Laurentz Olson
Database Record Change Request
| Name at Enlist | Laurentz Olson |
| Birth Name | |
| Other Names | Lorents, Lorenz |
| Lived | Dec 1834 – 25 May 1902 |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | C |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 2 Dec 1861 |
| Death Location | Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI |
| Burial Location | Home Cemetery, Block 28, Row 1, Milwaukee, WI |
| Immigration | 1857 |
Laurentz Olson was born in December 1834 in Norway. He immigrated in 1857.
Olson joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company C. The men of the company called themselves the “Norway Bear Hunters,” but they were also known as the Color Company because the regimental Color Guard was attached to their company.
The army listed him as living in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI, age 27, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on November 12, 1861 at Waterford, WI, and mustered at Madison, WI on December 2, 1861 as a Private (Menig). Olson was sick in Union City, TN on June 20, 1862. On December 30, 1862, he was seriously wounded at Stones River and sent to Nashville. He became unfit for service and was discharged for disability at Louisville, KY on May 13, 1863.
After being discharged, Olson joined M Company of the IL 8th Cavalry at Chicago on February 9, 1864. He served until the conclusion of the war and was discharged on July 26, 1865 at Camp Douglas, IL.
After the war, Olson resided in Chicago and worked as a sailor. He never married. In 1882, he was admitted to the northwest branch of veterans homes in Milwaukee, WI. He died in the hospital on May 25, 1902 due to “senile wasting with cardiac failure.” He was buried in the Home Cemetery, Block 28, Row 1.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-5; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.48; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.424; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.299; 1900 Census, Roll: 1807, Page: 23B, Enumeration District: 0203, FHL microfilm: 1241807; U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, p.190.