People involved in the establishment of the new country of America are known as patriots of the American Revolution. As we prepare for the celebration of the 250th anniversary, the Oliver Morton Chapter of DAR and the Jones County News salute these patriots who located to our area or whose descendants have located in the area. This month we salute John Taliaferro. There are several descendants of John Taliaferro in Jones County and middle Georgia, including members of the local DAR chapter.
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John Taliaferro was born in 1733 to Richard and Rose Berryman Taliaferro in Virginia.
His father passed away when he was only fifteen. He and his brother helped his mother with her responsibilities of business and home. It is believed that he received a call to the ministry as a young man. He also studied medicine and became a great physician in the colony. He married Mary Hardin and they had ten children.
At the outbreak of the American Revolution, he organized a company of minutemen of which he was the captain. In 1779 he moved to North Carolina to do a greater and nobler work that God had planned for him.
Dr. John, as he was known, was a preacher, teacher and the only physician in his county at that time. He followed the army as surgeon, and administered to the sick and wounded soldiers and gave words of spiritual comfort to the dying upon the field.
In 1819, he was issued a land grant in Wilkinson County for his revolutionary services.
Dr. John passed away at his Wilkinson County home on his 88th birthday, leaving a legacy of patriotism, skills in healing and ministry.
