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Ole Olson

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment

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Name at EnlistOle Olson
Birth NameOle Olsen Skilbred
Lived23 Apr 1836 - 15 Apr 1902
Birth PlaceSkilbred farm, Gjerpen parish, Telemark fylke
Birth CountryNorway
Resident of Muster-InPalmyra, Jefferson County, WI
Company at EnlistmentD
Rank at EnlistmentPrivate
Muster Date10 Dec 1861
Burial LocationSkoponong Lutheran Cemetery, Palmyra, Jefferson County, WI
MotherDorthe Kirstine Aslaksdatter Tveten
FatherOle Ellingsen Skilbred
Immigration2 Jul 1849
SpouseMarie Gilbertson

Ole Olson born “Ole Olsen Skilbred” on April 29, 1836 in Gjerpen, Telemark fylke, Norway, son of Ole Ellingsen Skilbred and Dorthe Kirstine Aslaksdtr Tveten. He came to America with his parents and two siblings on “Rupert”, which sailed from Skien, Telemark, on May 13, 1849, and arrived in NY on July 2, 1849. They settled in Palmyra Township, Jefferson County, WI. Olson joined 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 Waupun, WI.

He was listed as living in Palmyra, Jefferson County, WI, age 26, and unmarried. Olson enlisted for three years on November 13, 1861 at Palmyra, and mustered at Madison, WI on December 10, 1861 as a Private (Menig). Olson was sick in Chattanooga, TN on November 28, 1863. On February 13, 1865, he mustered out with Company D at Chattanooga.

After the war, he married Marie Gilbertson and they had two children. In 1879, he filed a pension. In 1895, he was living in Palmyra. He died on April 15, 1902, and was buried as “Ole Oleson” in Skoponong Lutheran Cemetery, Palmyra. There is a woman buried in the same cemetery named Mathia Oleson who is likely his wife. She died on February 11, 1896.

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, boxes 76-6, 78-3; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.62; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.454;  Norwegian Immigrants to the United States. A Biographical Directory, 1825-1850. Volume Four 1849, Gerhard B. Naeseth and Blaine Hedberg, 2008, Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, IA, p. 62, ID 755;  Gjerpen parish regisster # 7A, (1834-1857), born and baptised, p. 6, #7B, in- and out-migrated, p. 470, digitalarkivet.no; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_355; findagrave.com; WI 1895 Census, Roll #v226_20, Line 3.