Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-03-24
MRS. HENRY Ford
Sketch Of Remarkable Wife Of Re.
mafkable Man. ~.
REAL HELpMATE OF Her HUSBAND
Two Began Married Life lin Moderate
Circumstances, and Neither Has
Been Spoiled by the Wealth and
Power to Which They Have Attained.

Detroit, Michigan, March 1S.-A
happy home and doing good These are
the two missions Of the wife of the
richest man in the .world-Mrs. Henry
Ford-about whom the people Of this
country know less than of any other
prominent woman.
Every school child from New York
to California knows Henry Ford, his
works, ambitions and published
thoughts, as well as his latest startling
statement that he Is worth more than
$1,000,000, ,O00--more even than John d.
Rockefeller, but they know nothing of
the dark eyed, plainly dressed, rather
plump, middle aged woman who has
had more to do with shaping Henry
Fords meteoric career than has any
other person. :. ~
Back in the early eighties Clara Bry-
ant, Greenfield, Mich, farmers
daughter, then in her early teens, had
little idea that on April IL, 1888, she
was to marry the man, who would in
1922 be looked up to as the worlds
greatest business genius, or that she
would be living in a veritable palace in
Dearborn, surrounded by 7,O00-acre
estate, with servants and every con-
ceiyable convenience then not dreamed
of. But Henry Ford, who at that time
came to Detroit as an engineer for the
Edison Company, returned, and the
country girl became Mrs. Ford. He
was then twenty three !. and she only
twenty. iy.,J 10
partners in Business of Life.'
From that day to this, as Mrs. Ford
says, "Ours has been a very happy
marriage. We have been partners in
the business Of life. We have consult
ed each, other on all points as one
member of a firm cnnsults another.
There is no boss in our frm
mot that ] always agree with my
husband. No., no. If I think he is
wrong I tell him so. That is part
of every wife's duty. 1t is included
in the vow to love and honor. You
wouldn't love and honor IL you en-
couraged man to. .goin course you
thought wrong. So,l, il my husband
takes wrong view ip any matter, or
one that seems to me wrong. turn
family oculist. endeavor to- con-
scientiously correct ,his angle Of Wis
ion." Ef.t
While of course one of the most talk
ed of women in Detroit, Mrs. Ford is
one of the least known. She could
walk down Woodward Avenue and
back again and probably not two peo-
pie in hundred would ,recognize her.
Her main aims in life are keeping
house for Henry Ford" and doing good
for people in quiet way. In fact, "a
quiet way designates her whole per-
sonality. She is quiet in her dress, her
manners and her speech. She is sell
dom seen in public and is said to live
only for her husband and her son
Edsel, who is now President Of the
Ford Motor Company and it's active
head.
Mrs. Ford, it is said, acts the part
Of any middle-aged wife of a prosper
GUS business man. Her clothes are
dark and quiet, Jewels she seldom
wears, and her friends say the only
ornament she usually affects Is her
wedding ring, once in a while, a string
of pearls. $3.50 80. .. 90.
Rescue of Rival ~
But for all her quiet ways her hand
is plainly to be seen in many Of Henry
Fords biggest and most. philanthropic
works. Witness the recent purchase Of
the Lincoln Motor Company for $1,000
900, when Henry Ford saved a rival
automobile concern from bankruptcy.
It is claimed that time and again
Henry Leland and his son Wilfred
appealed to Mr.. Ford to save the com
pany for old-tlme friendship-for here
we have the original cheap car pro-
ducer and the pioneer of the high
grade cars competing in the market
after years of friendship. Mr.. Ford re-
fused each time. saying that he had no
use for the Lincoln car, as his Ford
plant kept him busy all the time.
Finally the Lelands went to the Ford
home and again appealed for aid. Mrs.
Ford was in the next room, and she is
said to have heard the conversation.
She called Edsel from the conference
and asked him to appeal to his father
to give them what help he could They
had plenty of money, she argued, and
if it was simply question of that,
then by all means they should have
access to the Ford fortune to secure
that aid Later she spoke to Mr.. Ford
himself, the report says, and still he
refused. However, he talked the matter
over with Edsel and found his son was
really enthusiastic at the prospect of
the Ford interests taking a hand in the
high priced car game. Engineers were
called in and they backed EdsePs belief
in the Lincoln. Therefore the Lelands
were given the necessary aid to remain
in the automobile business
The day of the sale came and while
Henry Ford was to spend $S,000,000 Of
his fortune to satisfy a desire of his
wife and son, he did not even attend
the sale; but Mrs. Ford did, and others