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Fries J Osmundson

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment

Database Record Change Request

Name at Enlist

Fries J Osmundson

Birth Name

Jeremias Frederik Friis Osmundsen

Other Names

Jeremias Fries; Jeremiah F.; Osmundsen; Osmonson

Lived

5 Jan 1841 – 3 Sep 1926

Birth Place

Farsund, Vest-Agder

Birth Country

Norway

Resident of Muster-In

Norway Township, Racine County, WI

Company at Enlistment

C

Rank at Enlistment

Private

Muster Date

2 Dec 1861

Cause of Death

Chronic myocarditis, bronchitis

Death Location

Waterloo, Alamakee County, IA

Burial Location

Big Canoe Lutheran Cemetery, Winneshiek County, IA

Mother

Anna Karine Jeremiasdatter Fulland

Mother Lived

1 Feb 1808-10 Apr 1893

Father

Osmund Reierson Gauksem

Father Lived

21 Jan 1806-8 Mar 1875

Immigration

1853

Spouse

Margith Ellingsdatter Fosshaugen/Margaret

Spouse Lived

16 Mar 1848-24 Feb 1923

Married On

17 Jul 1869

Marriage Location

Winneshiek Co, IA

Jeremias Frederik Friis Osmundsen was born on January 5, 1841, in Farsund parish, Vest-Agder fylke.  The family moved to Avaldsnes parish, Rogaland, in 1844 and left there for America in 1853. In 1860, they were living in Norway, Racine County, WI. His brother, Bernt, also served in C Company.

Osmundsen joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company C. The men of the company called themselves the “Norway Bear Hunters,” but they were also known as the Color Company because the regimental Color Guard was attached to their company.

The army listed him as living in Norway Township, Racine County, WI, age 22, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on November 28, 1861, at Waterford, WI, and mustered on December 2, 1861, at Madison, WI, as a Private (Menig). On June 3, 1862, Jeremias Osmonson was reported to be on sick furlough from Cincinnati, OH. He was discharged from the service for disability at Cincinnati on June 20, 1862. He later served in the U.S. Navy between 1864 and 1865.

After the war, he relocated to Waterloo, Allamakee County, IA, where he married Margaret and farmed. They had at least seven children, including: Edward Olai (1870-1959), Anna Marie (1871-1945), Berent Friis/Ben (1873-1946), Ragnild/Rachel (1875-1958), Elisa Mathilde/Lizzie (1878-1971), Henriette Daemalia (1880-1968), and Margith/Margaret (1885-1902). Jeremiah died on September 3, 1926, and is buried in Big Canoe Lutheran Cemetery, Decorah, IA.

 

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, boxes 76-5, 77-3; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin; Adjutant General’s Office, vol. 20, p. 48; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, B. Anundsen, Decorah, IA, p. 425; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p. 299; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_257; List of Ex-Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, Living in Iowa, by William L. Alexander (Des Moines, 1886), p. 705; 1860 Census, Roll: M653_1427, Page: 786, Image: 404, Family History Library Film: 805427; 1870 Census, Roll: M593_374, Page: 348A, Image: 700, Family History Library Film: 545873; 1880 Census, Roll: 326, Family History Film: 1254326, Page: 477A, Enumeration District: 019, Image: 0036; 1910 Census, Roll: T624_390, Page: 2A, Enumeration District: 0179, FHL microfilm: 1374403; 1920 Census, Roll: T625_476, Page: 5A, Enumeration District: 19, Image: 1207;  Norwegian Immigrants to the United States. A Biographical Directory, 1825-1850. Volume Five 1850, Blaine Hedberg and Gerhard B. Naeseth, 2004, Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, IA, p. 265, ID 3369.