In 1920 my grandfather, Charles Peabody accepted a position to head the orthopedic department at the Henry Ford hospital.

Apparently Henry Ford had an eye for my grandmother, or maybe it was just her dancing skills. I remember my grandmother Miriam as a stern puritan (the moral kind); it was however the roaring 20’s… The following was taken from one of her personal stories titled “The Fruitful Years”.

“…about this time, Henry Ford’s interest in square dancing began… I was his dancing partner always. Of course I was honored and thrilled but there were times when I was tired and would have liked to sit out a dance, but he was demanding. I remember when Newton was born at the Ford Hospital, Henry Ford came to see me and brought me lovely flowers, but as he was leaving he said “You should be able to be back dancing in three weeks,” and I was!

Mr. Ford was a very impersonal man. It was only at long intervals that he changed and would make almost a boyish remark about how he liked the way I did my hair, or asked what I thought about someone, especially the doctors at the hospital. He was a very apprehensive man and probably had good cause to be. He told me of his simple life, only seven years of country school, but the night of the day that the University of Michigan honored him with the degree of Doctor of Science he whirled me around the dance floor of the Plum Hollow Country Club in a fast two-step, saying “You See, organized education is not necessary to succeed and win degrees.”

I’m afraid Mrs. Ford was not too happy about our friendship. There was an abrupt cooling off on Mr. Ford’s part, and soon Charles—who was not in complete accord with the policies of the hospital—after six years left and went into private practise …”- Miriam Church Peabody