Henry Ford’s Secret Life Spawned An Illegitimate Son

There's a story that's been floating around for approximately 100 years that states Henry Ford sired an illegitimate child. Not so hard to believe, since a seemingly infinite number of famous people in power have had children out of wedlock.....or from someone else other than their spouse/partner.

The person in question this time is John Cote Dahlinger, who wrote a book claiming he was Ford's son. His mother Evangeline Cote (who was a cousin of popular actor Tyrone Power) began working at the Ford Motor Company when she was 16; by age 19 she was Ford's 'personal' secretary, and supposed mistress in a sexual relationship that went on for twelve years. After discovering Evangeline was pregnant with his child, Ford had a mansion built for her which ended up being a lookalike of his own mansion, complete with a secret stairway that led to Evangeline's bedroom.

To try and avoid a scandal, Ford arranged a marriage between Evangeline and one of his employees, Raymond Dahlinger. Even though Ford didn't acknowledge publicly his 'son' John, he visited the family and always gave them gifts...mostly expensive ones.

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John said his mother never admitted that Ford was the real father, who John always referred to as “Mr. Ford'. But after some snooping through her diaries, he came to believe there had been a relationship between Ford and his mom. In his book The Secret Life Of Henry Ford, Dahlinger wrote: "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.....I found enough of the little books secreted around the house.....(and got) a good picture of their relationship”. Evidently, Evangeline had burned many of her other diaries and journals to keep some secrets from ever getting out. You can find out more about this infamous, hushed scandal HERE and HERE.

In his adult years, John Dahlinger had one son, John Cote Dahlinger, Junior.

Henry Ford died in 1947.
Raymond Dahlinger passed away in 1969.
Evangeline Dahlinger followed in 1979.
John Cote Dahlinger died in 1984.
John Cote Dahlinger Jr. was murdered in 2013 by a pimp; supposedly Junior didn't pay a prostitute for her services.

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