NORWAY-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: Re: Hegg
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 11:22:33 -0500 (EST)

Rich Erstad wrote:

I have a Hegg family in my tree from Ostfold, settled in Racine, WI, to
Harmony, MN. They were hard to trace because they NEVER used the name Hegg
in Norway, didn't live on or near a Hegg farm and didn't take the name Hegg
here in the US until they had been here for more than 20 years. They
apparently knew the family of Hans Heg (civil war hero) in Racine and took
the name in his honor.

To that I reply:

Yes, I have seen the Hegg tombstones at Greenfield Lutheran Church Cemetery
at Harmony, MN.

Hans Christian Heg, son of pioneer Even Heg (from Lier), was widely known in
Norway and America. His barn at the Norwegian settlement near Muskego, WI
was the temporary home for many new immigrants in a strange and forbidding
land. When the Civil War came, Heg traveled throughout MN, WI, and IA
recruiting Norwegians to support the Union cause. He became commander of the
15th Wisconsin, the famous "Norwegian Regiment" of nearly 1,000 men. Their
banner consisted of the Stars and Stripes on one side with a lion, the
Norwegian national emblem on the other. The words "For God and Our Country"
stood out.

The regiment took part in 26 battles. All told, 299 men died in the fighting
for their new country. Hans Cristian Heg died at the battle of Chickamauga,
Georga at the age of 34 leading the regiment in a charge. At Chickamauga the
state of Wisconsin raised a monument in honor of the "Norwegian Regiment" and
it's commander Hans Christian Heg.

Gene Estensen
g-g-g-grandson of Østein Nielsen Bøen, Tinn, Telemark, Norway

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