Ole Tostenson
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| Name at Enlist | Ole Tostenson |
| Birth Name | |
| Other Names | Torstenson |
| Lived | 13 Jan 1842 – 1924 |
| Birth Place | Valdres |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Manitowoc County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | F |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 12 Dec 1861 |
| Death Location | Elk Creek Cemetery, Worth County, IA |
| Immigration | 1861 |
| Spouse | Anna Dorothy Anderson |
| Spouse Lived | Apr 1847- |
| Married On | 1866 |
| Marriage Location | Manitowoc County, WI |
Ole Tostenson was born on January 13, 1842 in Valders Norway. In 1861, he came to Manitowoc, WI. He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company F. The men of the company called themselves “KK’s Protectors” in honor of the 15th’s first Lieutenant Colonel, Kiler K. Jones. “F” was also known as the Valdres Company because a large number of its members hailed from the Valdres region of Norway.
The army listed his residence as Manitowoc County, WI, age 20, unmarried, and a tailor. He had blue eyes, blond hair, fair complexion, and was 5’9” tall. He enlisted for three years on November 16, 1861 at Manitowoc, WI and mustered at Madison, WI on December 12, 1861 with a bounty of $100 and a Private (Menig). On July 2, 1862, he was sick in Tullahoma, TN and in Nashville, TN on July 22, 1862. He took part in the bombardment at Mississippi River Island No. 10; the Battle at Perryville, KY on Oct 8, 1862; in a skirmish near Lancaster, KY on October 14, 1862; and in the Battle of Murfreesboro, TN on December 30 & 31, 1862. He was left behind sick on July 2, 1863 at a hospital in Nashville, TN. He then transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps in Nashville. He was sick at time of his company’s muster out.
After the war, Ole returned to Manitowoc to work as a tailor and married Anna Dorothy Anderson in Manitowoc in 1866. They had 7 children: Lucy (Nov. 1868), Clara (Feb. 1873), Oscar (Dec. 1879), Norman (Nov. 1881), Ella (June 1885), Theodore (Nov. 1887), and Reuben (Feb. 1889). In 1879, he came to Danville Township, Worth County, IA where he purchased a farm. In 1886, he was living in Kensett, Worth County. In 1915, he retired to Kensett. He died in 1924 and is buried at Elk Creek Cemetery, Worth County.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, boxes 76-8,15; 77-2; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.92; William L Alexander, List of Ex-Soldiers, Sailors and Marines living in Iowa, Des Moines, IA, 1886, p.705; Walk; Ole A. Buslett, Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.521; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.308; 1900 Census, Roll: 468, Page: 1A, Enumeration District: 0147, FHL microfilm: 1240468; 1920 Census, Roll: T625_518, Page: 6A, Enumeration District: 187, Image: 1032; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_476.