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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Frank C. Christian

Frank C. Christian is the owner of a farm of four hundred acres on section 28, Kendrick township. He has purchased this in three different tracts, making the first purchase in 1892, and since that time he has carried on the work of the farm. His life record began in Kendall county, Illinois, on the 4th of July, 1854, his parents being Christian and Anna (Larsen) Christian, both of whom were natives of Norway, the former born in 1826 and the latter in 1831. The father was a young man of twenty one years when he bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for the new world, hoping to enjoy better business opportunities than were afforded in the land of the midnight sun. He took passage on a sailing vessel which after a voyage of seven weeks reached the harbor of Quebec, but he did not tarry in Canada, making his way instead to Chicago, by way of the Erie canal and the Great Lakes. He next drove across the country to Kendall county, Illinois, where he secured a tract of land and began farming, devoting his remaining days to general agricultural pursuits there. He died in 1891 and is still survived by his wife, who yet resides on the old homestead in Kendall county, Illinois, where she lived for so many years with her husband and there reared her family. Mr. and Mrs. Christian became the parents of seven children, all of whom are yet living: Lewis, whose home is in Kendall county; Frank C., of this review; Martin and Eric, who are residents of Hamilton county, Iowa; Ellis, living in this county; Randall, also of Kendall county; and Mrs. Julia Hilliard, of the same county.

Frank C. Christian spent his early life on the home farm but at an early age depended upon his own resources and as soon as old enough to start out in life he began providing for his support. When twenty-one years of age he rented land from his father and began farming on his own account. He next bought eighty acres, which he occupied for five years, when, having an opportunity to sell, he disposed of that property and invested in one hundred and sixty acres of land, living thereon for nine years. In 1892 he disposed of the place and came to Greene county, here purchasing one hundred and sixty acres. In 1895 he added to this a tract of eighty acres and in 1899 bought one hundred and sixty acres, so that he now owns four hundred acres of land, operated by

On the 31st of December, 1877, Mr. Christian was joined in wedlock to Miss Sarah A. Knudson, who was born in Kendall county, Illinois, on the 18th of October, 1856, and is a daughter of Andrew Knudson, a native of Norway, whose birth occurred on the 25th of August, 1820. Her father wedded Martha Ann Ericken, whose birth occurred in Norway on the 27th of October, 1830, and who died on the 22d of August, 1864, when thirty-three years of age. After losing his first wife Mr. Knudson was married to Miss Inga Lee, in 1865, and she is still a resident of Kendall county. There were four children born of the first marriage, of whom three are now living: Mrs. Ella Mather, a resident of Cedar county, Iowa, Edward C. Knudson, who died November 5, 1882; Mrs. Christian; and Mrs. Mary Mather, who is located in Cedar county, Iowa. There is also one child of the second marriage, Mrs. Anna Munson, living in Elkhart, Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Christian have a family of four children, Mabel A., Reuben E., Mildred A., and Russell F. The family attend and support the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Christian votes the republican ticket and is in hearty sympathy with its purposes and its principles but his time and attention are fully occupied by the business cares of the farm.

Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead,"
by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver,
Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

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