Ford, James P.

Submitted by Mike Miller

Ford, James Polk, well-known business man of the Crescent City, is a native of Louisiana, and was born at Shreveport, April 29, 1871; the son of Richard W. and Josephine (Mason) Ford. His father was a native of Alabama, but when a boy his parents moved to Gilmer, Tex., where he grew to manhood. Richard W. Ford served gallantly in the cause of the Confederacy during the Civil war, at the close of which he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Shreveport. As a member of the firm of Gregg & Ford, general merchants and cotton factors, he was for years prominent among the successful and well-known business men of that city, where his death occurred in 1880. In Marshall, Tex., he married Josephine Mason, and unto them were born the following named children: Hattie, now Mrs. J. D. Hereford; James P., the subject of this sketch; Richard W., deceased; William Mason and Josephine, now wife of R. C. Townes. James Polk Ford was reared at Shreveport, where he gained his education in the public schools. Beginning at the age of 15, and for the following 6 years, he was employed in a wholesale grocery. In 1890-91 he spent 1 year at Vernon, Tex., engaged in the real estate and insurance business. He then returned to his native city and there resided until 1907, when he moved to New Orleans, his present place of residence. At the time of returning to Shreveport he took up the brokerage and fire insurance business, and in 1894 Mr. W. S. Penick became associated with him in that line of activity. Three years later, under the firm name of Penick & Ford, afterwards (1903) incorporated, the gentlemen engaged in the manufacturing and wholesaling of sugar cane products, a venture which has been attended with pronounced success. Mr. Ford is a member of the board of directors of the Pan-American Life Insurance Co., and is otherwise prominent in business affairs. He was an active organizer of the Louisiana State Fair association, and served several years as a director thereof. In politics he is a democrat, and served 2 terms as city councilman of Shreveport. He has never sought political preferment. In church faith he is a Presbyterian, and is a member of the Boston and the Pickwick clubs. In 1893 Mr. Ford married Mary Louise Penick, a daughter of the late Rev. William S. Penick and Betty Tarpley (Martin) Penick.

Source: Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), p. 610. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.