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John Johnson

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment
John  Johnson Profile Image
Wisconsin Historical Society, Iconography, ID 81094

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Name at EnlistJohn Johnson
Birth Name
Lived10 Oct 1844 - 19 Apr 1934
Birth PlaceTelemark
Birth CountryNorway
Resident of Muster-InEast Troy (or Cast Iron), Walworth County, WI
Company at EnlistmentD
Rank at EnlistmentPrivate
Muster Date17 Feb 1864
Death LocationHenning, Otter Tail County, MN
Burial LocationTrinity Cemetery in Henning Township, Otter Tail County, MN
Immigration1862
SpouseLouise Bertha
Spouse Lived26 Apr 1848- 6 Oct 1927
Married Onca. 1869
Marriage LocationWisconsin

John Johnson was born on October 10, 1844 in Telemark, Norway. He came to America in 1862.

Johnson joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company D. The men of the company called themselves the “Norway Wolf Hunters.” They were also known as the “Waupun Company” because so many of its members were from Waupun. The army listed him as living in East Troy (or Cast Iron), Walworth County, WI, age 18, a cooper, and unmarried. He had blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion, and stood 5’7¼”. He enlisted for three years on February 5, 1864 at Oconomowoc, WI, and mustered at Madison, WI on February 17, 1864 as a Private (Menig).

Johnson joined Company D at Strawberry Plains, VA. He was wounded in his right arm in the Battle at Kennesaw Mountain on July 2, 1864. He was sick in general hospital on August 8, 1864; sick in Louisville, KY on September 2, 1864; and in Jeffersonville, IN just before that. Johnson was assigned to Company H and was temporarily assigned to the 24th Infantry. He was sick in camp at Dennison, OH. On June 11, 1865, he transferred to I Company of the WI 13th Infantry. He mustered out, on orders from Washington, D.C. on May 24, 1865 at Madison. He was still due $240 of his $300 bounty.

After the war, he married Louise and they settled in Hudson, WI. They later moved to Folden, Otter Tail County, MN. They had at least eight children, including: Thea Emelia (1870, WI), Emma Josephine (1872), Charles Henry (1875), Julia Louisa (1876), Martin Peder (1879), Ella J. (1883), Otto E. (1888), and Naome T. (1890).

 

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, boxes 76-13, 79-2; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.18, p.178; vol.20, p.60; Det Femtende Regiment. Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1894, p. 448; Oberst Heg og hans Gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.277, photo; Vesterheim Genealogy Center, newsclip, unidentified.; Otter Tail County Historical Society; findagrave.com; 1880 Census, Roll: 628, Family History Film: 1254628, Page: 155D, Enumeration District: 165, Image: 0725; 1900 Census, Roll: 780, Page: 1B, Enumeration District: 0173, FHL microfilm: 1240780; 1920 Census, Roll: T625_847, Page: 6B, Enumeration District: 146, Image: 1127.