Soren Johan Hansen
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| Name at Enlist | Soren Johan Hansen |
| Birth Name | Søren Johan Hansen |
| Other Names | Hanssen |
| Lived | 25 Nov 1820 – 19 Apr 1885 |
| Birth Place | Gjesmø, Solum parish, Skien, Telemark |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Utica, Dane County, WI |
| Rank at Enlistment | Assistant Surgeon |
| Muster Date | 13 Feb 1862 |
| Cause of Death | Cancer |
| Death Location | Østre Aker parish, Akershus, Norway |
| Mother | Anne Maria Johanesdatter |
| Father | Hans Andreas Sondresen |
| Father Lived | 1796-10 Jul 1865 |
| Immigration | 1856 |
| Spouse | Reinhardine Alberte Ulfers/Alberta |
| Spouse Lived | 25 Aug 1827-20 Oct 1874 |
| Married On | 13 Jun 1856 |
| Marriage Location | Hof parish, Hedmark, Norway |
Søren Johan Hansen was born in Solum, Skien, Norway, in 1820. He was a surgeon, trained in Norway. He was said to have been a well-educated physician, contemptuous of orthodox religion. He came to America with his wife, Alberta, about 1856 to Koshkonong, Dane County, WI.
Hansen joined the WI 15th Infantry. The army listed Hansen as living in Utica, Dane County, WI. He was commissioned on November 11, 1861, at Dane County, WI, enlisted for a three-year term, and mustered at Madison on February 13, 1862, as a Regimental Surgeon. He served as lst Assistant Surgeon under Dr. Steven O. Himoe.
Dr. Hansen was at the hospital on Island No. 10 in May and June, 1862, and at Iuka, MS, beginning August 21, 1862. He asked for and was granted a leave of absence due to illness, was deemed unfit for duty, and on September 30, 1862, resigned his commission. He was mustered out October 20, 1862.
Dr. Hansen and his wife, who traveled with her husband and helped tend the sick and wounded, remained in the Stoughton area before returning to Norway about 1866. In Norway he accepted a position as district doctor in Romsdalen (Veøy parish, More og Romsdal). He had at least three children: Søren Johan (1846-aft 1861) with Kirstine Mardine Lie, Hans Reinert (1864-aft 1885), and Signe Margarete (1873-aft 1891). He died in Østre Aker of cancer in 1885, his residence was listed as Heimdal (an area of Trondhiem).
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-2; History of the Norwegian People in America, Olaf Morgan Norlie, pub. 1925, p. 467; Det Femtende Regiment. Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, B. Anundsen, Decorah, IA, p. 327; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p. 252; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.290 The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union, Edwin B. Quiner, 1866, Clarke & Co., Chicago, p. 613; “Notes of a Civil War Soldier”, Bersven Nelson. Norwegian-American Studies, vol. 26, publ. by Norwegian American Historical Association, Northfield, MN, 1974. p. 127 and note; Americans from Norway, Leola Nelson Bergmann, publ. 1950, J.B. Lippincott Co. p. 250; digitalarkivet.no.
A link to letters written by Dr. Hanssen between 1862-1875 (in Norwegian): https://media.digitalarkivet.no/view/232729/1.