Jesse A. Gove was born in Weare, New Hampshire, the son of Squire and Dolly (Atwood) Gove. In 1845, he entered Norwich University (Norwich, Vermont), but interrupted his studies in 1847 to serve in the Mexican War, first as a Second Lieutenant, then as a First Lieutenant, in the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment. After the war, he returned to Norwich and graduated with a B.S. degree in 1849.
Gove then moved to Concord, New Hampshire, to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He had his own office there until 1855, and was also Deputy Secretary of State for New Hampshire. In 1852, he married Maria Louise Sherburne of Concord. They had one daughter, Jessie, who married the Hon. John H. Pearson, and one son, Charles A. (U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1876). Gove was also a member of Mount Horeb Commandery, Knights Templar, in Concord.
In 1855, Gove returned to military service, being commissioned Captain, Company I, 10th U.S. Infantry Regiment, by President Franklin Pierce. Gove served in the Minnesota and Utah Territories before the Civil War erupted. When Col. Henry Wilson returned to his senatorial duties, Gove was commissioned Colonel of the 22nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
In what became known as the Seven Days' Battles, on June 27, 1862, at Gaines's Mill, Virginia, Colonel Gove was shot through his heart by a minie ball and died instantly. One of his non-commissioned officers, who had been taken prisoner of war, recognized the body and removed the colonel's belt, which he later presented to Colonel Gove's widow, but due to the circumstances, could not recover the body. If Colonel Gove's body was ever buried, it was not marked by name.
Sources include the HISTORY OF NORWICH UNIVERSITY, 1819-1911 ed. by William A. Ellis, 3 vols. (Montpelier, Vt., 1911), 2: 449-51; NORWICH UNIVERSITY: HER HISTORY, HER GRADUATES, HER ROLL OF HONOR compiled by William A. Ellis (Concord, N.H., 1898), pp. 301-02; and a memorial pamphlet titled COLONEL JESSE A. GOVE, U.S.A., FELL AT GAINES' MILLS, JUNE 27, 1862 (Concord, N.H., 1870).
