Ole K. Vigen
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| Name at Enlist | Ole K. Vigen |
| Birth Name | |
| Other Names | O.K. Wigen |
| Lived | 24 Jun 1844 – 12 May 1904 |
| Birth Place | Valdres |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Cato, Manitowoc County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | F |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 11 Jan 1862 |
| Death Location | Valders, Manitowoc County, WI |
| Mother | Ragna |
| Mother Lived | 1814- |
| Spouse | Olivia |
| Spouse Lived | 1847- |
Ole K. Vigen was born on June 24, 1844 in Valdres, Norway. 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 him as living in Cato, Manitowoc County, WI, age 17, unmarried, and a farmer. He had blue eyes, dark hair, light complexion, and 5’7”. He enlisted for three years on January 1, 1862 at Manitowoc and mustered at Madison, WI on January 11, 1862 as a Private (Menig). On July 20, 1862 he was sick at regimental hospital and at Iuka, MS on August 21, 1862. His left hand was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga, GA on September 19, 1863 and sent to the camp hospital. He was sick in Stevenson, AL and again in Madison on January 1, 1864. He mustered out with Company F on January 13, 1865 at Chattanooga, TN.
After the war, Ole was granted a pension of $4 a month because of a wound to his right hand. Ole worked as a farmer. He married Olivia and they had 6 children: Clara (1867), Oliver (1869), Edward (1871), Ida (1874), Julia (1876), and Charley (1878). He died on May 12, 1904 and is buried at Valders, WI.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-8,15; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.92; Ole A. Buslett, Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.522; Martin Ulvestad, Nordmændene i Amerika, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.339; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.308; Hedberg; “Pensioners on the Roll as of January 1, 1883 (living in Wisconsin)”, Park Genealogical Books, Roseville, Minnesota publ. 1998; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_489; 1870 Census, Roll: M593_1723, Page: 18A, Image: 39, Family History Library Film: 553222; 1880 Census, Roll: 1434, Family History Film: 1255434, Page:19B, Enumeration District: 060.