Born January 13, 1840, in
the Kingdom of Norway
Parents were Ole Gullickson (18__-18__) and Ingerborg
_________ (18__-18__)
Immigrated to America with his parents, 1857
Married
December 27, 1867, to Engaborg Anderson Numedahl (1850-1924) at Adams Township, Mower
County, State of Minnesota
Died November 14, 1906 at his home near Village of
Adams, Mower County, Minnesota
Buried in Little Cedar Church Cemetery, Mower
County, Minnesota
The following is from Gullick's obituary in the Mower County
Transcript Weekly newspaper.
| "He was born in Norway and left his native country with his parents in April, 1857, landing at Quebec [Canada] after a voyage of five weeks [by sailing ship]. They came west and after stopping at Decorah [Iowa] a few weeks arrived in Adams township in July. They settled in section 2 where the father erected a log shanty 10x10 [10 feet long by 10 feet wide] with sod roof and ground floor. After living in this for three years he built a good log house." |
A year after the log house was built the American Civil War began, and about a year after that Gullick volunteered to fight for his new homeland.
On March 1, 1862, Gullick O. Tilden was enlisted for a 3 year term of service in Company I of the 15th Wisconsin by 1st Lieutenant Iver William Tjentland. The men of Company I called themselves the "Scandinavian Mountaineers." They were also known as the "Waupaca Company" because many of them were living there when they enlisted. Gullick was mustered into Federal service at the rank of Private on March 2, 1862, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. At the time he was recorded by the Army as being 21 years old, not married, and a resident of Nevada, Mower County, State of Minnesota.
That same day, and without any military training, Private Tilden left Wisconsin with his company and regiment to join the war. From then until September, 1862, he was listed as "present." with Company I. As such he would have participated in the successful siege of Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River in the State of Tennessee, in March and April, 1862. He would have also taken part in the surprise raid on Union City, Tennessee, in late March, 1862.
On June 11, 1862, the 15th commander, Colonel Hans C. Heg, led 8 of the regiment's 10 companies away from Island No. 10. Private Tilden remained behind with Companies I and G, which were assigned extended guard duty there. These 2 companies would not rejoin the rest of the regiment for some 15 months. During that time the other 8 companies participated in several strenuous campaigns as well as heavy fighting at Perryville in the State of Kentucky, at Murfreesboro (Stone River), Tennessee, and at Chickamauga, in the State of Georgia.
Companies I and G initially camped across the Mississippi River from Island No. 10 on the Tennessee side at what was called New Madrid Bend or Isler's Landing. There they were engaged for a time in capturing Confederate soldiers who had escaped when the island was captured,. They were also involved in hunting down, sometimes on horseback, local groups of rebel guerrillas who were resisting the Union occupation. The area around Island No. 10 was considered to be unhealthy and many 15th soldiers became ill there, with several dying of disease. One of those who became sick was Private Tilden. The following is from a sworn statement he submitted with his post-war application for a pension.
| "...on or about the 12th Day of July 1862 at Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River he was taken sick with the Chronic Diarrhea and Fever and ague, and [on or about August 22, 1862,] was sent to Mound City Hospital in [the State of] Illinois some 12 miles above [the Town of] Cairo on the Ohio River." |
According to the 15th's records, Private Tilden was "transferred" to a hospital at Mound City on September 17, 1862.
In early October, 1862, his comrades back at New Madrid Bend were attacked just before dawn by 300 Confederate Cavalry troops. The attack was badly managed and quickly repulsed with virtually no loss among the defenders, but afterwards the Union camp was moved over to Island No. 10. There the 15th soldiers were safe from attack behind the Confederate-built fortifications with their 80 cannons. A drawing of the 15th's camp on the island can be viewed by clicking HERE [use the Back button on your browser to return to this page].
Back at the hospital in Mound City, Private Tilden's health was not improving. According to his post-war sworn statement, his weight had dropped 55 pounds since enlisting. On November 18, 1862, he was honorably discharged from the Army at Cairo, Illinois. His official Certificate of Disability for Discharge listed him as being "5 feet 10 1/2 inches high, light complexion, Blue eyes, light [colored] hair, and by occupation when enlisted a Farmer." The Certificate noted that for the previous 60 days Private Tilden had been "unfit for duty" and that after a careful examination by a Surgeon he had been found to be "..incapable of performing the duties of a soldier because of Chronic Bronchitis and Chronic Dysentery which diseases he had contracted since his enlistment and in the line of duty." At the time of his discharge Private Tilden had served just over 8 months of his 3 year commitment.
Unfortunately, official notice of his discharge did not reach the 15th. For the next 2 years the regiment listed him as being at Mound City. Sometime in September or October, 1864, the 15th was incorrectly informed that on December 1, 1862, Private Tilden had been ordered to report back to Company I. Since he had not done so and since the regiment had never heard from him again, it began listing Private Tilden as a deserter. While there are indications that this mistake was corrected by the time Company I mustered out of Federal service in February, 1865, there is also evidence that the charge of desertion was not dropped until 1870, some 5 years after the end of the war.
After his discharge Gullick returned to Adams Township, where he was subsequently united in marriage by Reverend Claus L. Clausen, who had been the 15th's Chaplain. Gullick and his wife had 10 children, of which 9 survived to adulthood: Alick (Ole), born circa 1870; Anna, born circa April, 1873; Andrew, born July, 1874; Theodore Olson, born June 20, 1876 (died 1880); Emma, born circa 1879; Theodore, born August 24, 1881; Bertina, born October, 1883; Rachel, born March 1886; Ida, born August 1888, and Genova, born May, 1892.
In 1880 Gullick applied for a Civil War veteran's Invalid [disability] Pension. In his application he stated he was a Farmer and had been suffering from "Chronic diarrhea, lung difficulties, and liver complaints" since returning from the service, with the result that he was "about 4/5 disabled" for manual labor as a result of his time in the Army. For this the government awarded him a pension of $6 a month. In 1881 Gullick applied for an increase in his pension, and in 1889 the government started paying him $10 a month.
In 1893 Gullick was interviewed as part of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Commission of Pensions. It was pursuing allegations that members of a medical examining board in Iowa had accepted money for certifying pension applicants as having been disabled due to their military service. In an investigator's report Gullick was described as "...a cool-headed, obstinate Norwegian..." whose statement, later retracted, could have been used to prove that 2 board members had committed fraud. It appears the charges were never brought to trial due to a statute of limitations problem.
In 1897 Gullick became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America under the name Gullick Olson. In 1900 he applied for another increase in his pension, stating that he was still a Farmer, but was no longer able to support himself by manual labor due to "Old Age, Heart trouble, and Severe Rheumatism." It is not clear if his application was approved before he died 6 years later at age 66 due to "Paralysis." The following is from his obituary in the Mower County Transcript Weekly.
| "He engaged in farming and was also a dealer in agricultural machinery. The widow and nine children survive...[He] was a man prominent in township affairs. He was also a frequent delegate to county conventions. He was of friendly disposition and a good neighbor and husband and will be greatly missed in the circle where he was known." |
In 1908 Gullick's wife applied for and received a pension as the widow of a Civil War veteran. It was providing her with $30 a month at the time of her death 16 years later.
Sources: Genealogical data from his Great Great Granddaughter Carmel N. Edwards; Mower County Transcript Weekly (Austin, Minnesota, November 21, 1906); Civil War Compiled Military Service Records by Office of Adjutant General of the United States (Washington, DC); Civil War Compiled Veteran Pension Records, by Pension Office, Dept. of the Interior (Washington, DC); Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillage [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] by Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1895); Regimental Descriptive Rolls, Volume 20 Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin, 1885); and, Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Volume I Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin, 1886).
This page Copyright by Scott Cantwell Meeker of Deep
Vee Productions.
All Rights Reserved. Created March 2, 2001. Last updated
March 3, 2001.