George F. Bemis was born around 1822 in Troy, New Hampshire. He married Rowena Jackson in June 1, 1845, and they had at least five children: Martin, born around 1846; Harlan, born around 1847; Sarah, born around 1849; Rosaline, born around 1851; and George, born on October 15, 1855. They lived in Troy, and Bemis worked as a farmer. By 1850, he owned $600 of real estate. They moved to Hartford, Vermont, in the 1850s.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on June 1, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company F of the 3^rd Vermont Infantry on July 16. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with light hair and blue eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Overland Campaign. He was mortally wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5, 1864, and he died near Petersburg, Virginia, on May 8.

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