Ohio Encyclopedia, Volume 1
edited by Michael Mangus, Jennifer L. Herman
p 90 -
FORD, SEABURY (1801-1855), twentieth Governor of Ohio (1849-50), was born at Cheshire in New Haven County, Connecticut, the son of Esther Cook and John Ford ; his father was a wealthy landowner. He moved to Burton, Ohio with his family as a young child and received his early education at Burton Academy.
He graduated from Yale University in 1825, on of the first two Ohioans to graduate from that college. Studying law at home and in his uncle's law office, he passed the State bar examination in 1327 [sic]. In 1823, he began practicing law in Burton.
Active for several years in the State militia, he attained the rank of Major General. After being elected to the State House as a representative of Geauga County in 1835, he was twice reelected to that position, and once served as Speaker of the House. In 1841, he was elected to the State Senate, and remained in the legislature until 1848.
Ford was elected to his only term as Governor in 1848, in the closest election in Ohio's history. The Legislature, for the first time given the task to determine who would become governor, was so divided that Ford was not named until several weeks after the scheduled inauguration.
Although considered one of Ohio's most efficient legislators, Ford was able to accomplish little during his tenure because of the division in the Legislature. A few major changes did occur, however, as Ohio's "black laws" were repealed, and a new constitution was adopted.
Ford declined reelection at the end of his term, and retired to his Burton home. He died there in 1855. He was married to Harriet Cook in 1828.
