Francis Bangs Knowles (1823-1890):

 Early Supporter of Rollins & Winter Park

Francis B. Knowles was born on November 29, 1823 in Hardwick, Massachusetts. He received his education in the Leicester Academy and went on to teach public school.[1] He soon left teaching for a career in business. In 1845 he began to manufacture men’s clothing and gloves. The Union Army commissioned him to make gloves for U.S. soldiers during the Civil War. After the Civil War Knowles went into business with his brother Lucius to make looms and steam pumps. The Knowles brothers soon became quite successful in their business, so much so that they had expanded their operation and moved to Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1884 Francis became chief director of Knowles Loom Works upon his brother’s death.[2] Knowles Loom Works became a prominent industrial concern in New England and generated considerable wealth for Knowles. 

Prior to his brother’s death, Knowles first visited Florida in 1883 and met with his old friend, Colonel Franklin Fairbanks. Fairbanks spoke highly to Knowles about the new city of Winter Park. After two years, Knowles became the director of the Winter Park Land Company, the primary land development corporation in the city, as well as its’ largest stockholder. Moreover, he devoted his wealth and his skill to improving life in the city.[3] In 1890, only months before his death, the Knowles public school was dedicated in his honor. Knowles donated money for the school and it became the finest school in Orange County. Known for his piety and moral character, Knowles donated money to the Congregational Church and supported its activities. Motivated by the belief that he had a duty to his creator and to his fellow man, Knowles dedicated himself to community improvement.[4]  One of Knowles’ outstanding improvements to the city was the Seminole Hotel. This hotel was the largest hotel south of Jacksonville and soon became one of the outstanding landmarks in Central Florida.[5]In 1888, he sponsored the completion of the nearly doomed Winter Park Railway by taking control of the project himself.

Improving Winter Park also included helping to create and finance Rollins College. He donated money for the College’s early building campaign and became a trustee.[6]  He remained a major contributor to the institution until his death in 1890. By then, he had donated over $24,000 to the College.[7]  In recognition of his generosity, the first building to be completed on campus bore his name. The original Knowles Hall completed in spring of 1886 was the first building devoted to collegiate education in the state of Florida.[8]

In 1909 the original Knowles Hall succumbed to fire. In 1932, financed by his daughter Mrs. George E. Warren and designed by Ralph Adams Cram, Knowles Memorial Chapel became a Winter Park landmark in memory of the man who donated so much to the College.[9]

- David Irvin