Oliver F. Long was born on October 2, 1840, in Jerusalem, New York, to Joseph and Harriet Long. His father was a farmer who owned $1,600 of real estate by 1850. The family lived in Jerusalem until the 1850s, when they moved to Pulteney, New York. By 1860, he was working as a farm laborer. He enlisted in the Union army on August 30, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company I of the 148^th New York Infantry on September 2. According to his service record, he was 6 feet, 1 inch tall, with light hair and blue eyes. He was promoted to sergeant on September 14, 1862. The regiment took part in the Battle of Cold Harbor, and he mustered out on June 22, 1865.

 

He settled in Michigan after the war, and he married Mary Balls there on August 13, 1865. They had two children: Hattie, born around 1867; and Fred, born around 1880. They lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, and Long worked as a farm laborer. By 1870, he owned $1,500 of real estate. The family moved to Maple Grove, Michigan, in the 1870s. He applied for a federal pension in March 1880 and eventually secured one. He died of “chronic nephritis” in Nashville, Michigan, on August 8, 1902.

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