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 In
response to the Estate's quest for stories in celebration of the
Model T, let me briefly relate the tale of my grandfather, Peter
Edmund Martin.
On
December 15, 1903, P.E. Martin walked into the newly opened Ford
Motor- Mack Avenue - automobile plant and asked for a job . He spoke with C Harold Wills
who soon brought him to the attention of Mr. Henry Ford himself. Mr.
Ford asked P.E. if he could start immediately. P.E. borrowed
some coveralls and was put to work in the “Experimental Room”
that very day.
P.E.
soon established himself firmly in Henry Ford’s confidence. On
October 17, 1906 Walter E. Flanders, Ford's Manager of
Manufacturing, appointed P. E. assistant to Thomas Walburn, in
active charge of all manufacturing departments. After Flanders left
to start his own auto company (EMF), Ford put C Harold Wills
nominally in charge of manufacturing operations and machine tool
procurement. Wills left these duties almost completely in the hands
of “Pete “ Martin and Charles “Cast Iron Charlie”
Sorensen.
By
1908, Henry Ford had gathered together the cast of brilliant leaders
who were to guide the destiny of the Model-T and the Ford Motor
Company. The records at Dearborn show that much of the design and
experimental work for the Model T was done by Henry Ford, Joseph A. Galamb, C
Harold Wills, Harry Love, C. J. Smith, Gus Degener and P. E. Martin.
There were fourteen men who created the new and in many cases
fantastic procedures that would soon make it possible to produce
10,000 Model Ts in a twenty-four hour day . Those men were Henry
Ford, C. Harold Wills, James Couzins, John and Horace Dodge, Peter
E. Martin, Charles Sorensen, Norval Hawkins, Joe Galamb, Fred Diehl
and Walter Flanders.
lft to rt: Henry Ford, Edsel Ford (driving) Charles Sorensen, and
P.E. Martin
in the Fifteen Millionth Ford (Model T) on the day of its
assembly.
Peter
Martin eventually became became appointed General Superintendent of
Ford Motor Company (January 3, 1919) .In 1924 Peter received an
appointment as First Vice-President, in charge of Manufacturing
along with a seat on the Board of Directors, with Henry and
Edsel Ford, a position he held until his retirement in 1941. During
those years, he received the highest salary of any Ford
employee including Henry Ford’s son Edsel.
The
late Ford Motor historian Owen Bombard noted: “ P.E. Martin
was production superintendent at Highland Park for all those years
from 1909 until assembly was moved to The Ford Rouge Plant in
the 1920s. Production of the Model-T during its greatest years was
Peter Martin’s responsibility.”
Despite
his inner-circle relationship with the company’s founder and his
key role in the development of the Ford Motor Company and of
the Model T , my grandfather's enormous contributions have
frequently remained overlooked. Peter E. Martin never sought
publicity during his lifetime and he never wrote a tell-all book
about his experience at Ford's. I believe this centennial
celebration offers an appropriate opportunity to present his story.
M. Peter Martin
Charleston, S.C.
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