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Biography/History:
John Ford, son of James and Ann Townsend Ford, was born in the Marion District of South Carolina on February 27, 1767. Little is known of his early life except that he obtained his ministerial license while living in South Carolina. Ford married Catharine Ard, daughter of Thomas Ard, in Robeson County, North Carolina, in March 1790. They resided in the Marion District for approximately eight years. The Fords moved to the Mississippi Territory around 1798 and lived in the Natchez District until around 1805. That year, the family built a home on the Pearl River near Sandy Hook, Marion County, Mississippi, where they engaged in farming. The Ford home was the site of the first Mississippi Methodist Conference in 1814 and the Pearl River Convention of 1816, which recommended partitioning the Mississippi Territory into the present-day states of Alabama and Mississippi.
John and Catharine Ard Ford had twelve children: twins Elias and James (b. December 13, 1791), John, Jr. (b. December 23, 1793), Ann (b. March 23, 1796), Samantha (b. October 18, 1798), Asenath (b. October 30, 1801), Thomas (b. March 17, 1803), David (b. September 9, 1805), Joseph Martin (b. 1809), Washington (b. November 10, 1810), Catherine Ard (b. January 2, 1813), and Samuel (b. March 28, 1816). Ford remained active in the Methodist church and continued farming until his death on February 14, 1826. He was interred near Sandy Hook.
Elias Ford married Ruth Harper. Their daughter, Caroline Frances (b. December 24, 1829), married William Bartlett Holloway on December 4, 1843. The Holloways had a daughter, Elenora Victoria (b. January 9, 1855). She married Alexander Fairly, Jr., M.D., in Williamsburg, Covington County, Mississippi, on May 14, 1877. The Fairlys had a daughter, Mamie Eva, who married H. J. Wilson and resided in Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Mississippi.
Scope and Content:
This collection consists of a 35 mm. positive microfilm copy of account books of the Reverend John Ford family of Sandy Hook, Marion County, Mississippi, which date from 1832 to 1839.
Series Identification: