John Franklin Hand was born 1858 in Pennsylvania to Edward Hand and Elizabeth Updegrove-Hand. At the time of the 1880 United States Census, John Franklin was 22 years old. He was the head of his own household. His wife, Sophia McAlister-Hand, was 27 years old and their first child, daughter Stella May Hand, was 2 years old.

John Franklin Hand was a laborer in the Pennsylvania coal mines. He died in 1919.