Henry Ford
Henry Ford c. 1919, Library of Congress, photographed by Hartsook
Date of Birth: July 30, 1863
Place of Birth: Greenfield Township, Michigan, U.S.
Date of Death: April 7, 1947
Place of Death: Fair Lane, Dearborn, Michigan, U.S.
Ethnicity:
*father – Irish, some English
*mother – Belgian
Henry Ford was an American industrialist. He founded the Ford Motor Company. He also sponsored the development of the assembly line technique for mass production.
He was a candidate for the Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 1916.
Henry was the son of Mary and William Ford, a businessperson.
Henry’s father was born in Madame, near Ballinascarthy, County Cork, Ireland. His father moved to the U.S. in 1846. The Ford surname was said to have originated in Somerset, England, with Ford ancestors who had come to Ireland in the early 1700s. Henry’s father was of Protestant religion, and Henry himself was an Episcopalian.
Henry’s mother was born in Michigan, to Belgian parents, and was surnamed Litogot. She was raised by foster parents, Margaret (Stevenson/Stevens) and Patrick O’Hearn/Ahern, who were Irish emigrants, with Patrick being from County Cork.
Henry was married to Clara Jane Bryant, until his death, with whom he had a son, business executive and philanthropist Edsel Ford.
Henry’s paternal grandfather was John Thomas Ford (the son of William Ford and Rebecca Jennings). John was born in County Cork. William was born in Bally Madon, Cork, the son of Isaac Ford. Rebecca was also born in Bally Madon.
Henry’s paternal grandmother was named Thomasine/Tomasine “Tamsen” Smith.
Henry’s maternal grandfather was named William Litogot.
Sources: Information about Henry’s Irish ancestry – https://www.irishcentral.com
Genealogies of Henry Ford – https://www.geni.com
https://www.findagrave.com
Are we really calling his paternal ancestors Irish? I guess it’s possibleprobably even likely they had some Irish ancestry having been in Ireland since the early 1700’s, but the Ford’s (Thomas and his brothers) were originally from Somerset County, England and Protestant and came as part of the plantations, I believe. So it’s likely they didn’t end up mixing much with the Irish.
Well, I changed it to “Irish, some English,” but even that I was hesitant about since we don’t seem to know of any actual English-born ancestors by name.
Henry Ford identified as Irish. He named his home in Dearborn, Fairlane after the street his family came from in Cork Ireland. He often went back there in his lifetime and brought employment to the city. His mothers family were from Belgium but she was adopted by a Cork city family. His fathers family were from Cork county. He was of Irish and Belgisn blood but due to his mother’s adoption and the strangest of coincidences that his mothers adoptive parents came from his fathers home county of Cork, he recognised it as his ancestral home. He was not English. Many many generations before he had some ancestral line come from England but to consider that English makes us then question where we begin for anybody. How far back do we go?
Doesn’t matter whether he identifies as Irish or not. Peter Ustinov or the Royal Family would primarily see themselves as British, but that’s not their ancestry and this is what this site is all about, not which flag they would fly in their backyard. His family tree is full of English surnames and the rule, as far as I’m aware, is that we trace back to 1/1024 or more.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=352