J. F. Ford was listed in the “Lawyers” section of the 1881-82 Combined Directory of Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas), Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Eureka Springs & Fort Smith. Nothing else is known about him.
Sources: Judith Kilpatrick, “(EXTRA)Ordinary Men: African-American Lawyers and Civil Rights in Arkansas Before 1950,” 53 Ark. Law Rev. 299, 303 n8 (2000); 1881-82 Combined Directory of Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas), Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Eureka Springs & Fort Smith;