George N. Sherman was born on July 31, 1837, in New York to Harvey Sherman and Lucinda Clark. His father was a farmer who owned $6,000 of real estate and $800 of personal property in 1860. Sherman grew up and attended school in Marion before beginning work as a farmer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on July 23, 1862, receiving a bounty of at least $120. He mustered in as a private in Company E of the 111^th New York Infantry on August 20. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 5½ inches tall, with blue-gray eyes and brown hair. He was wounded on July 2, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg, but he eventually recovered and rejoined his regiment. Confederate forces captured him on August 25, 1864, at Reams’ Station, Virginia. He spent the next several months imprisoned at Belle Isle in Richmond before receiving a parole in December 1864.

 

He returned to the 111^th New York in January 1865 and mustered out on June 4, 1865. Sherman moved to Lyons, Michigan, sometime before 1888. He applied for a federal pension in May 1888 and eventually secured one. He worked as a laborer and farm hand in Michigan. He died of rheumatism and heart disease in Lyons on June 1, 1908.

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