US Congressman. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and attended local common schools and completed preparatory studies. He then studied law and passed the bar in Indianapolis, Indiana, before relocating to the Nebraska Territory in 1856. He then entered public service and was elected as a Member of the Nebraska Territorial House of Representatives and served in that position from 1858 to 1859. He also served as a Member of the Nebraska Territorial Council in 1860 and again in 1861, and as the President of the Nebraska Territorial Council in 1861. On January 16, 1862, he married Clara A. Ritchie in Douglas County, Nebraska, and the couple would have three children together (Kate Taffe was born in 1864, John Taffe Jr. was born in 1865, and Edward T. Taffe was born in 1869). At the outbreak of the American Civil War, he put his career on hold to fight for his country. He enlisted in the Union Army on December 17, 1862, with the rank of Major in the Second Regiment of the Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry, originally he was named Captain of Company "I", but he was promoted to the rank of Full Major on January 24, 1863, when he joined the Field Officers of the entire regiment. During the Civil War, he participated in the Battle of Stone Hills of 1863 which was fought against Indians who had been attacking people and causing uprisings since the previous year. He was mustered out of military service on December 23, 1863. Following his military service during the Civil War, he went to Omaha, Nebraska, where he resumed his political career. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Republican, he then served the State of Nebraska as At-Large (Fortieth Congress, Forty-First Congress, and Forty-Second Congress) in the United States House of Representatives from 1867 to 1873. While serving in the United States Congress he was Chairman on the Committee on Territories representing the Forty-Second Congress. After his term in the United States Congress expired on March 3, 1873, he was succeeded in office by United States Representative Lorenzo Crounse. He then resumed his practice of law and served as the Receiver of the Public Land Office in North Platte, Nebraska, until his death in 1884. He was also a founder of the Omaha Public Library in Omaha, Nebraska. He passed away after a lingering illness in North Platte, Nebraska, on March 14, 1884, at the age of 57, and was buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. His wife Clara passed away in March 1890, at the age of about 52, and she was buried with her husband.