Ole Anfinson
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| Name at Enlist | Ole Anfinson |
| Birth Name | |
| Lived | Sep 1840 – 24 Dec 1916 |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Lodi, Columbia County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | H |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 13 Feb 1862 |
| Death Location | Rochester, Olmsted County, MN |
| Burial Location | Central Freeborn Lutheran Cemetery |
| Mother | Sigrid Thompson |
| Mother Lived | ca. 1810- |
| Immigration | 1861 |
| Spouse | Anne Maria |
| Spouse Lived | 12 Jan 1849- 12 Jun 1878 |
Ole Anfinson was born in September 1840 in Norway. He immigrated in 1861. When the war began, he joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company H. The men of the company called themselves “Heg’s Rifles” in honor of the 15th commander, Colonel Hans C. Heg. They were also known as the “Voss Company” because of a large number of them who were from the Voss region of Norway.
The army listed Anfinson as living in Lodi, Columbia County, WI, age 21, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on October 2, 1861 at Madison, WI, and mustered there on February 13, 1862 as a Private (Menig). He was sick in Nashville, TN on December 21, 1862. He transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps at Strawberry Plains, VA on March 25, 1864. He mustered out of F Company, 2nd Regiment, of the Veterans Reserve Corps at Detroit, MI on September 5, 1864.
After the war, Anfinson was a farmer in Freeborn County, MN for many years. He married Anne Maria and they had at least two children: Annie Sophie (1871) and Olaus Martin (1874). His wife died on June 12, 1878. In 1880, his mother Sigrid Thompson, and sister, Sigri Samuelson, lived with him and his children. In the 1900 Census, he was listed as a widower and farm laborer. He died on December 24, 1916, “at the state hospital for the insane at Rochester, where he had been confined for some time”. He was buried at Central Freeborn Lutheran Cemetery next to his wife.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-10; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.114; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillage [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1895, p.553; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.269; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.309; FCHS – GAR post records; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_10; 1880 Census, Roll: 620, Family History Film: 1254620, Page: 131A, Enumeration District: 100, Image: 0264; 1900 Census, Roll: 764, Page: 2A, Enumeration District: 0046, FHL microfilm: 1240764; 1875 MN Census, Roll: MNSC_7, Line 7; findagrave.com.