Orange County, Florida

Orange County FLGenWeb: Biographies: James Arthur Ford, M. D.

Source: "History of Florida: Past and Present, Historical and Biographical," Volume 2, Harry Gardner Cutler, Lewis publishing Company, 1923, Florida.

James Arthur Ford, M. D.

James Arthur Ford, M. D., who is engaged in the general practice of his profession in the City of Orlando County, as one of the representative younger members of the medical profession in this county, is a native son of Florida, his birth having occurred on a farm near Ocala, Marion County, this state, on the 22d of June, 1892. The Doctor is a son of William George and Josephine (Moore) Ford, the former of whom was born at Atlanta, Georgia, April 10, 1862, and the latter was born on a plantation in that state, a representative of a family that was early founded at Charleston, South Carolina, whence went the early representatives of the name into Georgia, the Moore family having hacT large plantation and slave-holding interests in Georgia prior to the Civil war. Arthur Ford, paternal grandfather of the subject of this review, was born in England, where the family genealogy is authentically traced back to the year 1646.

William George Ford acquired his early education in his native state and was a youth of sixteen years when he came to Florida, his wife having been twelve years old when she accompanied her parents to this state. William G. Ford was for many years a prominent orange-grower, but for fully fifteen years he has been successfully engaged in the mercantile business at Arcadia, the judicial center of De Soto County, in which place he has resided since 1900. He is a loyal supporter of the cause of the democratic party and he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Of their children five are living: James Arthur, George Hinton, Nell Celestia, Eva Mary, and William Hawks. The daughter Josephine met her death by accident, when twelve years of age, she having been electrocuted while in a bathtub.

After his graduation in the high school at Arcadia Doctor Ford entered the medical department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and in this institution he was graduated with the class of 1916 and with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In June of that year he received his license to practice medicine in his native state, but in the same month he set forth to assume the position of interne in Ancon Hospital, of the Panama Canal Zone. There he remained in service during one fiscal year, and he was then appointed to a position in charge of the hospital of the Gracia mine, operated by a gold-mining company at San Juan de Limay, Nicaraugua, Central America. There he remained thirteen months, and when the United States entered the World war Doctor Ford promptly returned to his native land and, early in 1918, enlisted in the United States Army, at San Francisco, California. He was thence sent to Nashville, Tennessee, and after receiving commission as first lieutenant he was sent to Camp Jackson. Thereafter he continued in active service in the sanitary department of the United States Army until he received his honorable discharge in January, 1919. In connection with this patriotic service the Doctor has become an appreciative member of the American Legion, in the affairs of which he takes lively interest. In March, 1919, Doctor Ford opened his office at Orlando, where he has since continued in the active general practice of his profession, with a success that attests to his technical skill and his personal popularity in his home community. He is a member of the Orange County Medical Society, the Florida State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and he is now serving as a member of the surgical operating staff of the Orange General Hospital. The Doctor is a Knight Templar Mason, a noble of the Mystic Shrine, is a valued member of the Orlando Chamber of Commerce and the local Kiwanis Club, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, including the Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and his political allegiance is given unreservedly to the democratic party.

In March, 1918, Doctor Ford wedded Miss Sybil E. Winfrey, who was born in Virginia but reared and educated in Tennessee. Dr. and Mrs. Ford have two children: James Arthur, Jr., and Harriet Sybil.