Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-08

dure the long trip across the ocean called for
stamina and power OF endurance such as fsw
modern women possess; and the long trip iron
Quebec to Rochester, made on foot. Is abundant
testimony that this great-aunt Of Henry Ford
was in no way weakling. 1t is said that al
though she lived to the age Of 81 she was never
sick day In her life until her final illness.
Her memory of that trip from Quebec 70
Rochester it is said always made her hospitable
to any travellers who CHANGED to seek food or
shelter at the Ford home On that early jour-
ney she and her family had had to ask the
hospitality of farmers along the way, and she
never turned away any one who asked similar
favor after she was established in her own
home.
IF the house was crude and the woods were
] full of Indians, pioneer life had its compen.
sations. The fields abounded with wild turkeys,
which provided plenty Of game for the bill or
fare, and If the Indians could kill deer, so
could the whites.
The wolves however were . nuisance, and
in order to save their pigs and cattle from these
roaming marauders the Fords had to nail shut
the doors of their barns at highland, for
long time, had to take turns standing guard at
night, gun in hand, so bold were the wolves.
Nine children were reared on the Ford farm,
and every Sunday George Ford would hitch up
his team and drive the family into Detroit to
church. They attended the famous Old Mari
nerS' Church, still standing, and now used as
haven for unemployed men.
Mrs Alice Ford Kennedy Alice Fords daugh-
ter who died recently, used to say that the
Sunday trip to church was always big event
in the family All of the children piled into
the back of the big wagon and Mr.. and MIS-
Ford sat on the front seat, Mr.. Ford wearing
a high plug hat
whenever you see Henry Ford in an ED
time parade" said Mrs. Kennedy, "he wears
Fathers old plug hat. He keeps it hanging on
the old hat rack in the house where he was
born" .-.... .--t-... =
Samuel Ford was the first of the three
brothers to replace his log cabin with a frame
house. Some time later, when he became more
prosperous, he moved this house across the
road to a vacant field and built new and
more pretentious home.
TOR years the first frame house stood idle.
! crumbling to decay, used only occasionally
for storing corn or other farm produce. Then.
a few years ago, Henry Ford bought the entire
property. He wrecked the newer hoHse-which
had been tribute to rising fortune, in its day
moved the old one back to its original site,
restored 1t and refurniShed 1t exactly as 1t used
to be. The old picket fence that used to sur
round it has been rebuilt, that the farm
today looks just about it did in the old days.
Meanwhile, young William Ford. the son Of
John, had grown to manhood and had married
Mary L1tog0C. an orphan glrl VINO MAD been
reared by Pat O'Hearn and his wife, neighbor-
ing farmers. She died in 1876, at the age Of
37-having borne the child who was to become
the worlds richest man.
At the time of her death the family was
living in substantial red brick home
building which is still standing. Henry Ford
was about IS at the time, and it is recorded
that his father, William Ford, greatly lamented
the fact that it seemed hopeless to try to make
a farmer out Of him. After the mothers death
one of Henry Ford's sisters, Margaret, now
mother" for the family.
TO-DAY the home is maintained in its original
] condition. Henry Ford has searched the
country for furniture In order to make the In.
terror of the house look exactly it did when
he was a boy. He Is said to spend many hours
there in his leisure, and occasionally he invites
q close friend to have dinner with him there
incidentally, as an illustration of the frugal.
ity and financial independence of the early
Fords it was discovered recently when the farm
of George Ford came up for sale that it had
never been mortgaged, through all the years
of its occupancy. It is worth noting, too, that
the land for which George Ford paid the Gov
eminent $3.50 an acre sold few years ago
for nearly $4,000 an acre. =.
Today the people who remember those pio-
neer days are gone. Mrs. Kennedy, who
brought most of these tales to light, has gone
Continued on Seventeenth Page