On July 8, 1831, John Stith Pemberton was born in Knoxville, Georgia. John graduated from Southern Botanical Medical College in 1859 and became a physician by age 19. He practiced chemistry, surgery, and general medicine using methods like herbs and steam baths in his treatments. In 1853, John married Ana Eliza Clifford Lewis, and in 1854 they had a son, Charles Ney Pemberton, the couple's only child.