Henry H. Service was born on April 20, 1839, in New York to Samuel Service and Margaret Burnside. His father was a carpenter who owned $1,000 of real estate and $400 of personal property by 1860. He probably grew up in Ogdensburg, New York, and by 1860, he was working as a butcher.

 

He enlisted in the Union army in April 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company A of the 16^th New York Infantry on May 15. The regiment took part in the Peninsula campaign and the Battle of Chancellorsville, and he mustered out in Albany, New York, on May 22, 1863. He enlisted again on July 29, 1863, and mustered in as a private in Company A of the 14^th New York Heavy Artillery on August 29. He received a steady series of promotions: to quartermaster sergeant, then to 2^nd lieutenant on January 21, 1864, and finally to 1^st lieutenant on April 12, 1864. He was wounded in the siege of Petersburg on July 30, 1864, and he mustered out on September 23, 1864.

 

He settled in Alexandria, Virginia, after leaving the army, and he married a woman named Ann sometime in the 1860s. He applied for a federal pension in March 1865 and eventually secured one. By 1870, he was working as a clerk in the Internal Revenue Department, and he owned $250 of personal property. He died in Alexandria on December 20, 1886.

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