John Stafford, son of William Stafford and Mary Cook, was born on March 15, 1805 in Manchester, Ontario County. He lived most of his life in Rochester, New York. He married Nancy Hurlbut on September 14, 1845. She was born on September 30, 1827 in Oil City, Pennsylvania and died on February 19, 1906. To the union of John and Nancy were born eight children.
John was the same age of Joseph Smith Jr. He reported seeing the Smiths dig for treasure in Manchester/Palmyra. He studied medicine under Dr. Alexander McIntyre and attended the Hobart College at Geneva, New York, receiving a license to practice medicine and surgery in 1841. He resided in Manchester as a practicing physician until 1876 when he moved to Rochester. In a biographical sketch commemorating his ninety-ninth birthday, it was said of him: “Dr. Stafford is well acquainted with the beginnings of Mormonism.
He knew the Smith family well, and was present at the first baptism, when old Granny Smith and Sally Rockwell were ‘dipped’ and came up ‘white as snow.’” He died on February 24, 1905 in Rochester. He was buried in the Brookside Cemetery in Shortsville, New York. His obituary read, “John Stafford, who would have been 100 years old on March 15. He died on February 24, at his home in Rochester, N. Y. He was perhaps the oldest physician in the State.