FORD, HENRY (1845-1910). Henry Ford, banker and business writer, was born in Ohio County, West Virginia, on January 28, 1845. He moved to Texas at the age of seventeen and worked for a time on a ranch in Brown County before he moved into Brownwood, where he became prominent as a private banker. He also served at various times as county clerk, mayor of Brownwood, treasurer of Brown County, city school trustee, and chairman of the Central County Committee. The firm of Coggin, Ford, and Martin, with which he was associated, published several business-aid booklets. A series of articles called "Dawn of Brown County" written by Ford appeared in Banking Made Plain (1904), Pocket Cotton Calculator (1905), Pocket Cotton, Cotton Seed, and Cotton Picking Calculator (1906), and Wheat, Oats, Corn, and Hay Pocket Calculator (1907). Although the last sketch was "To be continued," no Brown County material was included in Six Hundred Business Law Points (1909). Ford married Josephine Jones on September 13, 1871; they had six children. His second wife was Collie Couch, with whom he had three children; his third wife was Eloise Porter. He died on March 6, 1910, and was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood. It was rumored that he was in actuality the notorious outlaw Jesse James.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Frank W. Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans (5 vols., ed. E. C. Barker and E. W. Winkler [Chicago and New York: American Historical Society, 1914; rpt. 1916]). James C. White, The Promised Land: A History of Brown County (Brownwood, Texas: Brownwood Banner, 1941).