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Elling Ellingson

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment

Database Record Change Request

Name at Enlist

Elling Ellingson

Birth Name

Elling Nilsen Himle

Other Names

Ellick Himle Ellickson

Lived

2 Jun 1844 – 1901

Birth Place

Himle, Voss, Hordaland

Birth Country

Norway

Resident of Muster-In

Decorah, Winneshiek County, IA

Company at Enlistment

F

Rank at Enlistment

Private

Muster Date

29 Dec 1861

Death Location

Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

Burial Location

Graceland Cemetery, Albert Lea, Freeborn Co, MN

Mother

Eli Isaksdatter Nyre

Mother Lived

1814-1849

Father

Nils Ellingsen Himle

Father Lived

12 Apr 1823-1 Feb 1880

Immigration

30 Jun 1845

Spouse

Dorthea Marie Hansen

Spouse Lived

15 Mar 1857-09 Oct 1951

Elling Nilsen was born June 2, 1844, on the Himle farm in Voss parish, Hordaland, Norway. He arrived with his parents and sister in New York June 30, 1845, on the Kong Sverre. He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company F. The men of the company called themselves “KK’s Protectors” in honor of the 15th’s first Lieutenant Colonel, Kiler K. Jones. F Company was also known as the Valdres Company because a large number of its members hailed from the Valdres region of Norway.

The army listed Ellingson as living in Decorah, Winneshiek County, IA, age 18, a carpenter, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on December 25, 1861, at Decorah, and mustered at Madison, WI, on December 29, 1861, as a Private (Menig). He was seriously wounded at Stones River, TN. On July 18, 1864, he was sick and sent to hospital. He was treated for chronic diarrhea and for scurvy and stomach cramps. He was reported to have taken part in battles at Mississippi River Island No. 10, Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. He mustered out with F Company on January 13, 1865, at Chattanooga, TN.

After the war, he settled in Albert Lea, Freeborn County, MN. He married Dorthea Marie “Mary” Hansen who had immigrated from Denmark. They had two children: Roy H. (1876-1881) and Lottie May “Charlotte” (1878-1963).  He was a carpenter and served as a deputy sheriff. He filed for a pension in 1883 and Mary filed for a widow’s pension in 1901 after he died on a business trip to Minneapolis.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-8; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol. 20, p. 86; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, Decorah, IA, p. 502; Decorah Genealogical Association; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p. 277; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p. 306; The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union, Edwin B. Quiner, 1866, Clarke & Co., Chicago, p. 621; Letter to Minneapolis Norwegian Language Newspaper, 1892, signed A. K. Brenden, Bend, OR; Lars Gjertveit, Bodo, Norway; Freeborn County Historical Society, Albert Lea, MN, Albert Lea GAR records; Norwegian Immigrants to the United States. A Biographical Directory, 1825-1850. Volume Two 1844-1846, Gerhard B. Naeseth, 1997, Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, IA, p. 100, ID 139.