Henry Ford

Henry Ford

There is one man that did great things in his lifetime. He is a true hero to many people even if they don’t know it. When there’s a car driving down the street, this one man is responsible for that car. His name is Henry Ford, the famous automaker. Ford is a true hero. Some people’s passion is cars and without him they wouldn’t have the opportunity to work on them and enjoy them. Ford may not be a ’hero’ for all people but for car guys he is just that.

Henry Ford was born on July 30th, 1863 on a farm. He grew up there working on the farm. Farming was not something he wanted to do with his life. Ford only went to school until 6th grade in 1879. Eventually he finally got a real job working as an apprentice machinist. Ford worked very hard through his life and this is what gave him much success.

When he worked for the Detroit Dry Dock Company he learned a lot about industry that helped with his future career. In 1882 he went back to the farm and married Clara Bryant on April 11th, 1888. They lived on a farm given to them by Henry’s Father. Ford began work on an important project, his first vehicle the “Quadricycle” which was completed in 1896. This was the first step to stardom for Ford.

Ford later founded the Detroit Automobile Company in 1900, producing his first real car. The company ended after that because not more then one car could be created at a time. In 1901 he created a racer called the “999” that gave him much publicity. Ford had a solution for the one car at a time problem and created the assembly line. He soon after opened his first plant with Alexander Malcomson who knew Ford would be successful. Ford’s son Edsel B. took over his father's work when he was old enough.

Henry Ford sadly died in 1947 at the age of 83. He lived a long successful life of hardships and problems. Most people think of him as a great hero to the society of today. Even today we can see him through the cars he produced and can honor his work. Henry was a great person and he has earned the right to be my hero.