The Life of Henry Ford Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, to William and Mary Ford. Even when he was a small boy, he was greatly fascinated with machines. The first machine he designed was a waterpowered mill which consisted of a coffee grinder, a broom handle, and a wooden wheel he made that could be turned by moving water. He and several of his friends built a dam to supply water power to the wheel, which turned the broom handle, and the broom handle turned the coffee grinder. However, the dam they built flooded a man's basement who lived nearby and they had to destroy it. Henry's father was one of the first men in h