Henry Ford marries Clara Jane Bryant
On this day in 1888 24-year-old Henry Ford marries Clara Jane Bryant on her 22nd birthday at her parents home in Greenfield Township Michigan.Clara Ford would prove to be a big supporter of her husbands business ideas Fifty years later Henry Fordwho by then had founded the Ford Motor Company invented the top-selling Model T car and revolutionized the auto industry with his mass-production technologywas quoted in a 1938 New York Times Magazine article as saying The greatest day of my life is when I married Mrs.Ford.The couple both of whom came from farm families first met at a New Years dance in Michigan in 1885.
During their courtship they enjoyed such activities as dancing corn-husking parties and boating excursions.According to Clara Mrs.Henry Ford a biography by Ford R.
Bryan The two were impressed by each other Clara with Henrys unique mechanical talents and Henry with Claras serious and appreciative disposition.They were engaged in April 1886 but the future brides mother thought she was too young to wed and made them wait another two years.After their marriage the Fords lived on farm land given to Henry by his father.By 1891 however the couple moved to Detroit where Henry Ford began working as an engineer for Edison Illuminating Company.
The couples only child Edsel was born in November 1893.In 1896 Ford completed a four-wheel self-propelled vehicle with a gasoline engine called the Quadricycle.During the early years of their marriage the couple lived in 10 different rental homes while Henry worked to develop an automobile.
After incorporating the Ford Motor Company in 1903 Henry launched the Model T in 1908.The car which was in production until 1927 held the record for the worlds top-selling vehicle until it was surpassed by the Volkswagen Beetle in 1972.In 1915 the Fords moved into a mansion built on land they owned in Dearborn Michigan.The home named Fair Lane included an indoor swimming pool billiard room bowling alley and dance floor as the Fords had always liked to dance.
Clara Ford managed the estate staff pursued such interests as gardening and traveled around the world on business trips with Henry.Henry Ford died at the age of 83 on April 7 1947 Clara Ford died three years later on September 29 1950 at the age of 84.Their son Edsel who worked for the family business preceded both his parents in death dying at the age of 49 from cancer on May 26 1943.
