Ford, John Salmon

John Salmon "Rip" Ford (1815-1897) was a physician; soldier and military commander in the Mexican War and Civil War; elected official in the Texas Senate and House of Representatives; and editor of the Texas Democrat and the Brownsville Sentinel.

Born near Greenville, South Carolina, on May 26, 1815. Came to Texas in June 1836 and served as a lieutenant in Jack Hays' Rangers. Practiced medicine in San Augustine and served in the Texas Congress. Moved to Austin in 1845 and edited the TEXAS DEMOCRAT. Blazed the first road from San Antonio to El Paso with Robert S. Neighbors in 1849. Fought in Mexican War and received nickname "Rip" after sending out R.I.P. death notices. Served in Texas Senate and with Rangers, raided Chief Iron Jacket's camp in the Antelope Hills in 1858. Served in the Secession Convention in 1861 and became a Confederate officer. Won the last Civil War land battle at Palmetto Ranch in 1865. Edited BROWNSVILLE SENTINAL in 1868. Leader in restoration of Democratic party rule in Texas during 1870s. Superintendent of State School for the Deaf and also in Senate. Spent last years writing his memoirs. Died Nov. 3, 1897, in San Antonio.

John Salmon (Rip) Ford, born in 1815, was a soldier and political figure in the Texas Republic and the state. Over the course of his military career he fought in the Texas Revolution from 1836 to 1838, served as a captain in the Texas Rangers from 1850 to 1851, and was a colonel of the Second Texas Cavalry from 1862 to 1865 during the Civil War. Politically he was active both nationally and locally, serving as a United States congressman in 1844 and as a Texas state senator in 1852 and again from 1876 to 1879. Ford also edited newspapers in Brownsville and Austin, was a superintendent of what would become the Texas School for the Deaf, and a charter member of the Texas State Historical Association. He died in 1897.

Source: The Handbook of Texas Online, John Salmon (Rip) Ford, accessed August 2011.

John Salmon “Rip” Ford (1815-1897) was born near Greenville, South Carolina on May 26, 1815. Raised in Tennessee, Ford moved to Texas in 1836. He served in the Texas army until 1838 and practiced medicine in San Augustine. In 1844, Ford was elected to the House of the Ninth Congress of the Republic of Texas, where he presented the resolution to accept annexation to the United States. Ford moved to Austin in 1845 and became editor of the Texas Democrat . During the Mexican War, he served as regimental adjutant under John Coffee Hays. In 1849, he explored a route later known as the Ford and Neighbors Trail and became a captain in the Texas Rangers. In 1852, Ford was elected to the Texas Senate. He returned to military service in 1858, and commanded many operations and explorations, including leading Confederate forces in the battle of Palmito Ranch, the last battle of the Civil War. Ford relocated to Brownsville in 1868, where he edited the Brownsville Sentinel and served as mayor in 1874. He was a delegate of the State Constitutional Convention in 1875 and served in the Texas Senate from 1876 to 1879. He was appointed superintendent of the Deaf and Dumb School in 1879. Ford died in San Antonio on November 3, 1897.

Creator’s Sketch prepared from information contained in the Handbook of Texas Online .