Thomas Gundersen Løberg: Thomas
was born February 25, 1823 under
Nordre Løberg
("Labakken"). Parents were Gunder
Thomassen and Ragnhild Sondresdatter.
He married December 4, 1845 to Anne Hansdatter from Gisholt in Melum
parish. She was born ca 1819, and father was Hans Bjørnsen Gisholt.
Thomas and Anne had the following children:
Anne Maria, born 1846. She is not born in Gjerpen.
Child, born ca 1849.
Helen, born January 12, 1851.
Gilbert, born August 15, 1853.
Nels, born 1857.
Sondre had a brother, Sondre Gundersen Løberg,
who also emigrated the same year.
Thomas died in 1896 and is buried in the Iola cemetery. Anne died 1881.
Thomas served in the Civil War with the Company D, 47th Wisconsin Volunteer
Infantry Regiment.
We find him in the roster for the regiment, where he enlisted January, 23,
1865 and mustered out of service Sept 4, 1865. He served under Capt. Adolph
Sorensen of Waupaca.
"The 47th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment was organized at
Madison, Wisconsin on February 27, 1865, to serve one year. They were trained
at Camp Randall and mustered in February 27, 1865. Ordered to Louisville,
Kenucky, thence to Nashville, Tennessee and Tullahoma, Tennessee, and was
attached to 2nd Brigade, Defenses Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad,
Dept. of Cumberland, to April 1865. 2nd Brigade, 1st Sub-District, District
Middle Tennessee, Dept. of the Cumberland to September 1865.
Service: Railroad guard duty at Tullahoma and in District of Middle Tennessee
till September 1865. Mustered out September 4, 1865. Lost during service
39 by disease. The Regiment was mustered out of service on Sept 4, 1865,
at Nashville, Tennessee."
In the book "From the Indian land", p. 15-16 by Rosholt, the
following is written about Thomas, although some part of it is a mixup with
his brother Sondre.
THOMAS
GUNDERSON (Loberg) (1823-96) from Gjerpen, and wife Anne (1819-81).
Gunderson is referred to in one of the Knoph accounts as "Sondre Loberg,"
a name he apparently was known by in Waukesha county before he removed to
the Indian Land. He owned several forties of land south of Lake Nagawicka
in Waukesha county and one of these was sold on Feb. 18, 1851. He probably
moved to Scandinavia that same year. He applied for citizenship in Waukesha
County on May 8, 1848 and in his declaration said he arrived in New York
City (from Norway) in August 1847. Although 39 years old in 1864, Gunderson
volunteered for service in the Civil War and was attached to Co. D, 47th
Regiment. He took no part in town politics, was a charter member of Scandinavia
church, and in 1858 was assessed on $138.25 in personal.
The
name Loberg, pronounced lo'bbaer in the original Norse, is one of
the oldest in Norway. A name written as Ladeberg appears in letters found
at Akershus in 1622 dating to around 1210. The name appears as Lobergh in
1585 and 1593. In 1665 it covered three complete farms but with slightly
different spellings, viz: Løberg-south-by-Ødegaarden, Løberg
middle, and Løberg north. All were repeated in 1723.
Oddly,
Gunderson did not have an account with Knoph. The name "Sondre Loberg,"
referred to above, is actually an entry in the account of Torkil Listul
which says: "by Sondre Loberg's son two pounds of coffee for 36 cents."
In other words, Listul was owing Gunderson some favor or money and allowed
the charge to his account, although it could also be that the son was employed
in the Listul household at the time.
Mrs. Hilda Larson, nee
Listul, of Iola, recalls a story
handed down in the family about their neighbor. Gunderson heard a big noise
in the woods to the north of his place. He came over to the Listuls and got
John Listul to go with him to investigate a "war dance." Anything to do with
Indians had to be frightening although the Indians of Wisconsin had not been
on the warpath since Black Hawk invaded the state in 1832. The Indians of
Scandinavia, however, were actually having a big party. One of the braves,
it appears, had acquired some whisky and the members of the encampment were
celebrating with appropriate songs and dances. The incident probably took
place in the latter 1870's, about the time that the Indians ceased camping
in the township.
A son,
Gilbert L, and wife Sigrid Torjusson, took over the Gunderson farm some
time after 1874. Thomas Gunderson and wife are both buried at Zion Lutheran
cemetery in Iola. They remained with the Missouri Synod in the great theological
debate of the late 1880s.
In
1953, the Gunderson farm was part of the Gordon Harris farm.
2000 - Skien
Genealogical page - by Jan Christensen.