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Henry grew to dislike farm work and picked up a knack for machinery. In 1879 he left his family farm near Dearborn, Michigan and headed for Detroit where he became an apprentice in a machine shop. Later, Henry’s father offered him forty acres of timber land to became a farmer and quit machinery; he accepted the offer and built a first class machinist’s workshop. Henry spent more time in Detroit and eventually left the farm by 1891. Four years later, he became the chief engineer at the Detroit Edison Company; where he met one of his closest friends, and his biggest inspiration, Thomas Edison. At the turn of the century Edison blessed Ford in his quest for a efficient, gas powered, car. In his spare time Henry was building an automobile with an internal combustion engine, which he completed in 1896.
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