Ford, Edward, 1843-1920

In 1869, the first American plate glass factory was formed by John B. Ford in New Albany, Indiana, with help from his sons Emory and Edward. In 1880, Edward and Emory built a plate glass factory in Creighton, Pennsylvania. This plate glass factory would be reorganized and renamed as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Factory. After Captain Ford sold the family business in 1897, son Edward continued to pursue his passion for glassmaking and built the Ford Plate Glass Company in Rossford, Ohio. The Edward Ford Plate Glass Company was producing roughly one fifth of all the plate glass in the U.S. by the time of Edward’s death in 1920. Edward operated the factory until his death.

After Edward’s death in 1920, his company would eventually merge with two other great glassmaking companies: Libbey and Owens. Edward Libbey, founder of the Libbey Glass Company, and Michael J. Owens of the Owen Bottle Company had already formed a partnership as the Libbey–Owens Sheet Glass Company. The three companies came together in 1930 to form the Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company, one of the largest glass manufacturers in the world. Today the company is part of Pilkington North America.

Edward Ford was married twice. With his first wife, Evelyn Carter Penn, he had two children: a daughter, Mary, and son John B. Ford, named after his father. After his first wife passed away in 1872, Edward married Caroline Ross of Zanesville, Ohio, and had three children: Laura Ford, Edna Ford, and George Ross Ford, who was born in 1882. George Ross Ford would be the one to take over his father’s role as the president at the Edward Ford Plate Glass factory and facilitate the merger of three powerful glass producers: Libbey-Owens-Ford.