Edward G. Kingsford

Edward George Kingsford (March 1, 1862 – July 19, 1943) was an American timber cruiser, real estate developer, and automotive executive, who became the authorized representative for the Ford Motor Company and developed the Ford factory in what would later become Kingsford, Michigan; the town is named for Kingsford.[1]

Kingsford was born on March 1, 1862 in Woodstock, Ontario. He was invited by Henry Ford in 1919 to a camping trip in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along with Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs. Ford wanted to produce timber for his operations; a Ford Model T used about 100 board feet of hardwood.[2] In August 1920, he became the vice-president of the Michigan Iron, Land and Lumber Company, organized to carry out the operation of a sawmill and auto body plant. The company was absorbed into Ford in 1923, and Kingsford carried on as general manager for Ford.[3] Ford was upset by wasted wood by-products at the plant, and Edison designed an adjacent factory to turn the sawdust and wood scrap from the lumber mill into charcoal briquets.[2] An adjacent community was planned by Ford Motor, named for Kingsford and incorporated as a village in 1924; it was later reincorporated as a city in 1947.[4] Ford Charcoal was later purchased in 1951 and renamed Kingsford.[2]

Kingsford's spouse from April 8, 1890, was Mary Minnie Frances Flaherty (December 5, 1865 – May 8, 1943), who was a first cousin to Henry Ford.[5] They had two sons and a daughter. Kingsford died in Iron Mountain, Michigan on July 19, 1943.

References
  1. Romig, Walter (1986). Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 305. ISBN 978-0-8143-1838-6.
  2. Slater, Dashka (September 26, 2014). "Who Made That Charcoal Briquette?". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  3. "Ford Plant Exhibit Debuts at Iron Mountain Museum". The Washington Times. Associated Press. August 24, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  4. Herman, Jennifer (1999). "Dictionary of Places". Michigan Encyclopedia. Hamburg, MI: State History Publications. p. 352. Retrieved May 26, 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. Ganninger, Daniel (September 26, 2014). "Henry Ford's Connection to Charcoal". Knowledge Stew. Retrieved December 7, 2016.


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