| | Abstract: | The Ford family were prominent lawyers, philanthropists, and businessmen of Cleveland, Ohio, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection consists of genealogies, biographical sketches, correspondence, diaries, journals, account books, appointment books, ledgers, stock certificates, minutes, leases, articles of incorporation, wills, deeds, corporate inventories, maps, newspaper and magazine clippings, tax assessments and returns, diplomas, certificates, military orders, and discharge papers. Material is included on several banking institutions, including Garfield Savings Bank, The Western Reserve Trust Company, Metropolitan National Savings Bank, and the East End Savings and Trust Company. Material on Ford family involvement in the construction and management of the Williamson Building is included, as is family involvement in other real estate enterprises, including The New Amsterdam Company, One Euclid Company, and the Ford McCaslin Company. Involvement in various legal firms by H. Clark, Horatio, and David K. Ford is well documented, as is David K. Ford's role in the organization and operation of the Lubrizol Corporation and Lubrizol Foundation. Family involvement with the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church, and with other philanthropic and social service organizations, such as the American Red Cross, the Maternal Health Association, University Hospitals, and the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, is documented. Family members were also involved with the Congregational City Missionary Society, the Congregational Home Missionary Society, the Schauffler Missionary Training School (later Schauffler College of Religious and Social Work), and the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States. David K. Ford's involvement with Defiance College is documented. David and Elizabeth Brooks Ford's commitment to community service and social reform is well documented in this collection, including correspondence with others sharing their interests, such as Ralph Hayes of the City Club, Dorothy Adams Hamilton Brush with the Maternal Health Association, Agnes Brooks Young with the Cleveland Playhouse, and Katherine Gill Brooks of the Visiting Nurse Association. Of particular interest is the correspondence of H. Clark Ford with the notorious swindler Cassie Chadwick. The majority of the genealogical and family history materials included is the work of Oliver Kingsley Brooks. | |
