WI 15th Inf Staff. Residence: St. Ansgar, Mitchell County, Iowa. Born 3 Nov 1820 on Aerol [Ærøl] Island, Fyen Parish, Denmark, son of Erik Clausen and Karen Pedersen. He had lived for many years in Drammen, Norway. Married in 1842 Martha Frederikke Rasmussen (1816?-1846) of Langeland, Denmark. Came with his bride to Muskego, Wisconsin, in 1843, on “Johanna”, which sailed from Drammen and arrived in New York on 22 Jul 1843. He had accepted a call from a Norwegian church in Muskego. In 1845, they moved to the Koshkonong settlement in Dane County, Wisconsin. Wife Martha died in 1846. Clausen then moved to Rock Prairie, Wisconsin,where in 1847 he married Mrs. Birgetha Pedersdatter Brekke Hjorth (?-1887). In 1853, they moved to Mitchell County, Iowa. Civil War: Age 43. Enrolled 11 Dec 1861. Mustered 13 Feb 1862 at Madison, Wisconsin, as Field Chaplain. Suffered poor health, which caused him to resign 26 Nov 1862. Post war: Elected to the Iowa Legislature in 1856. Later, he lived in St. Ansgar, Iowa, and in Virginia, at Philadelphia, and in Austin, Minnesota. He joined Carl Martin Bergh in encouraging Norwegian immigrants to re-migrate to Norge, Virginia. He died 20 Feb 1892 while visiting a son in Paulsbo, Washington. He is buried in Austin, Minnesota. Sources: (WHS Series 1200 boxes 76-2, 78-1; red book vol 20 p 4) (Buslett p333) (Lonn p138) (Ager p 243, photo; p290) (Quiner p613) (“History of the Scandinavians in the United States”, by O. N. Nelson. Publ. Minneapolis, 1893. p368) (“Norge Virginia”, by Mette Løvås, graduate thesis, Univ. of Trondheim, 1996) (Naeseth ’43-783) “Clauson, Claus”
