Brothers Henry, Elias, and John French, sons of Jesse and Anne Chamberlain French, were born in Sullivan County, New Hampshire. The 1850 federal census lists the brothers among the children living in the Plainfield home of their parents. John and Elias continue to be listed in their parents' home in 1860. Army enlistment records show all three brothers as residents of Enfield at the time of their enlistment in Company H, 11th New Hampshire Infantry during the American Civil War. All were mustered into service on September 2, 1862.

Henry French was born in 1833. The 1860 federal census lists French, a carpenter and joiner, and his wife Emma, 21, among the residents in the Enfield (Grafton County), New Hampshire home of Joseph B. Smith. French enlisted in Company H on August 20, 1862. He was wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862 and was reduced to ranks May 26, 1863. On August 1, 1864, he was promoted to sergeant, having been unjustly reduced to ranks. He was appointed 1st lieutenant on June 1, 1865 but mustered out as sergeant on June 4, 1865. He is likely the Henry French described in the 1870 federal census as a 36-year-old carpenter living in Manchester, New Hampshire with presumed wife Emeline and two children. The 1880 federal census shows French, a carpenter, living in the Chicago home of his brother Frederick, together with brothers John and Elias, while Henry's wife and children remained in New Hampshire. He was still living in Chicago as late as 1891, but he died in Orford (Grafton County), New Hampshire on August 28, 1898. Henry French was buried in West Cemetery, Orford.

John French was born in Meridan, New Hampshire on February 25, 1838. By the time he enlisted in Company H on August 12, 1862, he was employed as a machinist. He was wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, and following a second wound was discharged due to disability at Louisville, Kentucky on January 13, 1864. In 1865, French moved to Pearson, Indiana. The following year, he married Libbie Perkins; the couple had one daughter, who died in infancy. Around 1869, the Frenches moved to Chicago, where John French worked as a foreman for Palmer & Fuller, a manufacturer of doors and sashes, for fifteen years; the 1880 census lists him as a widower, living in the Chicago home of his brother Frederick. Soon afterward, he moved to Edna, Kansas and became a stock dealer. Around 1892, he moved to Cherryville, where he operated a gun repair shop. In failing health, he retired from the gun repair shop, but entered into a short-lived partnership with W. J. Raymond to operate a grocery and general hardware store in 1903. John French died in Cherryville in November 1904. He was buried in Chicago.

Elias French was born in Meridan, New Hampshire on February 25, 1838. Like his twin brother John, Elias French enlisted on August 12, 1862. He was mustered out of the service on June 4, 1865. By 1891, French was living in Chicago, and he remained in Chicago through 1904, before returning to New Hampshire around 1905. The 1910 federal census lists Elias French, unmarried, among the residents in the Orford (Grafton County) home of his younger brother Fred; he was employed as a shop carpenter. Elias French died in Orford on July 12, 1933, and was buried in West Cemetery, Orford.