Born in Barton on February 16, 1843, to a hard working farm family, Henry M. Leland carried into his life the strength and quality of his family’s work ethic and added to it his gift and love for precision. By 1890, he was in Detroit, where he had become chief engineer at Cadillac. Known as one of the world’s foremost automobile engineers, he won the Dewar Trophy twice, in 1909 for the concept of interchangeable parts and in 1914, with C.F. Kettering, for the automobile self-starter. At 74, he formed the Lincoln Motor Company to build aircraft engines for use in World War I. In 1919 he developed the Lincoln automobile. Henry Leland died March 26, 1932.