John Thompson Ford papers, 1809-1960

Biographical Note

Date	Event
1829, Apr. 16	Born, Baltimore, Md.
1849	Married Edith Branch Andrews
1851-1854	Agent for the Nightingale Serenaders, a minstrel troupe Correspondent for the Baltimore Clipper
1854-1855	Formed a partnership with George Kunkel and Thomas Moxley in leasing the Holliday Street Theatre, Baltimore, Md.
1856-1861	In partnership with George Kunkel and Thomas Moxley, managed Marshall Theatre, Richmond, Va.
1858	Elected to First Branch City Council from the fourteenth district, Baltimore, Md.
circa 1861	Became sole manager of the Holliday Street Theatre, Baltimore, Md.
1862	Built Ford's Athenaeum, Washington, D.C.
1863	After Ford's Athenaeum burned down, rebuilt it as Ford's New Theatre (later called Ford's Theatre), Washington, D.C.
1865	Incarcerated from April 18-May 27, following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C.
1867	Ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Baltimore, Md.
1870	Purchased the Holliday Street Theatre, Baltimore, Md. Managed Academy of Music, Charleston, S.C. Elected to Second Branch City Council from the nineteenth and twentieth district, Baltimore, Md.
1871	Built Ford's Grand Opera House, Baltimore, Md.
1874	Elected to First Branch City Council from the nineteenth district, Baltimore, Md.
1878	Managed Broad Street Theatre, Philadelphia, Pa.
1894, Mar. 15	Died, Baltimore, Md.