Goodrich E. Erickson
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| Name at Enlist | Goodrich E. Erickson |
| Birth Name | Guttorm Einersen Eggum |
| Other Names | Gudrick; Gotrom Einerson; Güttorm |
| Lived | 12 Aug 1835 – 27 May 1926 |
| Birth Place | Laerdal, Sogn og Fjordane |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Blue Mounds, Dane County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | G |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 13 Dec 1861 |
| Cause of Death | Osseo, Trempealeau County, WI |
| Mother | Gjertrus (Jane) Guttormsdatter |
| Mother Lived | 1799- |
| Father | Einer Eriksen |
| Immigration | 1858 |
| Spouse | Randi (Rachel) Erinersdtr Lai |
| Spouse Lived | 1843- |
| Married On | about 1864 or 1865 |
Goodrich E. Erickson was born on April 12, 1835 in Laerdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. His parents were Einer Eriksen and Gjertrus (Jane) Guttormsdatter. He immigrated in 1858. He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company G. The men of the company called themselves the “Rock River Rangers.”
The army listed Erickson as living in Blue Mounds, Dane County, WI and age 25. He enlisted for three years on December 16, 1861 at Blue Mounds, and mustered at Madison, WI on December 13, 1861 as a Private (Menig). He was promoted to Corporal (Korporal) on January 17, 1863. He was with the provision transport from Stevenson, AL on October 13, 1863. He was seriously wounded in his right arm at Atlanta, GA on July 21, 1864 and sent to hospital. He was wounded and captured, and imprisoned at Andersonville, record 11321, and was part of a prisoner exchange on April 5, 1865. He mustered out with Company G on January 13, 1865 at Chattanooga, TN.
After the war, he married Randi (Rachel) Erinersdtr Lai. Erickson worked as a farmer. Together, they had 9 children, 7 of whom were still living in 1910. This includes: Jane (1867), Gerty (1869), Edward (1872), Einer (1875), Erick (1879), Karl (1882), and Ida (1888). In 1880, they were living in Greenwood, Vernon County, WI and Erickson was working as a farmer. By 1900, they were living in Sumner, Trempealeau County, WI.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office box 76-9; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.98; Det Femtende Regiment. Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1894, p.532; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.262; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.312; Great great grandson Keith Smith; 1880 Census, Roll: 1449, Family History Film: 1255449, Page: 283A, Enumeration District: 008; 1900 Census, Roll: 1819, Page: 10B, Enumeration District: 0136, FHL microfilm: 1241819; 1910 Census, Roll: T624_1739, Page: 6A, Enumeration District: 0172, FHL microfilm: 1375752; Norway Digital Archives, Laerdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Ministerialbok, no. A 6 1835-1849, p.6.