- George R. Ford and Zana Frances Pixley
George was born on June 1, 1853 in Cincinnati, OH. He married Zana Frances Pixley on July 3, 1872, in Grass Lake. They had 7 children, of which at least 4 lived to adulthood. They settled in Grand Rapids. He had a paint business and was involved in the Republican Party. According to newspaper articles, he was a “well-known” Free Mason.
In 1898, George went to St. Louis, MO and incorporated a business, the Ford Automatic Boiler-Cleaning Company. George held 990 shares; Albert H. Danforth held 999 shares, and Floyd E. Bush, 2 shares. Apparently George was the inventor of some machinery and held the patents. At the time, boilers played a large part in generating electricity. He spent the next 11 years defending his patents, as other companies were copying his machines, suing companies and going to court. He left his family in Grand Rapids to avoid interrupting the children’s schooling.
George spent 11 years in St. Louis, MO, coming back to Grand Rapids about every 6 months to visit his wife and children. Zana was an invalid for about 11 years prior to George’s death, and was unable to travel with him. Sometime in 1907, he started a relationship with another woman, Mrs. Emma Tutton Lohreide, who was 28 in 1909. George was 56 in 1909.
According to Mrs. Loheide, they were married via the “soul-mating” process where he placed a ring on her hand and said, “Now we are the same as married in the sight of God.” She even told authorities that she was part owner of his business, which appears to be untrue. Mrs. Loheide was divorced from a “prominent St. Louisan” on December 23, 1908.
On the morning of January 21, 1909, George and Emma, who was posing as his wife to everyone, went to the offices of the American Steel Foundries. George left Emma in the waiting room for reasons unknown and went out to the street.
“While crossing the tracks Ford passed a freight car on a siding and when he emerged from in front of it he stepped upon the main line of the Big Four railroad. He did not hear the fast approach of the passenger train until it was too late and before he could get out of the way was hit. He was hurled several feet to the side of the track.”
“The pilot of the engine struck Ford on the left side of his head, crushing his skull and cutting a large gash in his cheek. He was dead when assistance reached him.” One article stated that she witnessed it, which seems to conflict with the other reports. It further stated, “His wife ran to where the body lay and fell in a faint upon the prostrate form of her dying husband.” George’s age was reported as anywhere from 50 to 61 in the various news articles.
While in St. Louis, George lived at 1609 Olive Street, which was the home of Emma’s grandmother, who stated she “assumed” they were married. On Saturday, January 23rd, Emma posted a death notice in the newspaper, planning his funeral and burial for Sunday in St. Louis. She had even arranged the local Freemasons to provide service.
George and Zana’s daughter, Ruiah, was married to Robert Logie, Jr. at the time and living in Chicago. Robert was a newspaper reporter. It appears that Robert and Ruiah found out about George’s death via a news notice (the incident, and the fact that George was having an affair with a woman half his age, was reported all over the country, including San Francisco and Los Angeles).
Zana instructed Ruiah to go to St. Louis immediately. Ruiah sent the St. Louis Police Department a telegram, “Any person professing to be the wife of George R. Ford is an imposter. Hold till I arrive.” The police actually arrested her on this information; she was “dragged from her weeping vigil at the side of Ford’s body.” Once Emma admitted she was not George’s wife, the police released her.
Robert and Ruiah arrived on Sunday evening at 1609 Olive Street and took charge of her father’s body, and made arrangements to have it shipped home.
What a tragic story. How hard that had to be for them, the way they found out, going down there and claiming his body, must have been very emotional. Zana died on March 4, 1945, in Grand Rapids. She never remarried. George is buried next to his mother, Margaret Ann Stuart Ford (who died in 1912) in the West Cemetery (Wolf Lake Road) in Grass Lake. Zana is buried in Grand Rapids.
George and Zana had one son that lived to adulthood, Gerald Rudolph Ford, Sr. Gerald delivered newspapers as a boy and dropped out of school in the 10th grade. He was a lifelong resident of Grand Rapids. He worked in paint sales and was also a bookkeeper. He worked in Omaha, NE for a time, where he may have met his future wife Dorothy, but later documents show that Dorothy had moved to Grand Rapids and the two met there.
Gerald purchased a paint company and renamed it Ford Paint & Varnish Co. He was very successful, and very active in civic affairs and the Republican Party. He died of a heart attack in his home in Grand Rapids on January 26, 1962.
Gerald’s wife, Dorothy Ayer Gardner, had a son, Leslie Lynch King, Jr., by a previous husband. Gerald raised him as his own with three other sons, and another ‘adopted’ son, Harold Ford Swain (I have not identified his real parents and don’t believe there was a legal adoption proceeding).
Gerald’s three sons and the descendants of John William Ford (“I”) are the only male descendants of Henry Thomas Ford.
On December 3, 1935, Leslie Lynch King, Jr. legally changed his name to Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. While Gerald Sr. never legally adopted him, Gerald Jr. always saw him as his father. Gerald Jr. became involved in politics, was a Michigan legislator, a US Senator, and the Vice-President of the United States. When President Nixon resigned, Gerald R. Ford, Jr. became the 38th President of the United States. He died on December 26, 2006, in Rancho Mirage, CA. Since his life is fully documented elsewhere, I will not expound on it here.
The rest of this document focuses on the descendants of Henry Thomas Ford’s oldest son, John William Ford (“I”).
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1853 - 1909 (55 år)
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