Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Harper’s Weekly, 1861; public domain).

According to The Genealogy of the Family of Gamaliel Gerould, John Edward Gerould “[s]erved in Union Army as sergeant Co. I, 47th Pa. Volunteers.”

Unfortunately, the genealogical researcher who wrote those words for this particular book confused the “47th Pennsylvania Volunteers” (also known as the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry” or “47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry”) with the “47th Pennsylvania Militia, Emergency of 1863.”

John Edward Gerould served with the latter, short-term regiment (the 47th Pennsylvania Militia), which was formed to defend the Keystone State from the threat of invasion by forces of the Confederate States of America during the Summer of 1863, and not with the primary subject of this website – the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which served from 1861-1865 with tours of duty taking its men from Harrisburg to the Washington, D.C. area and Virginia (1861); Florida and South Carolina (1862); Florida (for the entire year of 1863 when Gerould was serving with the militia in Pennsylvania); Louisiana, Virginia and West Virginia (1864); and Virginia, Washington, D.C., Georgia, and South Carolina (1865).

Brief Overview of the Life of John Edward Gerould

According to the same genealogy tome which portrayed his military service incorrectly, John Edward Gerould was born on 1 November 1837, wed Emeline Elmendorff on 23 September 1858, resided at different times during his life in East Smithfield, Warren and Erie, Pennsylvania; Conneaut, Ohio; and in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was employed as a dentist.

His memorial on Find A Grave for his grave site at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Erie, Pennsylvania features a photograph of his military grave marker, which confirms his service as having been with Company I of the 47th Pennsylvania Militia [Emergency of 1863]. This  memorial also states that he was born on 1 November 1837 in East Smithfield, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and died on 11 May 1918 in Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania.

His entry in the Civil War Veterans’ Service Card File, 1861-1866 notes that he was 25 years old at the time of his enrollment for military service in Bradford County, Pennsylvania on 27 June 1863, that he mustered in as a Sergeant with Company I of the 47th Pennsylvania Militia of 1863 on 1 July 1863 at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and that he honorably mustered out from that militia service on 13 August 1863.

Sources:

1. Gerould, John E., in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania State Archives, 1863.

2. Gerould, John Edward, in The Genealogy of the Family of Gamaliel Gerould, Son of Dr. Jacques (or James) Jerauld, of the Province of Languedoc, France. Bristol, New Hampshire: Enterprise Power Press.