Paul Leicester Ford (March 23, 1865 – May 8, 1902) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

, born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, the son of Gordon Lester Ford and Emily Fowler Ford (a granddaughter of

Noah Webster Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

and lifelong friend of

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

Life and work

Ford was the great-grandson of

and the brother of historian

Worthington C. Ford Worthington Chauncey Ford (February 15, 1858 – March 7, 1941) was an American historian, archivist and editor of a number of collections of documents from early American history. He served in a variety of government positions: first, as the ch ...

. He wrote of the lives of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, and others, edited the works of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, and wrote a number of novels which had considerable success, including ''The Honorable Peter Stirling'', ''Story of an Untold Love'', ''

Janice Meredith ''Janice Meredith'', also known as ''The Beautiful Rebel'', is a silent film starring Marion Davies, released in 1924 and based on the book and play of the same name written by Paul Leicester Ford and Edward Everett Rose. The play opened at the ...

'', ''Wanted a Matchmaker'', and ''Wanted a Chaperon''. Ford's edition of ''The Writings of Thomas Jefferson'' is still regarded as one of the monuments of American historical scholarship, setting the standard for documentary editing for half a century until the appearance of the first volume of ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson'', edited by

Julian P. Boyd Julian Parks Boyd, (1903–28 May 1980), was an American professor who was Professor of history at Princeton University. He served as president of the American Historical Association in 1964. For his efforts in preserving the site of the Battle ...

. Ford's edition remains valuable for its accuracy of transcription from original manuscripts and its careful annotation of the documents chosen for publication. The Ford edition appeared in two versions, a 10 volume edition published between 1892 and 1896 and a 14 volume limited numbered edition issued in 1904, known as the "Federal" edition. Ford was murdered in his Manhattan home by his brother

Malcolm Webster Ford Malcolm Webster Ford (February 7, 1862 – May 8, 1902) was an American athlete and journalist best known for the murder-suicide where he shot his brother Paul and then himself. Early life Ford was born in Brooklyn on February 7, 1862. He was t ...

, at one time the most famous amateur athlete in the United States, who then committed suicide. He is interred at

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch C ...

Sleepy Hollow, New York Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. The village is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on ...

Works

The works of Thomas Jefferson
(1904-1905)
The True George Washington
(1907)
The Many-sided Franklin
(1899)
The Honorable Peter Stirling
(1894)
Story of an Untold Love
(1897) *
Story of an Untold Love
' New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1897
Janice Meredith
(1899)
Wanted a Matchmaker
(1901)
Wanted a Chaperon
(1902)

References

External links

"Paul L. Ford's Career" -- ''The New York Times'' 1902
* * * * * Paul Leicester Ford Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Paul Leicester 1865 births 1902 deaths 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American novelists American biographers American male novelists Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Deaths by firearm in Manhattan Historians from New York (state) American male biographers Novelists from New York (state) People from Marlborough, New Hampshire People murdered in New York City Male murder victims Writers from Brooklyn Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters