American industrialist Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor
Company, appears exactly where you might expect him in the 1940
US census , living with his wife, Clara, and three live-in
servants, at their Fair Lawn estate in Dearborn, Michigan. Henry
and Clara Ford were the first ones visited by the census
enumerator in their district, who recorded the value of their
estate as $200,000 and Henry's occupation as "automobile
manufacturer."1 A zero was entered for the amount of wages
earned during the year 1939, but this is not because Henry Ford
had no income, but because he was president of his own company
and worked for "business profits," and not for "money wages or
salary."2 1. 1940 U.S. Census, Wayne County, Michigan,
population schedule, Dearborn, enumeration district (ED) 82-12,
page 291 (stamped), sheet 1A, Henry Ford household; digital
images, Archives.com (http://1940census.archives.com : accessed
3 April 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll
1825.