FORD, FRANCIS XAVIER

born Jan. 11, 1892, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S. died Feb. 21, 1952, Canton, China martyred American Roman Catholic missionary and bishop of Mei-hsien in Kwangtung province, China. Ford was ordained in 1917 and went to China the next year in the first group of Maryknoll missionaries sent to that country. He founded the Maryknoll Seminary for Chinese Boys in Yang-chiang in 1921 and in 1922 established the first overseas convent for Maryknoll sisters. He became the first bishop of Mei-hsien (1935) and remained at his post during World War II, though surrounded by Japanese troops. Under the postwar communist government, he was arrested on espionage charges on Dec. 23, 1950. He was humiliated and forced to submit to public beatings en route to prison in Canton. His subsequent death in Canton was not known outside China until September 1952.