Elden P. Sime
Database Record Change Request
| Name at Enlist | Elden P. Sime |
| Birth Name | Elling Pedersen Ljosno |
| Other Names | Seim; Siem; Ellend |
| Lived | 9 Oct 1840 – 22 Sep 1922 |
| Birth Place | Ljosno farm, Vossestranden |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Cambridge, Dane County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | H |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 13 Feb 1862 |
| Burial Location | Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison, WI |
| Mother | Synneva Ellingsdatter Sundve |
| Father | Peder Olsen Ljosno |
| Immigration | 22 Jun 1846 |
| Spouse | Guri Haldorsdatter Prestegaard |
| Spouse Lived | 29 Sep 1840- |
| Married On | 26 Sep 1871 |
| Marriage Location | Madison, Dane County, WI |
“Elling Pedersen Ljosno” was born in Ljosno farm, Vossestranden Norway on October 9, 1840, a son of Peter Olsen Sime and Synneva Ellingsdatter Sundve. He, his parents and a sister came to America on the “Olaf Kjerre”, which sailed from Bergen and arrived in NY on June 22, 1846. They settled in Koshkonong, Dane County, WI. According to Vossingen Magazine:
After his mother’s death, Elling was raised with the family of Ivar Seim and his wife Anna Mølster. When the Civil War broke out, it was Ivar’s son, Knut Seim who assembled Company H, 15th Wisconsin Regiment and became its first commander with the rank of captain. Elling volunteered in this also and was assigned the name Sime (Seim), which he was known as later. In the battle of Stones River, he was badly wounded when he got a ball through his chest, piercing one lung. He lay on the battlefield for many hours but survived.
Edlen P. Sime joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company H. The men of the company called themselves “Heg’s Rifles” in honor of the 15th commander, Colonel Hans C. Heg. They were also known as the “Voss Company” because of a large number of them who were from the Voss region of Norway.
The army listed him as living in Cambridge, Dane County, WI, age 22, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on October 23, 1861 at Cambridge and mustered at Madison, WI on February 13, 1862 as a Private (Menig). He was left sick at Mississippi River Island No.10 on June 11, 1862. On December 31, 1862, he was seriously wounded at Stones River, TN, sent to hospital and then to a convalescent center, and later sent north. He mustered out at Madison, WI on February 13, 1865.
After the war, he became a merchant in Madison. In 1871, he married Guri Haldorsdatter Prestegaard, who had been born in Voss on September 29, 1840. Guri was born at Voss prestegaard on September 29, 1840 to Haldor Larsen Kjønegaard and Sigrid Arnesdater Grytestølen. They never had children. From 1879 to 1884, they worked as housekeepers for Luther Seminary in WI. He died on September 22, 1922 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-10; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.120; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.573, p.574 photo; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.193, photo; p.311; Nordmaendene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.327; Norwegian Immigrants to the United States. A Biographical Directory, 1825-1850. Volume Two 1844-1846, Gerhard B. Naeseth, edited by Blaine Hedberg, 1997, Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, IA, p. 210, ID 148; Lars Gjertveit, Bodo, Norway; Hedberg; Vossingen Magazine, Issue 4, 1921 at www.vosselag.org/combined_vossingens_complete.pdf; Wisconsin Marriage Records, Batch # M00342-7, GS Film # 1275925.