John S. Taft was a resident of Mansfield on December 14, 1864 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. E of the 1st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery; he was mustered out September 25, 1865, Washington, D.C.

He was born on October 20, 1848 in Leicester, Massachusetts to Joseph and Ann (_____) Taft. In the 1860 U.S. census in Stafford, Connecticut, he is a 12 year old in the household of Joseph Taft. After the Civil War, he was a farm laborer in Tolland and by 1900, he was a farmer living in South Windsor, Connecticut. John Taft married Clara E. Brewin between 1865 and 1880. Children include: Joseph J. Taft, born about June 1879; Mabel Taft, born about March 1881 and Clara E. Taft, born about April 1885. Clara E. (Brewin) Taft died before 1888; John Taft married, second, Mary M. _____ about 1888.

On August 5, 1879, he applied for an invalid pension, No. 302,057 that was granted under certificate No. 256,586. His widow applied for a pension on June 30, 1910.

John S. Taft died on June 17, 1910 in South Windsor, Connecticut and he is buried at the Center Cemetery in South Windsor.