TOLLEF CHRISTIANSON

More than a century ago George Washington said, "Agriculture is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation of man." At no period in the history of the world has the work of the farmer been of greater importance than at the present crisis, especially when many of the countries on the face of the globe are looking to the United States for their food supply. Actively and successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits in Worth county is Tollef Christiansen, who makes his home on section11, Hartland township, where he owns and operates one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land. He is one of the substantial citizens that Norway has furnished to the new world.

He was born in Hallingdal, August 17, 1864, a son of Christian and Julia Markegaarden, who were also natives of Norway, where they were reared, educated and married. The father took up the occupation of farming, which he followed in the land of the midnight sun until 1866, when he determined to try his fortune in the United States, believing that results might be more quickly secured and that he might more readily win a comfortable living for his family on this side of the Atlantic. Accordingly he made arrangements to leave his native country and took passage on a sailing vessel which was seven weeks in reaching the harbor of Quebec. He then proceeded westward by way of the Great Lakes to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where he resided until his removal to St. Ansgar, in Mitchell county, Iowa. Two years were passed in that locality, after which the father brought his family to Worth county and took up his abode in Hartland township, where his son Knudt now lives. He purchased this farm upon his arrival in Worth county and continued to make it his place of abode throughout his remaining days. He passed away in 1890, at the age of fifty-eight years, while his wife survived until 1897 and was sixty years of age at the time of her demise. His political endorsement was given to the republican party from the time that he became a naturalized American citizen and his religious faith was ever that of the Norwegian Lutheran church, which found in him a consistent and loyal member.

Tollef Christiansen, whose name introduces this record, was but a year old when the family left Norway and came to the new world. Practically his entire boyhood, therefore, was spent in Iowa and he pursued his education in the district schools of Hartland township. When his textbooks were put aside he continued to assist his father in the work of the home farm until he was twenty-six years of age, when he removed to Northwood, where he worked at the carpenter's trade for seven years. He then returned to Hartland township and invested his savings in eighty acres of land on section 13. Upon that farm Mr. Christianson remained for three years, at the end of which time he sold the property and bought his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section11, Hartland township. Upon this place he has since resided and is numbered among the wide-awake and energetic farmers of the community, having a good tract of land which he has brought under a high state of cultivation. He also still works at the carpenter's trade.

In 1890 Mr. Christiansen was united in marriage to Miss Mary Leikwold, a daughter of Ole and Gary (Sween) Leikwold, who were natives of Norway and came to the United States with their family in 1869, settling in Winneshiek county, Iowa, where the father rented land for a time. He afterward removed to Silver Lake township, Worth county, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which he continued for several years. In 1897, however, he retired from active business life and took up his abode in Lake Mills, Winnebago county, Iowa, where he lived with his daughter, Mrs. Henry Thompson, until he was called to his final rest in 1916, at the age of eighty-six years. His wife had died in 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Christianson are the parents of seven children: Christina Grafton, who is a resident of Minot, North Dakota; Owen; Roy; Gaylord; Mabel; Clayton; and Alice.

In his political views Mr. Christiansen has always been a republican since attaining his majority and he has served as township clerk, as assessor and as a member of the school board. He belongs to the Norwegian Lutheran church, and is interested in all those forces which work for the uplift of the individual and the benefit of the community at large. His influence is always given on the side of right, truth, progress and reform and his worth is acknowledged by all who know him.

SOURCE: HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, 1918, VOL. II; PAGES 188-190

Transcription by Gordon Felland, 9/21/2006