Martha Alicia Porter King
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Martha Alicia Porter King (November 17, 1854-July 14, 1930) was the paternal grandmother of President Gerald Ford who was born in her house in Omaha, Nebraska.
She was born in Indiana. She married Charles Henry King, and they had five children: two sons and three daughters. Among the boys was Leslie Lynch King who was born in Chadron, Nebraska.[1]
They moved to Omaha where Charles became a prosperous banker, building a three-story, 14-room Victorian mansion in central Omaha at 3202 Woolworth. Their son Leslie married Dorothy Ayer Gardener on September 7, 1912. They moved to King's home to await the birth (July 14, 1913) of the future President, who was initially named Leslie Lynch King, Jr. However, Dorothy fled from her abusive husband with the 16-day-old baby - first to her sister in Oak Park, Illinois and then to her parents in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Leslie and Dorothy King were formally divorced on December 19, 1913. Dorothy remarried in 1917, to Gerald Rudolff Ford.
Gerald Ford said that he was never aware of who his biological father was until just before he turned 15 in 1928. He did not legally change his name until 1935.
Charles King and his wife died within five months of each other in California. They are buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California where Leslie is also buried.
