The Life of Henry Ford

THE LIFE OF HENRY FORD

Henry ford was born July 30, 1863. He was the first child out of six born to William and Mary Ford. He grew up on a big farm in Dearborn, Michigan. He went to school in a one room building and did many chores every day after he got home. He did not like farm chores. He did like to work on mechanical things. When he was 16, he left home to move to Detroit. He got a job there working on machinery. Three years later he went back home and began to work on repairing steam engines. In 1888, he married Clara and ran a sawmill to make money.

In 1891, Henry Ford began working for Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. He was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1893. He began to experiment on internal combustion engines on his own time at home. In 1896, he built his own vehicle that moved on its own called the Quadricycle. He was not the first to make a machine that ran on gasoline by itself.

In 1903, the Ford Motor Company was created. He became the Vice President and the Chief Engineer of the corporation. There were other people who helped run the business and give money to it. The company only made a few cars a day. In 1908, he made the Model T. It was reliable and did not cost a lot. It was easy to drive and handle on rough roads. It was a huge success.

By 1918, almost half of all the cars in America were Model T's. In 1910, in Highland, Michigan, Mr. Ford built another plant to make a lot more of these cars. In 1913, he created the first true assembly line. The workers stood in one place while adding one part to the car and someone else added another until the whole car was built. A conveyor belt made the car move through the factory right beside the workers. This was the greatest invention for industry. The assembly line saved money, time, and made things a lot quicker. Mr. Ford's became the largest automobile builder in the world.