Civil War Soldiers Record Database

Hans Olsen Kammen was born on February 6, 1839, Sogn og Fjordane fylke Leikanger parish, Norway. He left Norway April 27, 1860 en route to America. He and his brother, Fredrick,  joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company D. The men of the company called themselves the “Norway Wolf Hunters.” They were also known as the “Waupun Company” because so many of its members were from that WI county.

The army listed him as living in Mt. Horeb, Dane County, WI, age 22, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on January 9, 1862 at Mt. Horeb, and mustered at Madison, WI on January 18, 1862, as a Private (Menig). On August 20, 1862, he was left behind sick in Iuka, MS. He was in the Convalescent Center at Nashville, TN, on December 26, 1862. Kammen became unfit for service and was discharged in Nashville on July 8, 1863.

Kammen moved to MN after the war. He marred Bertha Hansdtr on August 21, 1871 in Dakota County, MN. It is possible that he had a wife before Bertha named Ingeborg, but that is uncertain. Together, they had at least four children: Caroline (1872), Oscar (1874), Martin (1876), and Amelia (1879). They moved to the Dakota Territory before 1880. First they lived in Richland County and then Sargent County. Bertha died about 1880. In about 1884, he married his second wife, Inger Maria. They had at least six children: Adolph (1884), Otto (1885), Emma (186), Clara (1887), Minnie (1891), and Olive (1892). The family relocated to McNeil Island, Pierce County, WA between 1886 and 1887. Kammen died on September 6, 1906 and Inger on January 29, 1928. Both are buried in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA.

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, Archives, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, boxes 76-6, 78-3; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, Archives, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, vol. 20, p. 60; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, Decorah, IA, p. 449; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p. 301; Nordmaendene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p. 300; arkivverket.no, Sogn og Fjordane, Leikanger, Parish register, nr. A 7 (1838-1851), Birth and baptism records 1839, p. 10, Parish register nr. A 8 (1852-1868), Emigration records 1860-1861, p. 251; Leikanger Bygdebok Ættesoga, Vol. II,  Roald Lyngvær, 1979, Leikanger bygdeboknemnd, p. 245; Rootsweb.com; great granddaughter, Sandra Johnson, Gig Harbor WA; great granddaughter, Jean Cammon Findlay; U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Records, p.129; 1875 MN Census, MNSC_14, line 4; 1880 Census, Roll: 114, Family History Film: 1254114, Page: 166B, Enumeration District: 055; 1885 ND Census, p.23, line 1; 1892 WA Census, V228_14, line 19; 1900 Census, Roll: 1748, Page: 5B, Enumeration District: 0146, FHL microfilm: 1241748; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_252; findagrave.com.