George J. Nash was born on December 16, 1832, in Chenango County, New York, to Hendrick Nash and Mary Fish. His father was a farmer. The family moved to Cass County, Michigan, around 1837. He married Eliza K. Watson in Cass County on August 18, 1859, and they had at least five children: Ralph, born around 1860; George, born around 1862; Emma, born around 1867; Maud, born around 1869; and Nellie, born around 1874. Nash enlisted in the Union army on February 24, 1863, and mustered in as a private in Battery A of the 1^st Michigan Light Artillery later that day.

 

The battery took part in the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Chickamauga, and the siege of Chattanooga. He was promoted to sergeant on June 1, 1864. In October 1864, he informed his friends that the “horrors of these battles are beond [sic] description and the more I see of them the worse I dred them.” Nonetheless, he was willing to “fall in defence of my noble country.” He supported Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1864." In the same letter, he denounced draft dodgers, writing that “sutch men ought to be dispised by every one. Men that wont stand by their country in the hour of need, ought not to be protected by that country.”

 

Nash mustered out in July 1865. He returned to Cass County after the war and resumed his work as a farmer. By 1870, he owned $1,200 of real estate and $400 of personal property. By 1880, he was working as a day laborer in Marcellus, Michigan. Eliza died around 1881, and he married Clarinda Newkerk on March 19, 1882. By 1900, he was working as a stone mason. He died of Bright’s disease in Marcellus on December 1, 1925.

SOURCES