Editing John Stith Pemberton (section)

==Background==
Pemberton was born on July 8, 1831, in [[Knoxville, Georgia]], and spent most of his childhood in [[Rome, Georgia]]. His parents were James C. Pemberton and Martha L. Gant.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rome Area History Museum |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sqxpBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |title=Legendary Locals of Rome |date=2014-12-01 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4396-4867-4 |page=47 |language=en |access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref>

Pemberton entered the [[List of defunct medical schools in the United States|Reform Medical College of Georgia]] in [[Macon, Georgia]], and in 1850, at the age of nineteen, he earned his medical degree.<ref name="MIT">{{Cite web |title=John Pemberton |url=https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/john-pemberton |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005020749/https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/john-pemberton |archive-date=October 5, 2023 |access-date=December 20, 2018 |website=[[Lemelson–MIT Prize|Lemelson-MIT Program]] |language=en-US}}</ref> His main talent was chemistry.<ref>King, Monroe M. "John Stith Pemberton (1831–1888)." ''New Georgia Encyclopedia''. June 13, 2017. Web. September 11, 2017.</ref> After initially practicing some medicine and surgery, Pemberton opened a drug store in Columbus.<ref name="MIT" />

During the [[American Civil War]], Pemberton served in the Third Cavalry Battalion of the [[Georgia State Defense Force|Georgia State Guard]], which was at that time a component of the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]]. He achieved the rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]].<ref name="MIT" />