Henry Ford: A Life in Brief Henry Ford grew up on a small farm near Dearborn, Michigan. As Henry grew up, he spent most of his free time tinkering, and finding out exactly how things work. A pastime that developed thinking and logic abilities. But being a farmer's boy, he had little spare time, for there were always chores to be done. By twelve years of age, Henry was doing a man's work on the farm and had begun repairing machinery for neighbouring farmers. His father pleased when Henry would repair a harness, reset a tool handle, or make some hinges for furniture but he was not pleased however,