IL 53rd Inf Co A. Residence: Lisbon, Kendall County, Illinois. Born 1844 in the Etne, Hordaland area of Norway. Came to America in 1849 with his parents, Osmon Osmonsen and Isabelle Stangeland, plus four siblings. They settled in Kendall County, Illinois. Civil War: Age 17. Unmarried. Blue eyes, light hair, light complexion, 5’9½”. Enlisted in Ottawa, Illinois, on 21 Feb 1862, three days before his 18th birthday. When the company, redesignated the Illinois 15th Cavalry Co L, left Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois, bound for St. Louis, Thomas Osmon was left behind, sick in a camp hospital, suffering from measles. He died there on 29 Mar 1862. He is buried in the West Lisbon Lutheran churchyard near Lisbon, Illinois. Sources: (ILSA reel 15 p49) (email, Stephen Osman, Fort Snelling Minnesota Historical Society) “Oleson, Thomas”
