Automobile: Bad idea?

There is a family myth that my Great Grandfather August was a contemporary of Henry Ford. The myth also alleges that August, while working on a farm with Ford, told him that the automobile would never take off. I have decided to devote some of my research to hopefully confirm or disprove this myth.

Just like with Heinrich Burkel I will stick to the facts:

Henry Ford was born in Southeastern Michigan on 30 July 1863. My Great Grandfather was born a month later on 28 August 1863.
Henry was the first son of William and Mary Ford. William had come from County Cork, Ireland and married Mary Litogot the youngest child of Belgian parents. Her parents died when she was a child and she was adopted by the O'Hearn family - neighbors of her parents.

The map to the left shows the area that was once Henry Fords stomping ground. The area between Ford Rd. and Chicago Rd was farmland belonging to William Ford.

Some sources mention that Henry Ford walked 4 miles to the local Episcopalian Church every Sunday.

Henry was not interested in becoming a farmer like his father. At age 16 he left home and moved East to Detroit where he became an apprentice machinist.

August grew up about 11.2 miles Northeast of the Ford farm. (See Map Below.) He was the youngest son of Sebastian and Catherine Burkel.

The Map at Right shows the distance between August Burkel's childhood home (A) and Henry Ford's childhood home (B).

I am not sure how likely it is that the family myth is actually true. I am inclined to think that it is not for the following reasons:

Although the farms look close - when the boys were 13 they were in different townships. The Fords were in Springwell township and the the Burkels were in Greenfield. The Fords received their mail from the Yew post office and the Burkels received mail from the Greenfield PO.

Also, the Burkels were Catholic and the Fords were Episcopalian. They probably did not know one another from Church.

I could not find any information about schooling. It is possible that they went to elementary school together. Perhaps with more intense research of Henry Ford I might be able to determine where he went to school as a boy. I am not sure if I would be able to confirm that August went to the same school.

It seems like it is possible that August may have worked on the Fords farm - but not likely. Henry was the oldest and August was the youngest. There were three older Burkel brothers that may have enabled August to have some time to work on the Ford farm. Most of the evidence that I have found indicates that sons worked on their own family farms, though.

Considering that Henry could not wait to get away from the farm and August ended up with a farm about 3 times the size of his father - it is probable that they had different career paths in mind.

So, to say that Henry Ford and my Great Grandfather were contemporaries is absolutely a fact - but whether August told Henry that the automobile was a bad idea will remain a topic for debate for future generations.