B. G. (Benjamin Grant) Jefferis

Born in 1851 and commonly listed as Benjamin Grant Jefferis, he was a physician and author whose career became closely associated with popular household and health manuals. Library and public-domain records connect him with books such as Searchlights on Health, The Household Guide, and Safe Counsel, works that blended medical advice with domestic instruction for ordinary readers.

Jefferis is often described in catalog and reprint records as Canadian-born and practicing in Chicago. His books were widely circulated in the 1890s and early 20th century, often in collaboration with or alongside J. L. Nichols, and they aimed to explain health, family life, and personal conduct in a plain, accessible style.

Modern readers may find his work historically interesting as much as medically informative. Some of his writing reflects ideas about sexuality and eugenics that were common in parts of his era but are now rejected, so his books are best approached as documents of their time as well as examples of early popular health publishing.