In 1859, at the precipice of the American Civil War, George Washington Ford was born into slavery in Fort Mitchell, Alabama, to a Cherokee mother and a white plantation owner, giving him the last name Ford. After slavery was abolished by then U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, his mother and father moved to Florence, a small, rural farming town in Stewart County, Georgia, just a few miles down the Chattahoochee River. His mother died when he was young, and he and his sister, Alice, were taken in by adoptive parents, John and Margaret Jackson Harris, in Alabama.

George married his first wife, Mary Matilda Ryles, and returned to Florence to start a family. They had 11 children: George, Alfred, Henrietta, Will, Robert, Haywood, Charlie, Cornelius, John Reed (who died at the age of 7), Bernice, and Margaret. Mary Matilda died in 1911 and George then married his second wife, Mamie. Following a separation from Mamie, George married his third wife, Sally Joseph.

Alice gave George $1,000 to help purchase 394 acres of farmland, his second farm which they named “Grass Creek.” George was a smaller man, slight in stature, but was described as an influential figure in the life of his family as the community. He was lovingly called “Papa” by his children and grandchildren. He was known for being loving toward his grandchildren, being close to God, and always full of good advice.