John Wasson was born in Ireland around July 1837 to John Wasson and Fannie Morehead. The family immigrated to America around 1839 and settled in Michigan. His father worked as a farmer, and by 1860, he owned $2,000 of real estate and $400 of personal property. Wasson attended school in Ottawa County, Michigan, and by 1860, he was working as a farm laborer for the local Wolcott family. He enlisted in the Union army on August 13, 1862, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he mustered in as a private in Company C of the 2^nd Michigan Cavalry on September 1, 1862. He took part in the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Resaca, and the Battle of Franklin, and he eventually earned a promotion to sergeant. Wasson was captured by Confederate forces at Shoal Creek, Alabama, in December 1864, and he was probably paroled soon afterward. He mustered out at Camp Chase, Ohio, on June 28, 1865.

 

Wasson settled in Kent County, Michigan, after the war and worked as a farmer. He applied for a federal pension on May 16, 1889, complaining of rheumatism, and he eventually secured one. He married Jennie C. Babcock in Ottawa County on December 9, 1890, and they spent the next twenty years together. Wasson died in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on June 13, 1913.

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