Jacob Ford, Sr.
Born one of three children of John and Elizabeth Ford of Woodbridge, New Jersey. He married Hannah Baldwin in 1724 and established a residence in the county seat of Morristown, NJ. They would have eight children. In 1724, Ford served as both a Justice of the Peace and as a judgein the town courts, and in 1738 applied for permission to keep an innin New Hanover. He also established an iron foundry and served as a mortgage broker. In 1772, he was elected a member of the New Jersey House of Assembly. In 1774 he was chosen as a delegate to represent MorrisCounty at the meeting of the Committee of the Province of New Jerseywhich elected the delegates for the First Continental Congress. By 1776, in partnership with his son, Jacob, Ford won a loan from the Committee of Safety to build a gunpowder mill on the Whippany River. The mill went into production by June. On January 15, 1777 Ford wrote his will. He died of fever four days later at the age of 73.

Notes for JACOB FORD:--was a colonel in the American Revolution and prominent in the iron industry. He was the owner of the house in Morristown preserved as "Washington's Headquarters," now a national monument.