Office of Henry Ford and Clara Ford Estate records series, 1832-1955 (bulk 1918-1951)

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Office of Henry Ford and Clara Ford Estate records series, 1832-1955 (bulk 1918-1951)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/245540955

The Office of Henry Ford and Clara Ford Estate records series, 1832-1955, Acc. 587, constitutes a history not only of the wrapping up of Henry and Clara Ford's estates after their deaths, but also of Henry and Clara's personal interests and business, including Henry Ford's numerous projects outside of Ford Motor Company. Consisting primarily of the records of property and other business transactions--tax returns, deeds, titles, abstracts, purchase records, property descriptions, rental agreements, and vouchers--to name just a few, the records series also includes files on some of the Fords' more personal interests, such as Henry's old-fashioned dances and Clara's purchases of books and clothing. The records, maintained during the dissolution of the estate after Clara's death, also include Henry Ford's personal correspondence, some Ford Motor Company documentation, materials on the Edison Institute schools, the Ford cemetery, and limited information on select people employed by Henry Ford. The Office of Henry Ford and Clara Ford Estate records series consists of three subseries: the Campsall and Waddell Office Files subseries; the Special Folders, Office of Henry Ford subseries; and the Estate of Henry Ford, Deceased subseries. The Campsall and Waddell Office Files subseries consists of various files kept by personal secretaries Frank Campsall and later H. R. Waddell on Henry and Clara's personal business; travel preparations for Henry and Clara and trips made on their behalf; general and topical files (including book collecting, cars donated, old-fashioned dance parties, the Ford Cemetery, and Henry and Clara's funeral services); state and federal tax documents; and clippings regarding Frank Campsall's death. The Special Folders, Office of Henry Ford subseries also contains files on trips undertaken by or for Henry and Clara Ford; workers; general interests and activities of Henry Ford, including purchase papers for one of his yachts; financial dealings; and real estate. The Chronological Income Cards subsubseries consist of lists of workers involved in Henry Ford's personal projects, primarily Wayside Inn and Georgia and Michigan properties. Significant within the Real Estate subsubseries is a card file of Dearborn Realty and Construction Company properties. The Estate of Henry Ford, Deceased subseries is made up of the files of personal secretary H. R. Waddell dealing with probate and estate liquidation; several subsubseries dealing with Georgia properties, primarily Richmond Hill; various financial subsubseries which include bank books, cancelled checks, vouchers, and account books, tax receipts and tax correspondence, and a very small sampling of the real estate records of Ford's agent, William T. Gregory. The Account Books subsubseries contains financial information for many of Henry Ford's interests and activities, including Dearborn Realty & Construction Company, D. P. Lapham Bank, Dearborn Water Works, and Quirk Farms. The Card Files subsubseries consists of various sets of index cards having to do with real estate, various purchases, and employee information, often directly referencing or providing a key to other files already found throughout the collection. The Lapham-Ford subsubseries concerns Ford and his agents' dealings with David P. and Samuel Lapham, two Dearborn bankers and businessmen whose bank and many other of their assets were transferred to Henry Ford as payment of debts owed, including properties forming the Molony subdivision (variously spelled Malony, Maloney, Molony, and Moloney), its predecessor the Military Reservation (the former Detroit Arsenal grounds), and what was to become the Dearborn Country Club.

62.4 cubic ft., 4 oversize boxes, 27 card files, and 5 volumes.

The Henry Ford, Benson Ford Research Center

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7134862

The Henry Ford, Benson Ford Research Center

Related Entities

There are 20 Entities related to this resource.

Ford Homes Historic District (Dearborn, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xx5b67 (corporateBody)

Wayside Inn (Sudbury, Mass.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63v3v8f (corporateBody)

Henry Ford Farms.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60s83hr (corporateBody)

Dearborn State Bank.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61p6f14 (corporateBody)

David P. Lapham Bank

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jx35qq (corporateBody)

Liebold, Ernest Gustav, 1884-1956.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tq98jd (person)

Ernest G. Liebold, executive secretary and business representative for Henry Ford for many years, was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 16, 1884. In 1911, James Couzens, general manager of Ford Motor Company, offered Liebold a position in a new bank created by the company, and soon after, Henry Ford asked Liebold to organize the Dearborn State Bank. By 1918, Liebold's duties included holding the power of attorney for both Henry and Clara Ford. Liebold came to wield unparalleled authority in the...

Ford, Henry, 1863-1947

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xk8d59 (person)

Industrialist and philanthropist Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863, grew up on a farm in what is now Dearborn, Michigan. Mechanically inclined from an early age, he worked in Detroit machine shops as a young man and became an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company in 1891. Henry and Clara Jane Bryant, married in 1888, had one child, Edsel, born in 1893. In that same year, Henry tested his first internal combustion engine, and by 1896 completed his first car, the Quadricycle. Ford partnered in ...

Molony Subdivision.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s83wb3 (corporateBody)

Bennett, Harry Herbert, 1892-1979.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dv3797 (person)

Edison Institute Schools.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61k7qqr (corporateBody)

Quirk Farms.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cc9dmg (corporateBody)

Dearborn Country Club (Dearborn, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tj3j0j (corporateBody)

Ford Motor Company. Estate of Henry Ford.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jb4m97 (corporateBody)

Henry Ford died at his home in Dearborn, Michigan on April 7, 1947, at age eighty-three. Clara Bryant Ford died at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan on September 29, 1950, at age eighty-four. Frank Campsall served as Henry and Clara Ford's longtime personal secretary, handling most of their personal business from the 1920s until his death in 1946. After his death, another secretary from the Office of Henry Ford, H. R. Waddell, assumed these duties. Ernest G. Liebold was Henry Ford's execu...

Ford, Clara Bryant, 1866-1950

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w09kr6 (person)

Ford motor company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r53djn (corporateBody)

When Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903, Alexander Y. Malcolmson was elected the Company's first treasurer, but his assistant James Couzens actually managed financial functions. People holding the position of Ford Motor Company treasurer from 1903 to 1955 included Alexander Y. Malcolmson, 1903-1906; James J. Couzens, 1906-1915; Frank L. Klingensmith, 1915-1921; Edsel B Ford, 1921-1943; B. J. Craig, 1943-1946; and L. E. Briggs, 1946-1955. In 1903, the business office was in a small building o...

Dearborn Realty and Construction Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6385phd (corporateBody)

Lapham, David P., 1851-1926

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pk14m0 (person)

Merchant and banker. From the description of Papers, 1883-1906. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70949534 ...

Ford family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n10nd9 (family)

Dearborn Water Works.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vn2s80 (corporateBody)

Henry Ford (Organization)

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