandfather. I would like to see him get ahead." —Henry Ford* Quite a few relatives of Henry Ford obtained work at Ford Motor Company, but it was not a result of Henry's encouragement . Henry's advice was to go into business for themselves. This his two brothers did. Despite the good advice , several of Ford's relatives obtained common factory work by getting a note from John N. Ford addressed to Charles Sorensen. Raymond Laird, a son-in-law of John N. Ford, had no trouble getting that starting job, but it took years of night school study to work his way up to the responsible position of director of commercial engineering, the highest position among the Ford relatives, and high enough to be considered that of a lieutenant. Raymond Hendry Laird was born December 1, 1898, son of James King Laird and Margaret Hendry Laird of 476 Twelfth Street in Detroit. His father was secretary-treasurer of the David Scott Flour Milling Company, a position he held for forty years. His father's parents had come from Edinburgh, Scotland. His mother was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Hendry, substantial farmers living six miles west of Detroit. Raymond had one sister, Elizabeth, who died of tuberculosis at age twenty, when Raymond was about ten years old. Raymond spent summer vacations at his grandfather Hendry's farm, which was in the neighborhood of several farms belonging to Ford families. Directly across the road was the family of John N. Ford, who had children near Raymond's age. Earl Ford, who was of the same age, became Raymond's best friend for life. Another John N. Ford child, Emma, eventually became Raymond's wife. * From the oral reminiscences of Eugene Farkas, recalling a statement made to him by Henry Ford. 161 Henry's Lieutenants Raymond attended public schools in Detroit, including Central High School, and came within only one semester of graduating. In 1916, at age seventeen, he obtained a summer job at the Henry Ford & Son Tractor Plant in Dearborn. He was hired by William Ford, brother of Henry Ford, to work in the tin shop at twenty-eight cents an hour, $13.44 a week—such high wages that he continued work that fall rather than return to school. In June 1918, he obtained a leave from the tractor plant to help his uncle, Edward Hendry, on his eighty-acre farm. Hendry was not at all well, and his nephew did all the heavy work. World War I was raging in Europe, and as soon as the farm work permitted in September, Laird enlisted in the Army. He went through basic training at Raleigh, North Carolina, and was on a troop ship in New York Harbor, ready to leave for Europe, when the war ended. He was mustered out at Camp Custer in January 1919. Laird went back to the tractor plant to work on lathes and grinders making piston rings, valves, and crankshafts. In 1919, he enrolled in night classes at the Detroit Institute of Technology. There, for twenty years as a part-time student, Laird studied engineering subjects— drafting, mathematics, physics, chemistry, metallurgy—gradually accumulating a sound background in mechanical engineering. With some knowledge of drafting, Laird left the machine shop to work in the blueprint department handling engineering drawings. Next, in 1920, he managed to transfer to Engine Engineering under Eugene Farkas. According to the Farkas reminiscences, it wasn't long before Henry Ford asked about Laird. Farkas immediately assigned Laird to the design work on the wire wheels that would appear on the 1926 Model T. Nearby, in the same tractor building, was Emma G. Ford, Earl Ford's sister, working on the Dearborn Independent, a weekly newspaper published by Henry Ford. At times, Emma and Raymond would have lunch together outside the tractor building. They had known each other for almost twenty years. On June 8, 1922, they were married. He was twenty-four, and she was twenty. Henry Ford had known Emma Ford better than Raymond Laird. After the wedding, Ford told Emma, "Tell that young man of yours to stick it out. I have plans for him." Laird was to be assigned a great many confidential tasks. Some of these commissions involved business to which even his wife was not privy. But one assignment on which both Lairds worked together was construction of the Ford family tree. This...