Civil War Soldiers Record Database

Sophus Emil Listoe was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 13, 1841 to Christian Frederik Listoe and Mathilde Sophine Flor. He left Denmark for Hamburg, Germany to begin his immigration to the U.S. From there, he traveled on the Ocean to the port of NY. He arrived on June 11, 1862 and then settled in WI.

Listoe joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company B. The men of the company called themselves the “Wergeland Guards” in honor of Henrik Wergeland, the famous Norwegian writer and poet. The army listed him as living in La Crosse, La Crosse County, WI, age 20, unmarried, and working as a printer. He had blue eyes, blond hair, fair complexion, and stood 5’9”. Listoe enlisted for three years on September 1, 1862 at Madison, WI, and mustered on November 2, 1862 at La Crosse as a Private (Menig). Listoe was sick in Nashville, TN on the 8th and 10th of December 1862. He was discharged from the service at Nashville for disability on February 23, 1863. Almost two years later, he enlisted again, this time in E Company of the WI 45th Infantry. He then gave his residence as Madison, Dane County, WI. This second enlistment was credited to Beetown, Grant County. The enlistment was for one year and took place on February 10, 1865 at Madison and he was mustered there on February 23, 1865 as a Private (Menig). He was promoted to Sergeant (Sersjant) on March 4, 1865. He was then promoted to First Sergeant on April 9, 1865.

After the war, Listoe returned to Madison, WI and worked as a clerk. He married Martha Clausdatter Himle on October 14, 1866 in Deerfield, Dane, WI. Together, they had one child named Fred about 1868. They moved to MN where Martha died on August 24, 1869. She is buried in West St. Olaf Lutheran Church Cemetery in Vernon Township, Dodge County, MN.

Listoe remarried about a year later to Susan (Susanna) Marie Krager. They married on October 5, 1870 in Blue Earth County, MN. Together they had six children, Emil (1871-1872), unnamed baby (1872), Amelia (1875), Julius (1878), Helma (1879), and Marie (1881). They lived in Minneapolis from about 1875 to 1882. He worked as a printer at Nordvesten. Then, they moved to Grand Forks, Grand Forks County, ND. He died on October 16, 1885 and is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Grand Forks. Susan eventually relocated to California where she died on April 12, 1932 and is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, Los Angeles County, CA.

Sources: WHS Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.32; vol 50; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.389; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.296; Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Vol I & II, compiled under direction of the Adjutant General, Madison, WI, 1886, p.809; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_285; 1880 Census, Roll: 622, Family History Film: 1254622, Page: 166B, Enumeration District: 236, Image: 0154; findagrave.com; Minnesota Marriage Index, FHL Film #1309275; New York Passenger Lists, Roll 220; MN 1875 Census, Roll# MNSC_9, Line 16; Denmark, Select Baptisms, FHL Film #50345; U.S. City Directories, Madison, WI, 1866, p.115; U.S. City Directories, St. Paul, MN, 1882, p.511; Wisconsin Marriages, Vol.1, p.788; Norwegians of Dodge & Olmsted, MN, oiseth.org.