Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863, was the first of William and Mary Ford’s six children. He grew up on a prosperous family farm in what is today Dearborn, Michigan. Henry enjoyed a childhood typical of the rural nineteenth century, spending days in a one-room school and doing farm chores. At an early age he showed an interest in mechanical things and a dislike for farm work. He instead preferred to work with mechanical objects, particularly watches. He repaired his first watch when he was thirteen. Fixing watches was something he continues to do as sort of a hobby for the rest of his life. Being a farm boy and working on a farm for most of his childhood taught Ford that working hard and being responsible was of great value.
Henry attended school until the age of fifteen. He had little interest in school and had poor grades as a child. He never learned to spell or read well, so when he wrote he used extremely simple words in his sentences. At the age of sixteen, Henry left home for the nearby city of Detroit to work as an apprentice machinist, although he did sometimes return to do work on the family farm. Ford eventually went back to apprentice and stayed that way for 3 years until he returned to Dearborn. As an apprentice he received 2.50 a week. He later worked for Westinghouse, locating and repairing road engines.
Henry’s dad was persistent that his son should be a farmer and offered him forty acres of timberland,