A History of New London, Iowa
Jacob Hand (died 1895) was born in a lighthouse at Cape May, New Jersey, the son of Japheth Hand. Jacob married Sarah Hendrickson and they came from Illinois to live near New London in 1837. The 1879 History of Henry County listed J. Hand as a farmer in Section 9, Baltimore Township, about halfway between New London and Lowell. Jonathan Doolittle, in 1915, said Jacob and Sarah's daughter, Mary (Mrs. Henry) Cook, attended New London's one-room log school in 1846, when he was a scholar there.

Jacob and Sarah Hand's children included Ellen, Frank, Horace, James, John, Oliver, Mary, and Eve Hobbs.

Ellen Hand (1854-1927) married Marion Shipley, and they, had thirteen children: Ida Smith, Olive Jennings Van Hyning, Wesley, Roy, Ralph, Carl, Clarence, Dorothy Bonser, Etta Smith, Marie Cooper, Grover, William and Leslie.

Mary E. Hand (1833-1916) married Henry Cook (1836-1922), and their children included Florence (Mrs. Harry) Summers (1874-1970), Ollie (Mrs. Charles) Raines (1862-1948), Ella (Mrs. Frank) Hobbs, Ed, Horace, and Lyman.

Benjamin Franklin (B. F. or Frank) Hand (1862-1948) married Mary Brewer, who died in 1913. Mary Brewer's mother was Vashti Walker, daughter of Samuel Walker of Wabash County (sic: Wayne County), Indiana. Frank and Mary Hand's children were Rena (Mrs. Albert) Hartman (died 1942), Florence Hale, Edith (Mrs. D. H.) Kirkpatrick (1892-1967). Inez (Mrs. Clark) Gulick (1893-1972), Edna Welch McCabe, Charles, who was killed in World War I, and John.

Florence Hand married Ira Hale, and their children were Ada Venghaus, Vera Miller, Woodrow and Arlene. Edith Hand married Dallas H. Kirkpatrick, whose parents were Thomas Kirkpatrick (died 1913) and Laura McGanack Kirkpatrick (1863-1931). Several of the Kirkpatricks were early Methodist ministers in this area. D. H. and Edith Kirkpatrick's children were Velma (Mrs. Joe) Bugg, Max, and Dale. Children of Joe and Velma Bugg were Bill, Edith Daugherty, Mary Ella Bellis, and Henry. Velma Bugg operated the nursing home on Main Street from 1950 to 1960. John Edgar Hand (1890-1958) married Blanche Brown Gilleard (1884-1972) and their children were Dot Vashti (Mrs. Howard) Breen and John, Jr.

Frank Hand's second wife was Laura Jane Anderson (1862-1940), the widow of William Steward. The Steward children were Orville, Lawrence, Henry, Charles, Otis and Earl. She also reared two foster daughters, Lillian (Mrs. Loren) Dickey and Dorothy Clayton.