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Ole G. Thompson

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment

Database Record Change Request

Name at Enlist

Ole G. Thompson

Birth Name
Lived

ca. 1841 – 1 Feb 1888

Birth Place

Ygre, Voss

Birth Country

Norway

Resident of Muster-In

Chicago, Cook County, IL

Company at Enlistment

A

2nd Company

B

Rank at Enlistment

Private

Muster Date

8 Jan 1862

Immigration

1853

Spouse

Cornelia

Spouse Lived

1842-

Married On

29 Jun 1866

Ole G. Thompson was born in Ygre, Voss, Norway in 1841 and came to America in 1853. He worked for the Chicago Journal as a typographer until 1861. Thompson joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company B. The men of the company called themselves the “Wergeland Guards” in honor of Henrik Wergeland, the famous Norwegian writer and poet.

The army listed him as living in Chicago, IL, age 21, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on September 27, 1861 at Chicago and mustered on January 8, 1862 at Madison, WI as a Private (Menig). He was assigned to Company A, where he became a Sergeant (Sersjant). On May 14, 1862, he became Second Lieutenant (Løytnant) in Company B and First Lieutenant on November 1, 1862. Illnesses, mainly diarrhea, left him unfit for service, and he was given leave. He returned in time to join the Battle of Stones River. His illness returned and he resigned on January 30, 1863.

After the war, he lived in Cook County, IL with his wife, Cornelia, and children: Bertha (1870), Maude E. (1875), and Olive G. (1877). In 1870, he was a deputy sheriff and in 1880 he was working as a clerk.

Sources: Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.28; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] by Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.372;  Martin Ulvestad, Nordmændene i Amerika, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.258; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.294; Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Vol I & II, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, p.808; Blaine Hedberg, NAGC&NL; 1870 Census, Roll: M593_212, Page: 274B, Image: 553, Family History Library Film: 545711; 1880 Census, Roll: 194, Family History Film: 1254194, Page: 467D, Enumeration District: 128, Image: 0678; Cook County, Illinois, Marriage and Death Indexes, 1833-1889; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_471.