1820
Jonathan Taft born September 17 in Russellville, Ohio (father: Lyman Taft of Massachusetts).
Dean Taft was a childhood classmate of General Ulysses S. Grant. At least one source says that he was related to the presidential Taft Family, also of Cincinnati. If this is true, Dean Taft would be the several times great uncle of the current governor of Ohio, Bob (Robert Alphonso) Taft III. Curiously, Dr. Taft named one of his sons Alphonse and the other son William, both popular names in the political branch of the family.

ca. 1837
Became a school teacher in the Brown County area of Ohio.
As a result of a childhood injury which made it impossible for him to work on the family farm, he was forced to explore other less strenuous avenues for employment. He was lamed, and used a cane throughout his life.

1841
Began study of dentistry under Dr. George D. Teter in Ripley, Ohio.

1842
Married Hannah Collins.

1843
Entered private practice in Ripley.

1844
Relocated private practice to Xenia, Ohio.

1848
Presented first known professional paper, "Irregularity of the Teeth."

1850
Graduated from the Ohio College of Dental Surgery (OCDS).

1854
Became Professor of Dental Surgery at OCDS.

1855
Moved his private practice to Cincinnati.
His first Cincinnati-based practice was established as a partnership with his lifelong friend George Watts, who had also been his partner in Xenia. Two years later Dr. Watts moved back to Xenia for family reasons.

1856
Editor of the Dental Register.
Dr. Taft, both with George Watts and later on his own when Dr. Watts left to fight in the Civil War, edited the Dental Register of the West for almost 50 years, from 1856 until the year of his death, 1903. During his tenancy as editor, the Register was the first dental journal to begin a monthly schedule of publication, and had the reputation of being the most reliable dental journal being printed, having never missed an issue. Dr. Taft's oversight and attention to detail was credited with this remarkable performance.

1856
Introduced the hot air blow pipe.

1858
Became Dean of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery.

1859
Wrote the textbook popularly known as Taft's Operative Dentistry.
Shown in the exhibit is the 3^rd edition from 1877, published two years after he came to Ann Arbor. This textbook became so well known as the definitive work on the topic that the author of an 1870 article on "Teeth of the Ancients" commented, "I wonder at what a price 'Taft's Operative Dentistry' would have sold … [3000 years earlier]." (Dental Register 24:223-226.) The illustrations on these pages show a variety of forceps for the extraction of teeth in different areas of the jaw, with instructions for their use.

1859-60
Refused admittance to OCDS for Lucy Beaman Hobbs, who later went on to become the first woman to receive a degree in dentistry.
This is particularly interesting, since it is for this single act that Taft is remembered most vividly in recent histories of dentistry. What is largely overlooked is that this decision was largely based on the willingness of his faculty to teach women students, and the prevailing belief at the time that woman lacked the physical strength to practice dentistry. His other actions indicated his own personal willingness to work with Miss Hobbs and women students in general. For example, it is well known that he expressing substantial sympathy for Miss Hobbs, and later did indeed accept her to OCDS, as soon as there was sufficient support for the decision. Indeed, it is this same Dr. Taft who accepted Ida Gray, the first African-American woman dentist, into the University of Michigan College of Dental Surgery. Please see the quotes section for Dr. Taft's published views on women as dentists and students.

1865
Initial discussions leading to the founding of the UM School of Dentistry.
Dr. Taft, in his manuscript about the founding of the School, put it this way: "The suggestion originated, as nearly as can now be ascertained, in conversations and consultations between Drs. John A. Watling, C. B. Porter, and George L. Field."

1865
Lucy Beaman Hobbs accepted by Dr. Taft as a student at the Ohio College of Dental Surgery.

1868-69
President of the American Dental Association.
In Dr. Taft's presidential address as the outgoing President of the Association, as consistent with Dr. Taft's entire career, he strongly espoused the duty of each dentist to the advancement of the profession, and professional ethics as essential to this process. Transactions of the American Dental Association 1869:39-42.

1870
The Robinson/Lunsford murder case.
Dr. Taft was a key witness in this very early example of the use of bite marks in forensic dentistry.
Taft, J. Editorial: Dental Jurisprudence. Dental Register XXIV 1870:457-459.