John Peter Mettauer was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1787.

[1] He was a pupil at Hampden-Sydney College, followed by studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his medical doctorate in 1809.

In 1837 he founded a private medical school located between Prince Edward Court House and Kingsville, Virginia.

[1] Mettauer also designed and developed his own surgical instruments, some of which are on display at the Esther Thomas Atkinson Museum at Hampden-Sydney College.

He died from kidney disease at his home in Prince Edward County on November 22, 1875.