Addie Julia Ford

Notes:

Moved to Texas in 1836. (Dwight, p 184).

FORD, JOHN SALMON (1815-1897). John Salmon (Rip) Ford, soldier, elected official, and newspaper editor, son of William and Harriet (Salmon) Ford, was born in Greenville District, South Carolina, on May 26, 1815. He moved to Texas in June 1836 and served in the Texas army until 1838, rising to the rank of first lieutenant under John Coffee (Jack) Hays. Ford settled in San Augustine and practiced medicine there until 1844, when he was elected to the House of the Ninth Congress, where he introduced the resolution to accept the terms of annexation to the United States. In 1845 he moved to Austin and became editor of the Austin Texas Democrat; he was later in partnership with Michael Cronican.

During the Mexican War Ford was adjutant of Hays's regiment and in command of a spy company; he was commended for gallant service by Gen. Joseph Lane. While serving as adjutant, Ford acquired the lasting nickname "Rip." When officially sending out notices of deaths he kindly included at the first of the message, "Rest in Peace"; later, under the exigencies of battle conditions, this message was shortened to "R.I.P."

In 1849, with Robert S. Neighbors, Ford made an exploration of the country between San Antonio and El Paso and published a report and map of the route, which came to be known as the Ford and Neighbors Trail. Later in 1849 he was made captain in the Texas Rangers and was stationed between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, where he had numerous Indian fights during 1850 and 1851.

In 1852 he was elected to the Texas Senate; again he became an editor and, in partnership with Capt. Joe Walker, established the State Times, which was published in Austin until 1857. Early in 1858 he accepted a commission in the state troops and defeated the Indians in two major battles on the Canadian River. Late in 1859 he was sent to the Rio Grande, where he commanded operations against Juan N. Cortina. In 1861 Ford served as a member of the Secession Convention, commanded an expedition to Brazos Santiago, initiated a trade agreement between Mexico and the Confederacy, and was elected colonel of the Second Texas Cavalry, with a command in the Rio Grande district. Between 1862 and 1865 he discharged with tactful moderation the duties of commandant of conscripts, while at various times he was engaged on border operations protecting Confederate-Mexican trade. In May 1865 he led Confederate forces in the battle of Palmito Ranch, the last battle of the Civil War.

In 1868 Ford moved to Brownsville to edit the Brownsville Sentinel. In 1872 he was a delegate to the Democratic convention in Baltimore. He was a special sergeant-at-arms when Richard Coke was inaugurated as governor in 1873 and quelled a riot of Austin citizens who were aroused against the radicals and Edmund J. Davis. In 1873 Ford served as a cattle and hide inspector of Cameron County, and in 1874 he was mayor of Brownsville. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and served in the Texas Senate from 1876 to 1879, when he was appointed superintendent of the Deaf and Dumb School (later the Texas School for the Deaf). While in the Senate he urged the promotion of immigration to Texas and popular education, supported in part from the sale of public lands.

Ford spent his later years writing reminiscences and historical articles and promoting an interest in Texas history. As a charter member of the Texas State Historical Association, he contributed one of the first articles published in its Quarterly. He died in San Antonio on November 3, 1897. (Written by Seymour V. Connor)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas (Chicago: Battey, 1889; rpt., Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1978). John S. Ford, Memoirs (MS, John Salmon Ford Papers, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin). John S. Ford, Rip Ford's Texas, ed. Stephen B. Oates (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1963). William J. Hughes, Rebellious Ranger: Rip Ford and the Old Southwest (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964). Texas House of Representatives, Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845 (Austin: Book Exchange, 1941).

A series of articles about Rip Ford's time in San Augustine, Texas, were published in THE SAN AUGUSTINE TRIBUNE beginning with the Thursday, October 30, 2003 issue.

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "FORD, JOHN SALMON [RIP]," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/FF/ffo11.html (accessed March 22, 2005).

Elected into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/2/Ford.htm

(Research):
Census Information:

1870 Federal Census
Texas, Cameron, Brownsville
409-409
FORD, John S. 55 M W Editor,Newspaper $---$200 S.Co
FORD, Adeline 31 F W Keeping House Conn. FORD, Mary 8 F W At home Texas
FORD, Addie 6 F Mexico
FORD, John 4 M At Home Texas
Next door to them was Adeline's mother, sister and niece.

John married Adeline Norton Smith on 31 Mar 1860 in Texas. Adeline (daughter of Elihu Dwight Smith and Mary Strong) was born on 10 Oct 1838 in Middle Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"A merchant in Matamoros, Mexico (1840-1844), engaged in cotton ginning at Reynosa Viejo (1844-1850), and a merchant again at Edinburgh, Hidalgo County, Texas (1850-1854) and at Brownsville (1854-1868), where he died." (Dwight, pp 183-184).

Elihu married Mary Strong on 30 Jun 1835 in Connecticut. Mary (daughter of Demas Strong and Mary Swift) was born on 22 Jun 1804 in Connecticut; died after 1870. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
This is the family at the time of the 1850 census:

1850 Federal Census
Texas, Counties of Cameron, Starr, Webb, Rio Grande Valley
16 Nov 1850
#910-1031
Elihu D. SMITH 54 M Merchant $10,000 Conn
Mary SMITH 40 F Conn
Wm. H. SMITH 14 M Conn
Adelina SMITH 12 F Conn
Louisa SMITH 7 F Tex
Francis TAGLER 24 M Clerk Mexico

In 1860, Elihu was away from home, apparently tending to business in Edinburg, while his family remained in Brownsville:

1860 Federal Census
Texas, Hidalgo, Edinburg
#1846-1338
E.D. SMITH 64 M Merchant $2000 $2000 Conn
F. TAGLER 30 M Clerk Mexico
Peter NICKELS 40 M Dr. Col. Ins. ??? 2200 1000 S.C.

1860 Federal Census
Texas, Cameron, Brownsville Ward 3
#569-488
W.H. SMITH 24 M Clerk Conn
A.N. SMITH 21 F Conn
M.L. SMITH 16 F Mexico
J.? SMITH 14 F Mexico
Mary SMITH 53 F Conn

At the time of the 1870 census, Mary and her daughters were still in Brownsville, living next door to each other. Adeline had married "Rip" Ford and was living with him and their three children. Next door to them, the widowed Mary was living with her younger daughter, Louisa, and granddaughter.

1870 Federal Census
Texas, Cameron, Brownsville
410-410
SMITH, Mary 66 F W Keeping House Conn
MICHAELKOWSKY, Louise 27 F W At house Mexico
MICHAELKOWSKY, Clara 2 F W At house Texas
JONES, Lane 28 F B Domestic Servant Dou. Canada

I was not able to locate the family at the time of the 1880 Federal census.

Notes:

An engraver and carver of marble in East Glastonbury, Ct. He died of consumption at age 39. (Dwight, p 184).

Charles married Mary Strong. Mary (daughter of Josiah Strong, III and Mary Harris) was born on 26 Dec 1768 in Connecticut; died on 5 Jul 1850. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married Charles SMITH of Glastenbury, Ct. (Dwight, p 174).

Demas married Mary Swift on 4 Feb 1787. Mary was born about 1766 in Connecticut; died on 26 Aug 1833 in Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Daughter of Elisha SWIFT of Falmouth, Massachusetts. (Dwight, p. 177)