STEPHEN O. HIMOE, CIVIL WAR PHYSICIAN

Abstract

STEPHEN O. HIMOE, CIVIL WAR PHYSICIAN BY E. BIDDLE HEG The part played by the Norwegians in the Civil War is typified by the Fifteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, the history of which has been interpreted in terms of democratic loyalty to the North in the conflict between the states. This history has found its collective fame, for the most part, in its first leader; but it must extend this fame to include the activities of three men - a chaplain, a soldier, a physician - each of whom represents a distinct facet of the ideals of their adopted country. Pastor Claus L. Clausen, a Dane and the first chaplain of the regiment, symbolizes the spiritual ideals of mankind; Hans Christian Heg, the first colonel of the regiment , the persistence of human endeavor in translating social and political ideals into achievement; and Dr. Stephen Oliver Himoe, surgeon of the regiment, the humanitarian ideals. The history of the Wisconsin Fifteenth has been written many times in the life of its commander. It must be written again and yet again, however, in terms of the many others of its members - its lieutenants, captains, privates, and physicians - for in the services of all these lies the true significance of the Norwegian contribution to the Civil War. Any complete picture of the achievements of the regiment would hardly be possible without a consideration of the life and activities of Surgeon Himoe. What he did was not expressed in the iconoclasmi of strife. His duty led him quietly among the ranks, mending the devastations of war, healing the bodies of men. The first twenty-nine years of the life that prepared Stephen Oliver Himoe for his duties in the Civil War are the record of a Norwegian boy growing from childhood to youth so STEPHEN O. HIMOE 31 in his native land, emigrating to America at the impressionable age of fourteen, and developing into manhood in study for the medical profession. Himoe has written the autobiography of these years briefly: 1 I was born in Norway March 10th 1832. The family emigrated to the United States in the Spring of 1846 reaching Milwaukee Wisconsin about July 1st of that year. We settled in Norway township Racine Co.2 In the fall of 1849 I went to Platteville Grant Co. and became a student in "Platteville Academy" until the summer of 1851. During the winter of 1851 and 52 I taught school at Norway and returned to Platteville May 19th 1852. During the year 1853 I was employed in Post Office at Platteville Dr. G. W. Eastman being Postmaster. I decided to study Medicine with Dr. E. and had my first experience in dissecting in January of that year.3 My 21st birthday occurred on March 10th. R. A. Rice deputy P. M. retired and I took full charge of the P. O. April 1st. The new Academy building was dedicated Oct 3d and my brother became a student therein this fall. In the winter and spring of 1854 while working in the P.O. I recited Latin and Chemistry at the Academy. 1The Diary of Stephen O. Himoe, two small notebook volumes written in longhand, covering the period from March 14, 1862, to December 25, 1865, are in the possession of Miss Maude F. Himoe of Kansas City, Missouri. Microfilm and typewritten copies are on file in the archives of the Norwegian-American Historical Association at Northfield, Minnesota. Himoe's autobiographical sketch appears in the final entry of his diary. Little is known of Stephen Himoe s immediate family. His father, Matthias Himoe, was born May 3, 1794, and died April 29, 1870. His mother, whose name is not known, died April 9, 1883, and his only brother, John, died in the latter part of March, 1864. He also had a sister, Louisa Himoe Jacobson. Matthias Himoe's certificate of naturalization, in the possession of Mrs. Annetta Himoe Booth of Glendale, California, a daughter of Stephen O. Himoe; Himoe Diary, March 31, 1864, December 25, 1865; letter from Mrs. Booth to the author, July 5, 1939. 3 Platteville Academy, in existence from 1842 to 1866, subsequently became the Pioneer Normal School of the state and later developed into...