Civil War Soldiers Record Database

Thomas Olson was born in 1843 in Norway. He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company D. The men of the company called themselves the “Norway Wolf Hunters.” They were also known as the “Waupun Company” because so many of its members were from Waupun.

 The army listed him as living in Moscow, Iowa County, WI, age 23, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on January 30, 1862 at Moscow, and mustered at Madison, WI on February 13, 1862 as a Private (Menig). He was listed as sick. On November 26, 1862, he was assigned to Pioneer Corps. He returned to the Company on August 14, 1864. He mustered out with Company D on February 13, 1865 at Chattanooga, TN.

After the war, he returned to Moscow, WI. He was working as a day laborer and then a farmer. His first wife was named Eva. She died before 1880. He married again on January 14, 1882 in Moscow to Martha Paulson. Together, they had five children: Olaf (1883-1883), Oscar (1883-1935), Gena (1887-1962), Tilda (1889-1976), and Clara (1894-1948). He died in 1893 and is buried in Moscow Cemetery, Moscow, Iowa County, WI.

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, boxes 76-6, 78-3; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.62; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.454; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.302; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_355; 1890 Veterans Schedules, Roll: 113, Page: 2, Enumeration District: 126; Wisconsin Marriage Records, GS Film #1266677, Digital Folder #004312590, Image #00807; 1870 Census, Roll: M593_1718, Page: 243B, Image: 490, Family History Library Film: 553217; 1880 Census, Roll: 1429, Family History Film: 1255429, Page: 191D, Enumeration District: 157; findagrave.com.