William Prince Ford, Date of Birth, Date of Death

William Prince Ford

American businessman

Date of Birth: 15-Jan-1803

Date of Death: 23-Aug-1866

Profession: businessperson, farmer

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

William Prince Ford (January 15, 1803 – August 23, 1866) was a Baptist minister, preacher and planter in pre-Civil War Louisiana.
He was the slave owner who first bought Solomon Northup, a free African-American, after Northup had been kidnapped in Washington, D.C., and sold in New Orleans.
Those events happened in 1841.He resided in the "Great Pine Woods", Avoyelles, Red River Parish, Louisiana, and he ran a farm there.At the same year, Ezra Bennett, a Bayou Boeuf storekeeper and planter, lived near the plantation of Prince Ford and gave him instructions to his factors.After selling Northup to another slaveholder, Ford in 1843 converted, with most of his Baptist congregation, to the Churches of Christ, to which Ford had become influenced by the writings of Alexander Campbell.
Campbell visited the congregation in 1857, at which time Campbell was favorably impressed by the fellowship practiced between blacks and whites in the congregation.
As of 2014 the congregation continues as the Cheneyville Christian Church.
It is the oldest congregation associated with the Restoration Movement in Louisiana.