Tolef Anderson
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| Name at Enlist | Tolef Anderson |
| Birth Name | Tollef Andersen Hjølmen |
| Lived | 14 Sep 1842 – 8 Jan 1924 |
| Birth Place | Hjølmen, Hemsedal parish, Gol, Buskerud fylke |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Worth County, IA |
| Company at Enlistment | K |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 11 Feb 1862 |
| Death Location | Glenville, Freeborn County, MN |
| Burial Location | Glenville First Lutheran Cemetery, Freeborn County, MN |
| Mother | Randi Tollefsdatter Hjølmen |
| Mother Lived | 7 Jan 1819-26 May 1898 |
| Father | Anders Hansen Gulen |
| Immigration | 1861 |
| Spouse | Cecilia Kristensen/Sedsel Christiansdatter Aanrud |
| Spouse Lived | 14 Apr 1849-17 Jul 1938 |
| Married On | 12 Dec 1868 |
| Marriage Location | Silver Lake, Worth County, IA |
Tollef Anderson was born on September 14, 1842, in Hemsedal parish, Gol, Buskerud. He left the parish with his mother April 8, 1861, and enlisted later that year. He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company K. The company called itself “Clausen’s Guards” in honor of the 15th’s first Chaplain, Claus L. Clausen. Most of the company was recruited from Scandinavian communities in Minnesota and Iowa, with the rest from Wisconsin.
The army listed Anderson as living in Worth County, IA, age 19, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on December 11, 1861, in Worth County, and mustered at Madison, WI, on February 11, 1862, as a Private (Menig). He was sick in Union City on June 20, 1862, in Iuka, MS, on June 21, 1862, and in Florence on August 28, 1862. Anderson was assigned to Pioneer Corps in February 1863. He mustered out with K Company on February 10, 1865, at Chattanooga, TN.
After the war, he married Sedsel (Cecelia) Aanrud Christenson in Worth County, IA. They had at least ten children, including Christian (1869-1941), Marie/Mary (1871-1910), Randena/Rena (1873-1967), Ingvald (1876-1968), Sina (1878-1970), Theodore (1881-1974), Sophia (1883-1964), Julia (1885-1960), Laura (1888-1978), and Alfred W. (1890-1985). They lived in Freeman, Freeborn County, MN, where he was a farmer. Tollef died on January 8, 1924, and was buried in Glenville First Lutheran Cemetery, Glenville, Freeborn County, MN.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-12; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol. 20, p. 142; Det Femtende Regiment Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, B. Anundsen, Decorah, IA, p. 619; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p. 316; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p. 269; Freeborn County, Minnesota, Historical Society; 1880 Census, Roll: 620, Family History Film: 1254620, Page: 118C, Enumeration District: 098, Image: 0238; “Norwegian Immigrants 1850 and later”, database, NAGCNL, #44931, #44936; digitalarkivet.no; ancestry.com; findagrave.com.