John M. Francis

{{short description|American diplomat}}

{{infobox officeholder

|name = John M. Francis

|image = John M. Francis portrait.jpg

|caption =

|alt =

|order = 8th

|minister_from = United States

|country = Austria

|term_start = September 11, 1884

|term_end = August 3, 1885

|predecessor = Alphonso Taft

|successor = Alexander Lawton

|president = Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland

|order1 =

|minister_from1 = United States

|country1 = Portugal

|term_start1 = October 5, 1882

|term_end1 = August 25, 1884

|predecessor1 = Benjamin Moran

|successor1 = Lewis Richmond

|president1 = Chester A. Arthur

|order2= 2nd

|minister_from2 = United States

|country2 = Greece

|term_start2 = November 11, 1871

|term_end2 = June 25, 1873

|president2 = Ulysses S. Grant

|predecessor2 = Charles K. Tuckerman

|successor2 = J. Meredith Read

|birth_date = {{birth date|1823|03|06}}

|birth_place = Prattsburgh, New York, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1897|06|18|1823|03|06}}

|death_place = Troy, New York, U.S.

|spouse = Harriet E. Tucker

|children = Charles Spencer Francis

}}

John Morgan Francis (March 6, 1823 – June 18, 1897) was an American journalist and diplomat.{{cite web |title=John and Charles Francis collection (1869-ca. 1905) |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsead/umich-wcl-M-3362fra?id=navbarbrowselink;view=text |website=Clements Library |publisher=University of Michigan |access-date=31 January 2020}}

Francis was born in Prattsburgh, New York. He left home in 1838 and began working in Canandaigua, New York, for several newspapers. He moved to Troy, New York in 1846 and was chief editor of the Northern Budget. Francis founded the Troy Daily Times on June 25, 1841. As a diplomat, Francis served as United States Minister to Greece (1871-1873), as Minister Resident/Consul General to Portugal (1882-1884) (originally appointed Chargé d'Affaires, he took the oath of office, but did not proceed to the post in that capacity), and as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Austria-Hungary (1884-1885).{{cite web |title=John Morgan Francis |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/francis-john-morgan |website=Office of the Historian |access-date=31 January 2020}} He was a delegate to the 1894 New York State Constitutional Convention.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiufUDG-zboC|title=The Convention Manual of Procedure, Forms and Rules for the Regulation of Business in the Sixth New York State Constitutional Convention, 1894: Delegates Manual and Introduction|publisher=The Argus Company|year=1894|location=Albany, N.Y.|pages=xx|via=Google Books}} He died in Troy, New York.