Our fourteenth Lucas County Prosecutor was born in Huron County, Ohio to a pioneering family in 1841. His educational experiences appear to be quite varied. After spending his early years in the public schools of both Ohio and New Hampshire, Ford pursued a teaching career in Minnesota after which he (wisely) changed his mind and attended the "Law Department" at the University of Michigan!

Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1867, Ford was immediately selected the city solicitor in Maumee, where he settled with his family. He continued to practice law there until 1871 when he served as Prosecutor for four years. When he died suddenly in 1894 at the age of 53 years, he had outlived three wives.

At his death, his colleagues spoke highly of Joseph Ford:

As a lawyer he was diligent and faithful in the preparation of his cases, careful and methodical in presentation. One of our most skillful examiners of witnesses, he was clear and logical in argument to the court. Always pleasing, attractive and persuasive, he was at times truly eloquent in his address to the jury.

But beyond that, there was a sincerity and honesty in all that he did...he was an honest man; a manly man; a gentleman...[Scribner, Harvey, Memoirs of Lucas County, 1910, p. 438].