John Ford (July 28, 1862 – July 1941) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Ford was Born in Knowlesville, New York, the son of Michael and Sarah (O'Malley) Ford. He attended occasionally the district schools, and worked as a farm laborer. While working in the stone quarries of

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

, he learned privately, and attended Medina Academy for five months, so that he could go to college. In a competitive examination, he won a free tuition scholarship at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, and graduated four years later. While at Cornell, he wrote the essay which won the first prize offered nationwide to senior college students by the American Protective Tariff League. After graduation, he became first an occasional contributor to, then associate editor, and finally editor of, the ''American Economist'', the organ of the Protective Tariff League. For the 1892 presidential campaign, he published a ''Pocket Cyclopedia of Protection''. While writing for the newspapers, he studied law with Edmund L. Pitts, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Ford was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(18th D.) from 1896 to 1900, sitting in the 119th, 120th, 121st, 122nd,

123rd New York State Legislature The 123rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 6, 1900, during the second year of Theodore Roosevelt's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the pr ...

s. In 1905, Ford was proposed as a fusion candidate for Mayor of New York, but the Republican party leaders would not commit themselves to municipal ownership of utilities, and the fusion did not materialize. Ford, who had been a Republican since he had entered politics, favored municipal ownership and joined

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

Municipal Ownership League The Municipal Ownership League was an American third party formed in 1904 by controversial newspaper magnate and Congressman William Randolph Hearst for the purpose of contesting elections in New York City. Hearst, a lifelong Democrat, formed the ...

. In 1906, Ford was nominated on the

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

Independence League The Independence Party, established as the Independence League, was a short-lived minor American political party sponsored by newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst in 1906. The organization was the successor to the Municip ...

fusion ticket for the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

, and was renominated on the Democratic and Republican tickets in 1920. Ford was a justice of the Supreme Court (1st D.) from 1907 to 1932 when he reached the constitutional age limit. In

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

, Ford supported Progressive

Robert M. La Follette Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his l ...

for President. Ford publicly supported strengthening obscenity laws in 1923 believing that the average citizen should decide what was obscene rather than a group of the elite.

Sources

''The New York Red Book''
compiled by Edgar L. Murlin (published by James B. Lyon, Albany NY, 1897; pg. 146f and 404)
''FORD'S FRIENDS GUNNING FOR CHAIRMAN HALPIN''
in NYT on October 4, 1905
''JUDICIARY TICKET NAMED BY TAMMANY; Hearst Men Get Three Places''
in NYT on October 11, 1906

in NYT on August 31, 1924 (subscription required)

in NYT on July 26, 1941 (subscription required) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, John 1862 births 1941 deaths Republican Party New York (state) state senators Politicians from New York City People from Orleans County, New York New York Supreme Court Justices Cornell University alumni 19th-century American farmers