author
Erasmus W. Jones
1817–1909
A Welsh-born Methodist minister who built a long life in America, he wrote historical and moral fiction shaped by faith, memory, and a deep interest in community life. His books range from biblical tales for young readers to local history rooted in nineteenth-century New York.
1 Audiobook
The Young Captives: A Story of Judah and Babylon
by Erasmus W. Jones
About the author
Born on December 17, 1817, in Llanddeiniolen, Caernarfonshire, Wales, he emigrated to New York in 1833 while still young. He later became a Methodist minister and spent much of his life serving Welsh-American communities, especially in upstate New York.
Alongside his ministry, he was a steady and wide-ranging writer. His work included fiction, religious writing, and history, with titles such as The Captive Youths of Judah, The Young Captives, and Gold, Tinsel and Trash. He also wrote about the places and people around him, including the history of the town of Frankfort, showing the same interest in storytelling and moral purpose that shaped his fiction.
He died on January 9, 1909. Today he is remembered as both a minister and an author whose writing connected Welsh immigrant experience, Protestant faith, and nineteenth-century American life.