TAYLOR-John Jay (Dr) - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

John Jay Taylor, M.D., was born on November 24, 1853 in Attica, Fountain County, Indiana to John J. Taylor and Louisa Amanda Taylor, both Virginia natives. John was raised in Attica with three siblings, Newton Marshall Taylor (born October 3, 1847), Charles Fremont Taylor (born about 1856), and Emma V. Taylor (born around 1862).

The Taylors were well off; John's father was an attorney at law, and the Taylors had a Swedish domestic servant living with them in 1860. Unfortunately, John's mother bore three children who died very young: Delilah Jane Taylor (1849-1850), William Taylor (1851-1855), and Cora Elizabeth Taylor (1858-1859). William died when John was about two years old, and Cora when he was six. John suffered further tragedy in his youth as his mother died when he was fifteen. Louisa, Delilah, William and Cora were all buried together in Riverside Cemetery (block 3, lot 61) in Attica, Indiana, but John's father was not. After his mother's death, John and his elder brother Newton attended school in Greencastle, Indiana at Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw). John attended Indiana Asbury from 1871 to 1872, only 16 years old in his freshman year. He studied Mathematics, Greek, Latin, Belles-Lettres & History and Modern Language. John had very high grades (above a 90% in all his classes) and excellent attendance. While at Indiana Asbury, John lived with his brother Newton and several other male students in the home of one of the other student's sister. John did not attend Indiana Asbury past his freshman year. After he left, John moved to Purdy, McNairy County, Tennessee sometime between 1871 and 1880, where he lived alone as a teacher.

While in Tennessee, he met Nancy L. Carter, a farmer's daughter from nearby Hardeman, Tennessee, whom he would later marry. Sometime between 1880 and 1883, John moved to Philadelphia to continue his education at the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia. Accompanying John was his younger brother Charles F. Taylor, who had graduated from the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons in Indianapolis in 1880 and who was also a physician. Charles founded the Medical World in 1884, a medical journal based at 1520 Chestnut Street, where John would later work. John graduated from the Medico-Chirurgical College in 1887, and on September 13 of the same year, married Nancy Carter in Hardeman, Tennessee, her hometown. Nine months and two weeks later, on June 26, 1888, Nancy and John's first child was born in Philadelphia. John delivered his own son, Charles Carter Taylor, in his own home at 1312 Race Street. John and Nancy had their second child in 1892, a daughter named Irene Taylor. John never lost a child like his parents had; Nancy bore only their two children and both survived.

Following his graduation, John worked at home as an allopathic physician for a time. By 1889, John was working from his home at 1312 Race Street, from 8:00 to 10:00 A.M. and 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. In 1890 he moved from his home at 1312 Race Street to 3709 Brown Street in West Philadelphia, and in either that year or the next, John began working at his brother's journal, The Medical World, as an editor. In 1891 he also published his first book, The Physician as a Business Man: Or How to Obtain the Best Financial Results in the Practice of Medicine, which was published by The Medical World. John acknowledged his brother Charles in his forward, thanking him for his assistance in the writing and editing of the book. Not long after he began working with his brother, John developed his own medical journal. He left The Medical World to start The Medical Council, the first issue of which was published in March of 1896. The Medical Council was at first located at 1127 Walnut Street. This new journal focused less on specialties and more on common maladies, diseases of women and children, gynecology, racial improvement, and obstetrics. Its price was $1.00 for a year's subscription, and was well received by other medical journals, such as the Medical Herald. The focus of John Jay Taylor's career in medicine was not so much in actual practice, but in promoting the business aspects of being a physician.

Throughout his professional career he produced several books and booklets besides his medical journals about how to make money in the field of medicine. By the time of his death, he had published two books, the first of which was Physician as a Business Man; Or, How to Obtain the Best Financial Results in the Practice of Medicine, which was published by his brother's journal in 1891. The second was The Psychology of Debt. The fiscal focus of his work is evident simply from the titles of his books. His booklet "The Art of Collecting Physician's Accounts" also showed these priorities. Additionally, John made and sold two account books. The first was The Physician's Pocket Account Book, a small but handy booklet for practicing physicians to keep organized records of their services and fees (Doc. HH). This booklet was very highly reviewed in medical journals and by individual physicians as being neat, compact, useful and practical. The second was the Taylor Desk Account Book, which was "exactly like the pocket book, except that it is larger". John advertised all his supplementary booklets and account books in his journal; there were several pages at the end of each issue with descriptions and ads for his pamphlets and account books, and order forms for their individual purchase or with discounts for multiple ones. Because he had published not only a successful and highly reviewed medical journal but also numerous booklets and account books, John Jay Taylor grew to be rather prominent in the medical world. By his death he was a member of the Philadelphia County and Pennsylvania State Medical Societies (member from 1893 to 1912), the American Medical Association, the Medical Club of Philadelphia, the American Society for Advancement of Sciences, the American Medical Editors' Association, the New York Drug and Chemical Club, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Additionally he was a member of several social clubs, including the City Club (member from 1893 to 1912), but most notably the Masonic Order.

John first entered the order as an Apprentice on December 26, 1907. He then became a Fellow Craft on January 31, 1908, and finally a Master Mason, the level required for full involvement in the order, on March 5, 1908. He was a member of the Olivet Lodge No. 607 where he received his degrees and attending meetings. In 1902 John moved again (though he kept his house on Brown Street) to 4105 Walnut Street, where he lived until his death. The deed to this house was under Nancy's name, like all the other's they had owned throughout their marriage. As John's business grew, he moved it to 42nd and Chestnut Streets, a mere two blocks from his home. The continuous wealth of his business was obvious in his home life as in 1910 the Taylors had a nineteen-year-old black chambermaid, Viola Muse, living with them, only a year older than eighteen-year-old Irene. In the same year, Charles was listed as a manager in publishing, as he was working for his father at that time. In his later years as a physician John spoke at several events in the medical community. In 1909 he attended a farewell dinner for a fellow doctor who was leaving for New York. John spoke of the doctor in the highest regard at his dinner. He also, along with a few other doctors, represented Philadelphia at a meeting of the American Medical Association on June 7, 1910. There he was selected to be the secretary of the Medical Editors' Association, of which he was a member.

Unfortunately, John Jay Taylor fell fatally ill with cancer of the tongue at the height of his career. John knew that he was sick for about two years before his death in 1912, during which time he prepared his medical journal for continuation after his death. 11:30 A.M. on August 1, 1912, John Jay Taylor passed away peacefully from exhaustion as a result of his cancer in his summer home at 5504 Wesley Avenue, Ocean City, New Jersey. John's body was transported from Ocean City to Philadelphia for his burial by railroad. Relatives and friends were invited to attend the funeral services at his late residence at 4:00 P.M. on Sunday August 4th but his internment at Woodlands Cemetery on August 5th was private. His obituary in The Philadelphia Record asked that flowers be omitted. John's wife Nancy was named as the executrix in his last will and testament, which was read and registered on August 9, 1912, and inherited all of his estate. This consisted of a personal property of $25,000.00 and a real estate of $5,000.00. After his death, John's medical journal continued under the direction of his widow, who managed the business aspects of his journal along with their son Charles. Thomas S. Blair, M.D., a long time colleague of John's and a staff member of the journal, took over as editor. Many years later, in 1950, John's son Charles was buried with him, followed by Nancy in 1930, Irene in 1963, and finally Charles' wife Augusta, whose marriage John did not live to witness.

The Oliver H. Bair Funeral Co. managed all of the Taylors's funeral services. Sizable obituaries for John Jay Taylor were printed in several Philadelphia newspapers including The Public Ledger, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Record. Perhaps more importantly however, obituaries for John appeared in medical journals across the nation, and all had positive things to say about the late doctor. One described him as being "honest, true to his ideals, tolerant, courteous, and sympathetic", and another expressed that "it was a privilege as well as a pleasure to know Dr. John J. Taylor." Not a single one shed a bad light on the kindly man, described in several to be a good Christian gentleman, and all expressed that the medical community had lost one of its great members. John Jay Taylor, M.D. lived a short but rich life with a loving family during which his passion for his career and his kind personality led him to great success.