Thanks to the kindness, courtesy, and dedication of Susan Navarre, Executive Director of the Fitchburg Historical Society, and her assistant Loretta, as well as the dogged devotion to the cause by their researcher John, on July 15, 2026 my wife and I were made welcome for a long, productive afternoon of research on the life of George W. Gould in the archives of the historical society. Susan and I had previously exchanged emails. I had observed that while George hailed from Leicester, much of the men in his 25^th Massachusetts Company F were natives of Fitchburg, so I reached out via Facebook and the historical society web page to inquire if their archives contained any relevant materials. Susan contacted me shortly thereafter, and promised to look into it, and then followed up once her researcher—the indefatigable John—confirmed my instincts by turning up an entire archives box filled with original materials from Massachusetts 25th Company F, including an original document recording George W. Gould’s death. I could not wait to visit!

The archives of the Fitchburg Historical Society indeed turned out to be a sort of a gold mine, and the box containing materials relevant to Company F appeared untouched—perhaps other than John’s initial examination—since someone roughly stuffed these into the box many years prior, likely after the GAR that once retained these records dissolved following the passing of its remaining veterans decades after the Civil War. It was left to us to carefully unroll or unfold these documents, study and scan them, and then leave them to be repacked into larger, more suitable archive boxes. We worked slowly and with great care to examine these materials, which were generally in a remarkable state of preservation, despite being “crunched” into the box some time ago.

The heart of the collection consists of a number of muster rolls. Most were undamaged and unwrinkled, and for those that were it was hardly fatal; darkness and a favorable climate had left much of the documents close to pristine, more than 160 years after some regimental or company clerk put ink to paper to record the service of men who no longer walk the earth, including George W. Gould. These massive muster rolls: standardized, pre-printed blank forms typically made of machine-made cotton paper—which are about 31.5” wide and 22” high when unfolded or unrolled—are especially unwieldy to work with, and I could not help but wonder how the clerks who filled these in or the officers who approved and signed off on them managed to put these to work when in the field during wartime! It turns out that these were compiled in a two-step process. First, the entire company would be lined up for inspection, and the clerk or orderly walked down the line calling out names and marking down who was present, sick, wounded, missing, or killed into a small notebook. Later, he would sit down with an inkwell and the ledger to permanently record his observations. Even still, working with oversize ledgers on a portable desk in a tent must have posed its own challenges, as these certainly did for us as we unrolled or unfolded these on a library table in far more favorable conditions.

I had brought along my CZUR portable book and document scanner to digitally capture the archival materials without risking damage to the originals. But 31.5” x 22” muster rolls cannot easily be scanned, so I was forced to do so in sections. Even so, the muster rolls are so physically large that I had to focus the scans I would make on portions of each roll that mentioned George W. Gould by name. Then, weeks and months later, I had to invest much time into “stitching” (albeit far from perfectly!) these scans together to recreate the muster rolls in a readable format. (Yellow highlight added over his name to aid location on muster.) This process, in addition to other matters competing for attention in my personal and professional life, is part of the reason why this update to the website is so long overdue.

In the end, I decided to reproduce here four muster rolls:

• Muster Roll August 31, 1863, which notes George W. Gould was shortchanged funds in his account “Due Gould for error in settlement of clothing acct. allowance for July 10^th to Sept. 1^st/62 $5.83” (about $64+ in today’s dollars)
• Muster Out Muster Roll January 17, 1864 that marks the end of George W. Gould’s original enlistment, noting that he was first enlisted as a 29 year old from Leicester on July 10, 1862, the enlistment took place in Worcester, and he was advanced $25 on the enlistment bounty he was promised, as well as $14.26 as a clothing allowance.
• Muster Return Muster Roll January 18, 1864 that marks George W. Gould’s reenlistment, noting him as a 32 year old farmer born in Providence RI who had reenlisted for a period of three years. It was not to be: he was killed in action at Cold Harbor less than five months later.
• Return of Men Muster Roll (detailed) March 31, 1864, a more detailed muster which reports that George is a 32 year old farmer born in Providence RI with blue eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion and stands 5’4½” tall, as well as providing enlistment details.
• Muster Out Muster Roll 1864 that marks George W. Gould as KIA, noting he was last paid $13.70 on January 17, 1864, that he had been paid $60 of his bounty and was owed $340, and that he was “Killed in action Jun 3/64 Coal (sic) Harbor VA

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR CLARITY & READABILITY:

There is still much more stuff to wade through, and I expect to post additional Fitchburg materials as time permits. For now, here’s one cool example: on the flip side of one of the muster rolls is an account of a skirmish between the Massachusetts 25th and Confederate forces at Batchelder’s Creek, North Carolina, some miles outside of New Bern, that saw the Union prevail and 150 rebels captured along with a wealth of enemy materiel.

Throughout the course of the afternoon, my wife Susan Ference Prager proved an invaluable support to my efforts, meticulously going through archive boxes, reading letters, unfolding muster rolls, and examining materials for potential relevance. With some serendipity, Sue happened to come across the Medal of Honor issued to the celebrated hero Orlando Boss, a Company F corporal from Fitchburg who at Cold Harbor on June 3^rd under enemy fire first dragged a wounded comrade to safety, then asked the permission of brigade commander General George J. Stannard to go back once more to rescue Lieutenant William Daly. Stannard gave his consent, and Boss returned under withering fire to successfully retrieve Daly, who unfortunately was mortally wounded.

Boss’ official Medal of Honor citation reads:

“The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal Orlando Phidelio Boss, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 3 June 1864, while serving with Company F, 25th Massachusetts Infantry, in action at Cold Harbor, Virginia. Corporal Boss rescued his lieutenant, who was lying between the lines mortally wounded; this under a heavy fire of the enemy.”

 

Curiously, in the same box with the Medal of Honor, Sue found a pair of socks with an unclear provenance. One of the socks is deeply stained. Could these be blood stains? Do they have anything to do with Boss and his medal. Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing.

As we were leaving, I was bemoaning aloud the lack of photographs for the men of the 25th–the absent faces to match with the names on rosters. John overheard and his ears pricked up—he dashed into the back and returned with this photo of the officers of the 25th Massachusetts. I smiled; it’s a start!

Once more, I would like to underscore my profound gratitude to Susan Navarre and her team for aiding my research efforts prior to and during our visit to the Fitchburg Historical Society, which it should be noted boasts a fine museum to Fitchburg history on its ground floor. I would encourage my readers to visit the historical society and either take on a membership or donate to further their work preserving and promoting local history.  Much more information can be found here: https://www.fitchburghistoricalsociety.com/