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Jonas Thompson

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment

Database Record Change Request

Name at Enlist

Jonas Thompson

Birth Name
Lived

ca. 1839 – 1882

Resident of Muster-In

Chicago, Cook County, IL

Company at Enlistment

A

Rank at Enlistment

Private

Muster Date

15 Nov 1861

Burial Location

Prospect Hill Cemetery, Omaha, Douglas County, NE

Spouse

Barbara Finkenkeller

Spouse Lived

1845-

Jonas Thompson was born in 1839. He was married to Barbara Finkenkeller. Barbara was born in MO and her parents in Baden, Germany.

Jonas joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company A. The men of the company called themselves the “St. Olaf’s Rifles.” They were also known as the “Sailor Company” because of the large number of seamen in its ranks, and as the “Chicago Company” because so many of its members were residents of that city.

The army listed him as living in Chicago, IL, age 22, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on November 11, 1861 at Chicago and mustered on November 15, 1861 at Madison, WI as a Private (Menig). Thompson was assigned to guard the commissary stores at Camp Ethridge on June 23, 1862. He was seriously wounded at Stones River, TN on December 31, 1862 and sent to Nashville, TN. On May 31, July 31, and November 11, 1863, he was sick in Nashville. He was discharged from the service at Nashville for disability on February 19, 1864. He is on the Roll of Honor.

After the war, Jonas and Barbara lived in Omaha, Douglas County, NE. They had four children: Theodore (1869), Millie (1871), Emily (1874), and Barbara (1880). In 1880, Jonas’ brother-in-law, Christ Finkenkeller, was living with them. Jonas and Christ were working as carpenters. Jonas and Barbara are both buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Omaha, Douglas, NE.

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-3; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.20; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] by Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.370; Martin Ulvestad, Nordmændene i Amerika, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.334; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.294; 1880 Census, Roll: 747, Family History Film: 1254747, Page: 166C, Enumeration District: 016, Image: 0334; findagrave.com; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_471.