John C. Dahlinger Sr
Strange as it may seem Ray Dahlinger's wife, Evangeline Cote, was the daughter and sister of the owners of Cote Motor Company of Ferndale, Mich.
There were also rumors of a mistress of Henry Ford's, named Evangeline, bearing a son shortly before the Cote Motor Company came into existence and there was a young man named John Cote Dahlinger who on occasions worked in the Novi crew in later years.
John Cote Dahlinger who co-authored a book in which he claimed to be the illegitimate son of Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford I, has died in a Saginaw hospital of cancer at age 61. Mr. Dahlinger, who lived in Lexington on Lake Huron, died Friday at St. Mary's hospital.
In "The Secret Life of Henry Ford," Mr. Dahlinger wrote that his mother, the late Evangeline Cote Dahlinger, Henry Ford's personal secretary, was also the auto pioneer's mistress.
Dahlinger had operated nightclubs in the Detroit area for many years. His family's former estate is a mile upstream from Henry Ford's Fair Lane mansion, now located on the University of Michigan's Dearborn campus.
Ford, Mr. Dahlinger had said, built the mansion, which was occupied by Evangeline Dahlinger and her husband, Raymond. Ford had showered him and his parents with expensive gifts, Mr. Dahlinger wrote.
Both Raymond and Evangeline Dahlinger had worked for Ford in the early days of the Ford Motor Co. Evangeline began work as a secretary for one of Ford's design consultants for the Model T, and later was Ford's personal secretary, handling correspondence for Ford's wife, Clara, and overseeing the development of Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Her husband, who died in 1969, worked as a bodyguard for Ford and later managed the Ford Farms in Dearborn.
Dahlinger had said in his book, co-authored by celebrity biographer Frances Spatz Leighton, that as a boy he had played with Henry Ford's four grandchildren. In his book, Mr. Dahlinger said his mother would never discuss his parentage, but he said her diaries and her close relationship with Ford convinced him that Ford was his father.
The
Hispano Suiza Flying boat that was on display at the Henry Ford Museum was Evangeline Dahlinger's.. a gift from Henry Ford. Not sure if it's still on display now.
His mother seemed obsessed with Ford, despite their 30-year age difference, wrote Mr.Dahlinger. "She kept track of everything he was doing day by day in her diaries. She seems to have destroyed some of her diaries as she grew older and more discreet," he wrote. "Even so, I found enough of the little books secreted around the house, painstakingly written by hand (partly in French) to get a good picture of their relationship."
After the death of his mother in 1979, Mr. Dahlinger sold the Dahlinger farm in Dearborn. In an interview in 1978, Mr. Dahlinger said he wrote the book to put his parents "back into history."
Most Ford biographies include brief references to Raymond Dahlinger as
the manager of the Ford Farms. One Ford family biographer, David Lewis, named Evangeline Dahlinger as one of the 10 people who had the most influence on the Fords.
Mr. Dahlinger never worked for Ford Motor Co. He had been a pilot in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was a professional race car driver for several years. In 1959 he bought Cliff Bell's, a popular downtown Detroit supper club. He and his second wife, Elizabeth, operated the Act IV nightclub on W. Grand Blvd. in Detroit for five years until 1969.
Mr. Dahlinger had one son, John Cote Dahlinger Jr, from his first marriage. John Dahlinger Jr. was
murdered in a grisly manner in Grand Rapids, MI 2013
River Oaks School is on former Dahlinger property. Evangeline sold the property to the school board after the SB approached her about some land for a school.
The Subdivision in front of the house was the result of some property being sold to help pay back taxes.
John C. Dahlinger Sr did, in fact, work for Ford Motor Co. at the same time he was attending Greenfield Village Schools. He worked on the test track in the mid-1930s.
Ray Dahlinger started with Ford in the early days as a driver- running new cars off the assembly line. He was also the 'bag man' on HF's Peace Ship, guarding the gold and also serving as HF's bodyguard.
It's said that Ford arranged the marriage between Evangeline and Ray, whether or not that's true is up for discussion, but Ford had a history of playing matchmaker.
Not too long ago, there was a 1930s era Ford race car that was owned by John Dahlinger that came up for auction. The story has it the race car sat in a Detroit garage for years and someone, that knew what it was, bought it, then restored it to the original colors of the Cote Motor Co.
READ MORE:
**UPDATE** JOHN C DAHLINGER DEATH DECLARED A HOMICIDE
THE SECRET LIFE OF HENRY FORD BY JOHN COTE DAHLINGER
