On July 30, 1863 in Greenfield Township, Michigan, a baby boy was born. His parents were William and Mary Ford.
Henry grew up on a farm in what is now Dearborn, Michigan. He went to school just like most children in the 19th century.
Soon Henry began to like mechanical things and dislike farming. In 1879, Henry left home at age 16. He walked to Detroit to be an apprentice mechanist, sometimes he would leave and help out at home. He stayed as an apprentice for three years, then he moved back to Dearborn.
In 1888, Henry Ford married Clara Bryant. He supported himself and his wife by running a saw mill. .
In 1891, Henry became an engineer with Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893, he was promoted. This gave Henry money and time to work on his personal inventions. Also, their only child, Edsel Bryant Ford, was born. .
In 1896, Henry completed his own self-propelled vehicle- the Quadricycle. It had four wire wheels and was steered with a tiller like a boat. It had two speeds and no reverse. He was not the first to make a self-propelled vehicle. .
Henry withstood two years of unsuccessful tries to make a company to build automobiles. However, in 1903, Henry Ford was vice president and chief engineer over the company. The small company only made a few cars a day. Groups of two men worked on each car. .
In 1908, Henry Ford had a dream of an automobile that was reliable, reasonably priced, and efficient with the making of the Model T. This new car was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads. This car was a huge success.
By 1914, Henry Ford has a plan to share the profit of the Ford Motor Company, with the workers. He paid them five dollars for an eight hour day.
By 1918, almost all American cars were Model Ts. To produce enough cars, the company opened a larger factory at Highland Park, Michigan in 1910. Henry Ford put together precision manufacturing, standardized, and interchangeable parts.
