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John E. Anderson

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment

Database Record Change Request

Name at Enlist

John E. Anderson

Birth Name

Johannes Endresen Strømøen

Lived

30 Apr 1841 – 06 Apr 1878

Birth Place

Strømøen, Stord parish, Hordaland

Birth Country

Norway

Resident of Muster-In

Deerfield, Dane County, WI

Company at Enlistment

K

Rank at Enlistment

Private

Muster Date

29 Jun 1861

Death Location

Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, WI

Burial Location

Oak Grove Cemetery, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, MN

Mother

Matthiane Johannesdatter

Mother Lived

28 Dec 1813-26 May1900

Father

Endre Endresen

Immigration

30 Jun 1851

Spouse

Martha Sjursdatter Haugsgjerd

Spouse Lived

12 Sep 1839-22 Jan 1926

Married On

24 Jan 1864

Marriage Location

Deerfield, Dane County, WI

Johannes Endresen was born on the Strømøen farm, Stord, Hordaland, to Endre Endresen and Matthiane Johannesdatter. Taking the name John E. Anderson, he joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company K. The company called itself “Clausen’s Guards” in honor of the 15th’s first Chaplain, Claus L. Clausen. Most of the company was recruited from Scandinavian communities in Minnesota and Iowa, with the rest from Wisconsin.

The army listed Anderson as living in Deerfield, Dane County, WI, a farmer, and age 20. He had blue eyes, light hair, light complexion, and stood 5’9”. He enlisted for three years on May 24, 1861, at Madison, WI, and mustered on June 29, 1861, at Fond du Lac, WI, as a Private (Menig). He was wounded in the hand and arm at Cedar Mountain, VA, in August 1862. He re-enlisted as a veteran on December 21, 1863. He was wounded in the hand on May 25, 1864, at Dallas, GA. He was promoted to Corporal (Korporal) on May 20, 1865. He mustered out on July 18, 1865, at Louisville, KY.

On January 24, 1864, he married Martha in Deerfield, Dane County, WI. She was born on the Haugsgjerd farm, Stord, Hordaland, Norway September 12, 1839 to Sjur Arntsen and Ingeborg Endersdatter and emigrated in 1857. Their children included: Matilda (1866), Edward (1868), Egbert (1869), Benjamin (1870), John O. (1871), Enoch (1875), and Junetta (1878). In 1870, John was working in dry goods and living in Medina, Dane County, WI. They moved to Michigan between 1871 and 1875. Then relocated to Minnesota between 1875 and 1879. John died in Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, MN, on April 6, 1878. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Fergus Falls, MN. Martha is buried in Hauge Cemetery, Dane County, WI.

They had three sons who served in the Spanish-American War and two grandsons in the First World War. John Anderson was a brother of Andrew Anderson of the WI 15th Infantry Company B. Their brother, Nils, joined the WI 4oth Infantry.

 

Sources: Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol. 9, p. 194; The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union, Edwin B. Quiner, 1866, Clarke & Co., Chicago, p. 493;  “The Story of Father’s Life”,  Sophie Boe, pub. 1919, copy at NAGCNL; 1870 Census, Roll: M593_1709, Page: 411B, Image: 83, Family History Library Film: 553208; 1880 Census, Roll: 628, Family History Film: 1254628, Page: 40B, Enumeration District: 147, Image: 0491; WI Marriage Records, Batch #M00342-5, GS Film #1275923, Ref. ID #00315, ancestry.com: findagrave.com; Stord parish register #A6, born and baptised, p. 114, #A7, born and baptised, p. 4, in- and out-migrated, pp. 343, 350, digitalarkivet.no.