 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Edward Willard Ford was the third and youngest son of Thomas W. Ford, a native of New Jersey, born in the year 1781, and removed to Albany about 1797, where he was a clerk for Daniel Hale, the former secretary of state, and a prominent merchant of the city. He became a leading merchant, and married a daughter of Dr. Elias Willard. To his eldest son he gave the name Daniel Hale; to the younger, the subject of this notice, who was born in the city of Albany on the 17th of September, 1810, Edward Willard. At the age of nine years, he was sent to the Albany Academy, where he remained until 1827, when he entered the senior class of Union College, where he graduated in 1828, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
He began the study of medicine with Dr. John James, then a practitioner in Albany, and attended medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine on the 24th of March, 1831, before he was twenty-one years old. Upon his return to Albany, he united with the Society, and for a few years became engaged in his profession, but he devoted himself more especially to the study of literature and the fine arts. His habits were studious, and investigating, his information general, correct and extensive, his library was composed of a fine selection of English and classic authors. He was a man of kind and genial nature.
His death occurred on the 18th of June, 1855, he being in the forty-fifth year of his age.
