Jacob Gottwals Francis (1870-1958)

J. G. Francis was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was a minister for the Church of the Brethren. He was a man who was interested in the history not only of his church, but of the families and countryside that produced the members of that church. As a historian, he left behind both written and photographic records of the history of the Church of the Brethren. He also detailed the history of several families in the Lebanon County area. I am grateful that he chose to write about the Kreiders of Lebanon County. His series of articles from May through September of 1919 in the Lebanon Daily News forms the framework from which I have been able to build. I have been able to fill in some of his gaps, and I continue to work to bring up to date the Kreider ancestral tree that Reverend Francis initiated.

Along with his written history he left behind many photographs of the people and places he visited (often on his bicycle) throughout southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There is a collection of many of his photographs at Elizabethtown College. Reverend Francis was one of the men responsible for establishing Elizabethtown College as a Brethren college.

For more information about J. G. Francis

A list of the writings of Jacob Gottwals Francis

I'm not sure how complete this list is.