Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 on a Michigan farm. Henry Ford spent his childhood on his family's farm, located just outside of Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. When Henry was twelve, his mother died. After the death of his mother, Henry had a strained relationship with his father. His father hoped that Henry would someday take over the family farm. But Henry Ford preferred to be an engineer.
From an early age, Henry Ford loved to take things apart and put them back together again just to see how they worked. Especially adept at doing this with watches, his neighbors and friends would bring him their broken watches to fix. Although good with watches, Henry's passion was machines. Henry Ford believed that machines could change the life of a farmer by replacing farm animals. At age 16, Henry Ford left the farm to take a learner ship as a machinist in Detroit. In the years that followed, Henry Ford would learn to skillfully operate and service steam engines, and would also study bookkeeping.
In 1882, Henry Ford finished his apprenticeship and was thus a complete machinist. Westinghouse hired Henry Ford to demonstrate and operate their steam engines on nearby farms during the summers. During the winters, Henry Ford stayed on his father's farm, attentively working on building a lighter steam engine.
It was during this time that Henry Ford met Clara Ala Bryant. Henry's father gave him a large piece of land on which he built a small house, a sawmill and a shop to tinker in.
