Henry Thompson
Database Record Change Request
| Name at Enlist | Henry Thompson |
| Birth Name | Hølje Torgrimsen Folseraas |
| Lived | 10 Mar 1820 – 9 Nov 1905 |
| Birth Place | Gransherad parish, Hjartdal, Telemark |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Dodgeville, Iowa County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | G |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 13 Dec 1861 |
| Burial Location | First Lutheran Cemetery, Volga, Brookings County, SD |
| Mother | Mari Nirisdatter Wiig |
| Mother Lived | 23 Oct 1798-2 Jun 1867 |
| Father | Torgrim Høljesen Folseraas |
| Father Lived | 1788-8 May 1833 |
| Immigration | 1853 |
| Spouse | Thone Olsdatter Folseland |
| Spouse Lived | 10 Jul 1819-7 Feb 1911 |
| Married On | 27 Dec 1846 |
| Marriage Location | Gransherad parish, Hjartdal, Telemark, Norway |
Hølje Torgrimsen was born in Telemark, Norway. He married Thone and had two children there before leaving the parish for America in 1853.
Henry Thompson joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company G. The men of the company called themselves the “Rock River Rangers.” The army listed him as living in Dodgeville, Iowa County, WI, age 41, and married. He enlisted for three years on December 4, 1861, at Dodgeville and mustered at Madison, WI, on December 13, 1861, as a Private (Menig). He was seriously wounded in his left arm at Resaca, GA, on May 14, 1864, and sent to hospital. He mustered out with Company G on January 13, 1865, at Chattanooga, TN.
After the war, Henry returned to Dodgeville, WI. A family story says that he was reported to have died during the war and when he returned home, meeting his daughter, who didn’t recognize him, in the front yard, asked, “Little girl is your mother home?”. The frightened girl ran into the house and fetched her mother, who looking out, was struck to see her husband. All he had brought back from the war was a tin cup with an apple in it.
By 1890 the family was living in Brookings County, SD. Henry and Torena had five children: Torgrim/Thomas H. (1847-1939), Aslaug/Ellen (1851-1932), Mari (1854-1949), Sarah Ann (1857-1942), and Ole/Oliver H. (1860-1946). Henry died November 9, 1905 and is buried in First Lutheran Cemetery, Volga, SD.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-9; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol. 20, p. 106; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, B. Anundsen, Decorah, IA, p. 544; Martin Ulvestad, Nordmændene i Amerika, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p. 334; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p. 313; 1860 Census, Roll: M653_1412, Page: 631, Image: 117, Family History Library Film: 805412; 1880 Census, Roll: 1429, Family History Film: 1255429, Page: 259D, Enumeration District: 150; 1900 Census, Roll: 1546, Page: 10B, Enumeration District: 0034, FHL microfilm: 1241546; “Norwegian Immigrants 1850 and later”, database, NAGCNL, #40237, #40238; digitalarkivet.no; ancestry.com; findagrave.com; family information, Joseph Johnstun.