James Ford, was he really the man behind the terrible reputation that has followed him down through the ages? or was he just used as the cover up for the murderous gang that terrorized the Cave-in-Rock and Fords Ferry area of our county? Was he as bad as this reputation has built about him.? After reading dozens of articles and stories about him, it leaves a question mark in my mind as who he really was.
Here is some more information about James and the Ford Gang.
James Ford and the Ford's Ferry Gang
James Ford was the chief villain in this western country in the
years between the Revolution and the Civil War. Evidence suggests
that many killed by Ford's confederates had booked passage on a ferry
he operated on the Ohio between Kentucky and Illinois from 1823 to
1833.
Supposedly, the Kentuckian amassed a small fortune
from the gold and valuables his brigands stole from settlers they
murdered. Ford's hand in such nefarious activity was, however, kept
well hidden. To lend respectability to his activities, Ford even
served as a Livingston County magistrate and sheriff for a time
(Crittenden County was formed from Livingston in 1842).
While posing as a gentleman farmer, he owned a
large plantation near Tolu, KY and ferryman, Ford evidently
masterminded a theft ring that was rooted at his ferry landing but
had branches in the rugged country around Cave-in-Rock on the
Illinois shore.
In pioneer days, that cavern, now an Illinois state
park, was a haven for river pirates and other such lawless folk.
"Big Jim" Ford was shot to death on July
5, 1833, and lines buried on his family farm, just off Ky. 135, west
of Tolu. (There is another post on this blog site about the Ford Cemetery)
Ford, according to the most frequently recounted
version of his demise, had bought a slave from Vincent Simpson, a
member of his gang. The slave, whom Ford had been told was healthy,
died in two days.
That angered Ford who sent Henry Shouse, another of
his lieutenants, to kill Simpson and Shouse succeeded. But a group
of men formed a posse bent on avenging Simpson's death with Ford's
life. They rode to Ford's plantation at Tolu on July 5 and took him
into custody. Their destination was Ford's ferry house, a double-pen
log cabin that sat beside the Ohio River landing, some seven miles
upstream.
During the night, Ford, was seated in the "dogtrot"
or breezeway of the ferryhouse. While sitting there a slave was sent
to ask Ford to eat supper with the other men, but Ford knew his
escape was impossible. "No," he replied to the slave, "I
guess I'll eat my supper in hell tonight." Later that night he
was shot by a man concealed in underbrush close by.
A second version of his death, claims Ford was shot
in the back by Simpson's son. The youth was hidden inside a cabin
room of which one wall was behind Ford's chair. The chair had been
placed in front of a hole in the wall. The muzzle of a shotgun was
slipped through the opening and Simpson's son was given the honor of
pulling the trigger. The blast stuck Ford in the back at point-blank
range, killing him instantly.
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