Edward R. French

Name: Edward R. French Company: I, G Veteran; transfered to Company G February 24, 1863; promoted Corporal; wounded at Nashville
Birth Date: January (or July?) 24, 1838 Place: Zanesville, Ohio	Mustered In Date: March 4 or 19, 1862 Rank: Private Age: 24 Residence prior to military service: Zanesville, Ohio; St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota (Iowa Territory, Minnesota Territory)
Death Date: August 20, 1884 Place: Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota Burial: Evergreen Cemetery, Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota	Mustered Out Date: September 6, 1865 Rank: Corporal Age: 27 Residence following military service: Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota Vocation following military service: Saloon and restaurant owner

Edward R. French Biography and Civil War Narrative

Edward Robert French was born to Alpheus R. and Mary A. (Henry) French in Zanesville, Ohio, on January 24, 1838. Two years later, the French family moved to St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in Iowa territory--in the vicinity of future Minneapolis, Minnesota. Edward's parents had been married at Fort Snelling in 1838, his father having served in the U.S. army.

On March 4 or 19, 1862, 24-year-old Edward enlisted in Company I of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Regiment. Soon after, Edward's father, Alpheus R. French, was mustered in as Adjutant of the 5th Minnesota, and then Edward's younger brother, Alpheus P. French, enlisted in Company I as well. Alpheus was named 2nd Lieutenant of Company I, and on December 31, 1862, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. On February 24, 1863, Edward was transfered to Company G. He was promoted to Corporal.

When he re-enlisted in 1864 as a veteran and was given home leave, Edward R. French married Emma E. (Sackett?) on July 14 at Randolph, Minnesota. Emma had been born in Connecticut about 1838. Returning to active duty, Edward was wounded in the "arm, slightly" during the battle of Nashville on December 15-16, 1864.

After being mustered out with his company on September 6, 1865, Edward French and his wife, Emma, moved to Demopolis, Alabama, where they lived for a couple of years on a plantation known as "Chestnut Grove." They returned to Minnesota in 1867, living briefly in Cannon Falls, Redwood Falls, Wilmar, St. Paul, Hinckley, and finally settling in Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota. For many years Edward owned and operated restaurants.

Children of Edward and Emma French include Hattie M. (born about 1867 in Demopolis, Alabama); Saidee E. (born about 1868 in Minnesota); Perry (born 1872 in Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota); Frank H. (born about 1873 in Brainerd(?), Minnesota); Henry Porter (born June 4, 1876 in Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota; died as an infant); Edward Howard (born April 2, 1877 in Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota), and Belle (born in 1879 in Brainerd(?), Minnesota).

From 1872 until his death, Edward French lived in Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota, on Norwood between Seventh and Eighth streets. Edward was involved publicly in the affairs of Brainerd and was well-known among the residents.

Following a brief illness in which he suffered lumbago (lower back pain), Edward French died at the age of 46 in Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota, on Wednesday, August 20, 1884. His home funeral on Friday, August 22, was attended by an "imposing demonstration." Edward French was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Brainerd (Lot 52, Block 6).

Emma French died on April 29, 1919, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the home of one of her daughters. She was buried along with her husband and their infant son, Henry Porter, in Evergreen Cemetery, Brainerd.

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