Iver Nilson
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| Name at Enlist | Iver Nilson |
| Birth Name | Iver Nilsen Viker |
| Other Names | Iver Nelson Weker/Viker/Wiger |
| Lived | 10 May 1837 – 16 Sep 1863 |
| Birth Place | Norderhov, Buskerud fylke |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Fillmore County, MN |
| Company at Enlistment | K |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 11 Feb 1862 |
| Cause of Death | Consumption and chronic diarrhea |
| Death Location | Fillmore County, MN |
| Burial Location | Highland Prairie Lutheran Cemetery, Bratsburg, Fillmore County, MN |
| Mother | Kari Thorsdatter Wiger (Viker) |
| Father | Nils Hansen |
| Spouse | Guri Paulsdatter |
| Spouse Lived | 12 Nov 1832- 10 Dec 1916 |
| Married On | 12 Feb 1862 |
| Marriage Location | Fillmore County, MN |
Iver Nilson was born on May 10, 1837 in Norderhov, Buskerude fylke, Norway to Nils Hansen and Kari Thorsdatter Wiger (also spelled Viker or Weker). He immigrated to MN. On February 12, 1862, he married Guri Paulsdatter in Fillmore County, MN. He had enlisted in the military one day prior. His son, Nels Peter, was born a few months later on May 20, 1862.
Nilson joined 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 MN and IA, with the rest from WI.
The army listed Nilson as living in Fillmore County, MN. He was born in Norway, age 24, and married. He enlisted for three years on February 11, 1862 in Fillmore County, and mustered at Camp Randall, Madison, WI on the same day (?) as a Private (Menig). Nilson was left sick at Mississippi River Island No. 10 on June 11, 1862. On October 27, 1862, he was on Military Police duty. Nilson was taken prisoner at Stones River, TN on December 31, 1862 and then exchanged at St. Louis, MO in 1863. Nilson died of disease while at his home on furlough in Fillmore County on September 16, 1863. He was buried in Highland Prairie Lutheran Cemetery, Bratsburg, Fillmore County. The headstone reads “Iver Nelson Weker, Co K, 15th Reg, Wis Vol, died 16 Sep 1863, age 26 years”. His widow, Guri, remarried to Lars Hanson Staaland on January 7, 1867. She lived until December 10, 1916 and is buried in Melville Lutheran Cemetery, Melville, Sweet Grass County, MT.
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.146; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 18954), p.635; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.318; KJR; 1890 Veterans and Widows Census, Minnesota, No.123, roll 22; findagrave.com; Norderhov parish register, #9, born and baptised, p.670, digitalarkivet.no; U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, p.310; Minnesota Marriages Index, FHL Film #1316804.