1850 Marshall County Census
GORRELL (568)
Oliver...Farmer...43-M...VA
Mary...44-F...VA
William...16-M...VA
Wilfred...14-M...VA
Isaac N...10-M...VA
Lucy A...6-F...VA
Oliver...3-M...VA

OLIVER GORRELL (G 37 Iowa Inf. - Corporal) - Service Record: “Died at Overton Gen. Hospital Memphis, Tenn. Sept 7, 1864 of Typhoid Fever.” “Nativity: Virginia.”

Oliver Gorrell was a long-time resident of Marshall County. He married Mary Cordell in Ohio County on Dec. 30, 1830. In the few early records presented on the Marshall County WVGenWeb site, he is found in the 1836 & 1840 Tax lists and the 1840 census. And, Oliver Gorrell, 43, was a resident of Marshall County in 1850, at which time he and his wife, Mary, 44, were the parents of William, 16; Wilfred, 14, Isaac N., 10; Lucy A., 6; Oliver, 3. Wife, Mary, died, and Oliver married Ann Danford on June 6, 1854 at Jefferson County, Iowa.

At the time of the 1860 census, Oliver and Ann were residing in Sharon, Appanoose County, Iowa. Children in the home were Isaac, 21; Oliver, 13; Mary E., 9; Virginia, 4. Only Virginia was born in Iowa.

Oliver enlisted in Co. G 37th Iowa Infantry on Oct. 6, 1862 at Centreville, Iowa. He mustered in at Muscatine, Iowa on Dec. 15, 1862. According to wikipedia, “This particular regiment was nicknamed the “Graybeard Regiment” because it was composed entirely of men not liable for military service. All men enlisted had to be at least 45 years old. It spent most of its service guarding prisoner of war camps and supply trains.”

Following his death, his widow received a pension, Certificate #44180, until her death in 1892. No minor children were mentioned, reason unknown.

From The History of Appanoose County, Iowa..., 1878: “Mrs. Ann Gorrell (widow); born in Belmont County, Ohio, in 1812; located in this county in 1858. Her husband, Oliver Gorrell, to whom she was married in 1854, died in the army, of disease contracted in the service of the United States. He enlisted in the 37th I.V.I., Co. G, in 1861, and died in 1864, leaving six children (one of whom was subsequently killed in the army during the war) and his widow, the subject of this biography. Mary, a daughter of her late husband by a former marriage, resides with her; Mrs. Gorrell has a small pension of $8 per month - small recompense for the life of her husband; she owns her little home, valued at $1,000, and has a small income besides her pension.”

WILLIAM O. GORRELL (G 36 Iowa Inf. - Corporal) - Service Record: Enrolled Aug. 18, 1862 at Centreville, Iowa; mustered in Aug. 18, 1862 at Keokuk, Iowa. Nativity: Ohio. “Died of wounds (gunshot) received at Elkins Ferry Little Missouri River Ark. April 6, 1864.”

He was the son of Oliver Gorrell, Sr., and Mary, residents of Marshall County in the 1850 census, at which time all were listed as born in Virginia. (See William’s father, Oliver Gorrell.) - William married Sarah R. Payne on Jan. 26, 1858 at Appanoose County, Iowa. They had one daughter, Lucinda F., born Oct. 5, 1859. They are found in the 1860 census of Centreville, Appanoose County; William born in Virginia, and Sarah in Ohio. Sarah R. Gorrell died in 1887.

Note: Another son, Oliver Gorrell, bon in 1847, served in Company "H" 8th Iowa Cavalry.