Civil War Soldiers Record Database

Erick Evenson was born on August 20, 1838 in Norway. 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 Evenson as living in Spring Grove, Green County, WI, age 23, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on December 13, 1861 at La Crosse, WI, and mustered at Madison, WI on February 13, 1862 as a Private (Menig). He was left sick at Mississippi River Island No. 10 on June 11, 1862. Evenson disappeared on March 31, 1863. He was reported as deserted and then “He is assumed to have been discharged from the service.”

After the war, Evenson moved to Norwegian Grove, Otter Tail County, MN where he worked as a farmhand. There, he married Anne Anderson. In the 1900 Census, he was living in Sand Creek, Dunn County, WI. He was listed as still married, but not living with his wife. Anne was living in Grant, Dunn County, WI by herself as a married woman in that same census. Erick and Anne are both buried in Our Saviors Cemetery, Sand Creek, Dunn County, WI.

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 Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1894, p.557;  Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_146; findagrave.com; 1880 Census, Roll: 628, Family History Film: 1254628, Page: 2C, Enumeration District: 143, Image: 0414; 1880 Census, Roll: 1787, Page: 5A, Enumeration District: 0081, FHL microfilm: 1241787; 1900 Census, Roll: 1787, Page: 7A, Enumeration District: 0095, FHL microfilm: 1241787; 1905 WI Census, CSUSAWI1905_9.