Henry Ford was born on July 30th 1863.  He was the first born of six children.  William and Mary were his parents and they named him after his uncle.  Henry grew up on a family farm in Dearborn, Michigan.  Henry spent most of his days in a one-room school and doing farm chores.

At the age of 16, Henry left home to go to Detroit for his first job.  Henry's first job was working as a mechanic.  A mechanic is someone who works on cars.  Henry worked as a mechanic for three years and then moved back to Dearborn.  Back home he helped around the farm and repaired steam engines.  Henry often traveled back to Detroit when he could find work.  Dearborn and Detroit are only nine miles apart.