TIME LINE OF THE FORD FAMILY
1785-2001
| 1785 | West Ford, the son of George Washington and Venus, is born in Westmoreland County, VA. |
| 1799 | George Washington dies at his Mount Vernon plantation. |
| 1802 | West Ford comes to Mount Vernon with new owner, Bushrod Washington. West becomes caretaker of George Washington's tomb and is befriended by Washington's old valet, Billy Lee. |
| 1804 | West Ford is freed on his 21st birthday; his portrait is drawn to commemorate the occasion. |
| 1812 | West Ford marries Priscilla Bell, a free woman, they have four children; William, Daniel, Jane and Julia. The children are educated on the Mount Vernon plantation. |
| 1829 | Bushrod Washington dies and wills 160 acres of land to West Ford. John Augustine Washington III inherits Mount Vernon. West works at Mount Vernon as an overseer. Venus dies a slave before West can buy her freedom. |
| 1833 | West Ford sells his land and purchases 214 acres adjacent to it; the area is known today as Gum Springs. |
| 1834 | William Ford marries Henrietta Bruce, a free woman, they have four children; John, Mildred Constance, Hannah, and George. The children are educated on the Mount Vernon plantation. |
| 1850 | West Ford's picture is drawn a 2nd time by Benson Lossing, a reporter and artist. Ford is interviewed about his life on Mount Vernon. |
| 1857 | West Ford divides his property into four equal parts, 52 ¾ acres for each of his four children. |
| 1858 | John Augustine Washington III, the last private Washington to own the Mount Vernon plantation, sells the estate to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association for the Union. |
| 1859 | William Ford,West Ford's first born son, moves his family to New York before the Civil War. West Ford remains on his property in Virginia and continues his working for the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. |
| 1863 | West Ford dies at the Mount Vernon plantation where the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association cared him for; his obituary is posted in the Alexandria Gazette. Ford is buried in the old tomb of George Washington. |
| 1866 | William Ford returns to Virginia and works as a caretaker on the Mount Vernon plantation. |
| 1867 | George Ford, son of William and grandson of West, joins the 10th Cavalry and heads West. |
| 1871 | George Ford marries Harriet Blythewood in Beaufort, South Carolinia - they have eight children; George Jr., Irwin, Bertram, Harriet, Vera, Elise, Donald and Cecil Bruce. William Ford moves to Beaufort, South Carolina. |
| 1872 | George Ford re-enlists in the 10th Cavalry as a quartermaster Sergeant. |
| 1877 | George Ford is wounded, retires 1st Lieutenant from the 10th Cavalry, and returns to Beaufort, South Carolina. |
| 1896 | William Ford dies and is buried at the Mount Vernon plantation. |
| 1898 | George Ford joins the F&S 23rd Regiment Kansas Infantry as a Captain in the Spanish-American War in Cuba; becomes a personal friend of Teddy Roosevelt. Is promoted to the rank of Major. |
| 1899 | Major George Ford moves to Chattanooga, Tennessee and takes a position as superintendent of cemeteries. |
| 1906 | Major George Ford is elected to serve as the Secretary of the Army and Navy Committee for the Niagara Movement; he becomes a close friend with W.E.B. Dubois. |
| 1907 | Major George Ford moves his family to Springfield, Illinois where he becomes Superintendent of Camp Butler Cemetery. |
| 1917 | Cecil Bruce Ford, youngest son of Major Ford, and his brothers graduate from Meharry Medical School. Cecil Bruce becomes a dentist. |
| 1918 | Dr. Cecil Bruce Ford joins the army as a Private Medical DET in the 370 Infantry 93rd Division. |
| 1919 | Dr. Cecil Bruce Ford relocates to Peoria, Illinois and marries Florence Harrison - they have four children; Florence, Elise, Bruce, and Harrison. |
| 1927 | Major George Ford is interviewed by the Illinois Register Newspaper about his army life and his days at the Mount Vernon plantation. |
| 1929 | Major George Ford visits for the last time the Mount Vernon plantation. The Slave Memorial is erected at the Mount Vernon slave cemetery. |
| 1938 | Major George Ford dies at the age of 91 at his home in Springfield, Illinois; His body is buried at Camp Butler Cemetery. |
| 1939 | Elise Ford Allen, daugther of Cecil Bruce Ford, marries James O. Allen - they have eleven children, Carol, James Jr., Gregory, Linda, Joy, Janet, Norman, Angela, Barbara, Timothy, and Matthew (dies at birth). |
| 1944 | Dr. Cecil Bruce Ford dies in Peoria, Illinois. |
| 1950 | Elise's husband, James O. Allen forms the Allen Printing Company. |
| 1966 | Elise Ford Allen becomes the first African-American editor and publisher of the Traveler Weekly Newspaper in Peoria, Illinois. Elise becomes a well-known Civil Rights Activist. |
| 1973 | Elise Ford Allen becomes the first African-American female to run for mayor of Peoria, Illinois. |
| 1979 | Elise's mother Florence Ford dies. |
| 1988 | Elise Ford Allen receives over a dozen awards by the Peoria community for her work in civil rights. |
| 1994 | A National Enquirer article speculating upon whom should be heir to the U.S. "throne" left vacant by George Washington results in the Allen/Ford family reuniting with another branch of the Ford family through descendant Dr. Judy Saunders Burton. |
| 1996 | The Allen/Ford family goes public with the story of George Washington in their family tree; articles appear in Newsweek, Time, and Der Spiegel magazines. |
| 1998 | The Washington/Venus story breaks in every major newspaper in the U.S. Feature stories are carried in the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Peoria Journal Star, Rocky Mountain News, Foster's Daily Democrat, Newsday, Waterloo Courier, Boston Globe, and USA Today. A number of television broadcasts carry the story as well, including live feature stories on MSMBC and Channel 9 Denver, Colorado; mentions on major city networks including CNN, BET, and Saturday Night Live. The story is also featured on several live feature radio broadcasts including WGN, Sheridan Broadcasting Network, KACT Los Angeles, and BBC London. |
| 2000 | The West Ford story ushers in the new millenium with a new website and media interest continuing to grow. To date this year the story has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning News, in the Chicago Tribune and Rocky Mountain News. Other print articles and television broadcasts are in the works. In March, a historic meeting took place at Mount Vernon between members of the Ford family and Mount Vernon staff. In May, PBS broadcasted a documentary featuring the Ford history and posted a mini-documentary called George and Venusthat still can be seen on the worldwide web. |
| 2001 | Ford descendant Linda Allen Bryant publishes I Cannot Tell a Lie: The True Story of George Washington's African American Descendants." The book is the first to explore her family's controversial history. The History Channel features the Ford family history in a documentary called Family Tree in September. Exploration into the saga of West ford and the African-American descendants of George Washington is ongoing. And the story continues.... |
Stand tall, stand proud....the legacy of West Ford.