Professors of Atlanta University: Cyrus W. Francis

Cyrus W. Francis
From A History of the Class of 1863, Yale College

Cyrus W. Francis
From A History of the Class of 1863, Yale College

Cyrus West Francis (b. June 17, 1838; d. June 12, 1916)

Connecticut. White.
Education: Yale College (B.A., B.D.)
Occupation: preacher, teacher, 

Cyrus W. Francis was born in 1838 in Newington, Connecticut to Cyrus and Nancy D. (Pratt) Francis. His parents ran a family farm. The family had deep roots in New England. Their ancestors had moved to the area in the 1600s, and one ancestor (Justus Francis) had served as a major in the Continental army during the Revolutionary War.

For school, Cyrus attended Dummer Academy in South Byfield, Massachusetts. He graduated valedictorian and then began attending Yale College. He attended Yale from 1859 to 1863, and was a standout student. He won third prize in an English composition competition and served as a deacon in the college church. He was classmates with Horace Bumstead and Edmund A. Ware, the founding president of Atlanta University.

After receiving his B.A. from Yale, he began studying in Yale's Theological Department. He completed a B.D. degree from the department in 1867.

His studies at Yale were interrupted towards the end of the Civil War. From 1864-65, he served in the U.S. Christian Commission, providing religious support with social services to Union soldiers. He was stationed in Washington, D. C. and in Summit Point in the Shenandoah Valley. 

By the time he graduated from Yale's Theological Department, Cyrus was licensed to preach and ordained as a missionary. In October 1867, he sent to Atlanta, Georgia by the American Missionary Association to perform religious and education work for freedmen. In March 1869, he was made pastor fo the First Congregational church. After serving as church pastor for four years, his wife became seriously ill, so he left his post and moved to California in the hope that a new climate would improve his wife's health. Sadly, her health problems persisted, and she died a few months after the move.

After his wife's death (in 1873), Francis returned to Georgia and became involved with Atlanta University. He remained at the university for almost two decades, until 1894. He held a number of important roles. He first held the professorship of systemic theology but was transferred to the position of professor of ethics and Christian evidences after one year. He also served as a trustee for twenty-seven years (from 1867 to 1893), librarian (from 1874 to 1887), and college church pastor (from 1874 to 1894). In the 1887-88 academic year, he served as acting president. 

In 1894, Francis left Georgia to return to Connecticut. He first served as pastor of the Congregational church in the town of Brookfield. After a decade (in 1904), his health began to fail, and he retired to the town of Hartford. Cyrus died of heart disease in 1916. He is buried in the Newington Cemetery. 

Sources

1. Obituary Record of Yale Graduates, 1915-1916.  (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University, June 1916), 50–51.

2. A History of the Class of 1863, Yale College. (New Haven, Connecticut; The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1905), 90–91.

2. Year: 1880; Census Place: Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia; Roll: 148; Page: 186B; Enumeration District: 090

3. Year: 1900; Census Place: Brookfield, Fairfield, Connecticut; Roll: 132; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0050; FHL microfilm: 1240132

4. Year: 1910; Census Place: Hartford Ward 4, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: T624_132; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 0171; FHL microfilm: 1374145