Many Lives, One Lifespan

Book excerpt: Great , great grandfather John Taylor braved the wilds and moved his family from the Pennsylvania Dutch country to the new state of Indiana at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Southern Indiana was sparsely settled but formed the base for the Taylor descendents. Dr. Taylors life was strongly influenced by his mothers great spiritual belief in god and the need for a Christian life and education for her children. The great depression years helped form the basis for a lifetime of hard work and accomplishments. The hope of giving something back to family and society makes life worthwhile. His choice of surgical training proved to be the basis for his subsequent success. A letter he was told he should not have written because it was not proper military protocol proved to be the source of a military career that was unsurpassed. He was chosen to help develop the medical care of Americas first men into space, Project Mercury. Forty years of pioneering surgery in the field of heart and lung surgery were the golden age of medicine. Farming, ranching, banking, real estate, flying and travel to all seven continents and over fifty countries fulfilled a life that was more than anyone could hope for.