Background
William was born in Ballinascarthy near Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland and was the son of Thomasine (née Smith), and Jonathan "John" Ford.
William was born in Ballinascarthy near Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland and was the son of Thomasine (née Smith), and Jonathan "John" Ford.
Ford"s ancestors were originally from Somerset, England, and migrated to Ireland as the English created plantations. The surname Ford is an English surname that dates back to Anglo-Saxon England, although the surname "Forde" is sometimes found in Ireland as an Anglicised version of a number of indigenous Gaelic names. William attended Saint Joseph"s High School, had six siblings, and emigrated to the United States in 1846.
On April 21, 1861, William married Mary Litogot in Wayne County, Michigan, daughter of Belgian immigrants.
He and Mary had eight children, six of whom survived into adulthood. They moved to Detroit, Michigan.
William retired in 1879. William married Belgian-American Mary Litogot
, together they had six children:.