Henry Ford's Early Life

Study Notes

Henry Ford was born just after the Battle of Gettysburg and lived to see the beginning of the Cold War.
His father was an Irish immigrant who fled Ireland during the Great Famine and settled on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan.
His mother was a second-generation immigrant from Belgium, raised by Irish neighbors when she was orphaned.
Despite his parents' hard-scrabble stories, they became successful and prosperous farmers, ensuring young Henry was never truly poor.

Henry Ford hated farm work, finding it repetitive, physically taxing, and isolating.
He despised horses, calling them dangerous and ill-tempered, and found drinking milk repulsive.
He even considered chicken meat unfit for human consumption.
Henry would often shirk his farm duties, and his parents, especially his mother, would indulge him.

At 12, Henry saw a portable traction engine, which was self-propelled, and was immediately fascinated.
He bombarded the engineer with questions, and this moment never left him.
At 16, Henry convinced his father to let him move to Detroit to find an engineering job.

Henry Ford's formal schooling stopped at eighth grade, and he had little education that would prepare him for an industrial career.
He sought out roles where he could learn and experiment, often taking jobs that had stores of older equipment he could try out.
By 19, Henry was skilled enough to get hired by Westinghouse to fix similar machines.
He repaired an internal combustion engine, which helped him see the potential of gasoline, and built a miniature model engine.

Henry built a vehicle called the Ford quadricycle, which he described to Thomas Edison.
He took his first drive on the quadricycle at 3 am on June 4th, 1896, but soon sold it to build a better model.
He envisioned a car that could not only enter the next great American motor race but also win it.

Henry married Clara Bryant, who was patient and supportive of his experiments.
Clara had seemingly endless reserves of patience, even when Henry brought his new gasoline engine into their kitchen on Christmas Eve 1893.
They had a son, Edsel, who was born in 1893.

Born after the Battle of Gettysburg and lived to see the beginning of the Cold War
Father was an Irish immigrant who fled Ireland during the Great Famine and settled on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan
Mother was a second-generation immigrant from Belgium, raised by Irish neighbors when she was orphaned
Parents were successful and prosperous farmers, ensuring Henry was never truly poor

Hated farm work, finding it repetitive, physically taxing, and isolating
Despised horses, calling them dangerous and ill-tempered
Found drinking milk repulsive and considered chicken meat unfit for human consumption
Often shirked farm duties, and his parents, especially his mother, would indulge him

At 12, saw a portable traction engine and was immediately fascinated
Bombarded the engineer with questions, and this moment never left him
At 16, convinced his father to let him move to Detroit to find an engineering job

Formal schooling stopped at eighth grade
Had little education that would prepare him for an industrial career
Sought out roles where he could learn and experiment
At 19, skilled enough to get hired by Westinghouse to fix similar machines
Repaired an internal combustion engine, which helped him see the potential of gasoline
Built a miniature model engine

Built a vehicle called the Ford quadricycle
Described the quadricycle to Thomas Edison
Took his first drive on the quadricycle at 3 am on June 4th, 1896
Sold it to build a better model
Envisioned a car that could not only enter the next great American motor race but also win it

Married Clara Bryant, who was patient and supportive of his experiments
Clara had seemingly endless reserves of patience, even when Henry brought his new gasoline engine into their kitchen on Christmas Eve 1893
Had a son, Edsel, born in 1893