JOHN LIGHT ATLEE, M. D., was born in Lancaster Nov. 2, 1799, and was a physician and surgeon of repute. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1820, after which he opened an office in Lancaster, and his skill as a surgeon soon brought him into prominence. He helped found the Lancaster County Medical Society in 1843, and also the Pennsylvania State Medical Society in 1848. He was also one of the promoters of and organizers of the American Medical Association in Philadelphia, and became its president in 1882. He was also professor of anatomy at Franklin and Marshall College. He died at Lancaster Oct. 1, 1885.
Source: Biographical Annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: Containing Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Early Settlers (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1903), p. 166.