|
Allamakee County >> 1913 Index Past and Present of Allamakee County Iowa C Unless otherwise specified, these biographies are submitted by Dick Barton. L.
T. Christiansen, one of Center township's energetic and
progressive
farmers, is one of Allamakee county's native sons, his birth occurring
on the old family homestead in Paint Creek township on the 11th of May,
1857.
He was the third in order of birth in a family of seven children
born to Thyge and Ingeborg Larson (Lien) Christiansen, natives of
Norway, both of whom are now deceased.
More extended mention is made of
the parents in another part of this volume in connection with the sketch
of C. T. Christianson.
L.
T. Christiansen received a good education in the district schools
while his father's farm was the training ground where he received
practical experience in agricultural pursuits.
He has always engaged in
general farming and now owns one hundred and twenty acres located on
section 34, Center township, which he inherited from his father.
He has
greatly improved the place since it came into his possession and erected
all of the buildings which now stand upon the property.
They are neat
and substantial and the general appearance of the farm bespeaks a life
of industry, energy and thrift upon the part of the owner.
Mr.
Christiansen was married, in Allamakee county, to Miss Mary Ann
Thompson, a native of Norway and a daughter of Torsten and Annie
Guneldson.
Mr. and Mrs. Christiansen are the parents of five children
now living, namely:
Amanda Idelia; T. T.; Luella M.; Inger M.; and
Annie G.
One daughter, Ruth, died in infancy.
Had Mr. Christiansen
followed the custom of his native land his sirname would have been
Thygeson, but he followed the American custom and has borne his father's
sirname.
Wishing, however, to honor his father, he has made
arrangements whereby his children shall bear the name of Thygeson.
The
family hold membership in the Lutheran church.
Mr. Christiansen gives
stalwart support to the republican party.
He has resided in Allamakee
county from his birth to the present time and has ever enjoyed in the
fullest degree the respect and confidence of his fellowmen, his worth as
a man and citizen being widely acknowledged.
An
entire lifetime, covering a period of six decades, passed upon the
same farm has made C. T. Christianson widely known throughout Paint
Creek township, where he is successfully engaged in agricultural
pursuits.
He was born on his present home farm on the 20th of June,
1853, a son of Thyge Christianson, who was born in Gol, Hallingdal,
Norway, August 20, 1824.
As a young man the father came to America
in
1848 and located first in the Norwegian settlement in Rock county,
Wisconsin, where he remained for two years.
He worked as a farm laborer
during that period and was able to save sufficient money with which to
buy a yoke of oxen and a wagon.
With this outfit he drove across the
country to Allamakee county, Iowa, arriving in this state when it was
still a frontier district.
He purchased a wild tract of land, which is
now the home of his son, and in those early days experienced all of the
hardships and privations of pioneer life.
His first investment made him
owner of eighty acres of land in Paint Creek township, to the
cultivation of which he at once directed his attention.
His first home
there was a log house which he erected and which subsequently was
replaced by the frame structure now occupied by our subject.
As time
passed and he prospered, he added to his original purchase, at one time
adding eighty acres and subsequently a tract of one hundred and twenty
acres.
thus he became the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and
eighty acres which was the visible evidence of a life of activity and
enterprise.
His was an excellent record for he started out in business
life a poor man and worked his way upward until he ranked among the
substantial and prosperous agriculturists of his section.
He died on
that farm on the 25th of August, 1909.
He had married, in Allamakee
county, Miss Ingeborg Larson Lien, who was born in Norway on the 1st of
April, 1826, and died July 14, 1912, at the home of our subject.
They
became the parents of seven children, as follows:
C. T., of this
review; Isabel, deceased; L. T., a resident of Center township who is
mentioned on another page of this work; Ole, who died at the age of
twenty-five years; Mary, who is also deceased; Albert, who passed away
at the age of twenty years; and one who died in infancy.
Spending
his boyhood days amid pioneer environment, C. T. Christianson
grew up with this district and during the period of more than sixty
years in which he has been a resident of Allamakee county has witnessed
many of the changes which have marked the general advancement and growth
of the commonwealth.
He was reared to farm life and upon attaining his
majority he wisely chose that occupation as his life work.
On the death
of his father he inherited one hundred and sixty acres of the home farm,
and to the cultivation of this tract he is now giving his attention.
It
is well improved and thereon Mr. Christianson carries on general
farming, his careful methods and well directed efforts meeting with
gratifying success.
Mr.
Christianson married Rica A. Peterson, the ceremony taking place in
Allamakee, her native county.
She is a daughter of Knut and Reddina
Peterson and by her marriage has become the mother of four sons, Theo,
Albert, Ingwald and Cornelius, all yet at home.
The
parents are members of the Lutheran church, while Mr. Christianson
gives his political support to the republican party.
He is public- spirited in his citizenship but has never had desire for
public office,
preferring to concentrate his attention upon his agricultural pursuits.
The long period of his residence in this district has given him a large
acquaintance, and the fact that many of his best friends are those who
have known him from childhood is an indication that he possesses those
qualities which win and hold friendship and command respect and esteem.
Among
the native sons of Allamakee county who have won success and
prominence in agricultural pursuits, carrying forward the work of
development which their fathers began in pioneer times is O. T. Conway,
owner of five hundred acres of land on section 29, Paint Creek township,
a fine property which has been the family homestead for many years.
Upon this farm his birth occurred, his parents being James and Rose
(Gordon) Conway, natives of County Roscommon, Ireland.
The father was
born July 17, 1820.
The parents were married in 1843 and in the same
year emigrated to the United States, settling in Baltimore, Maryland,
where they resided until 1847.
They then removed to Cincinnati, Ohio,
and the father obtained employment as a desk hand on a boat on the lower
Mississippi river.
He was afterward promoted to the position of second
mate and acted in that capacity during the terrible epidemic of cholera
in 1849.
He was at that time on the Red river, and he was often obliged
to go ashore between stations in order to bury the dead.
These were
mostly negroes and Mr. Conway often placed ten in the same grave.
He
severed his connection with river navigation in 1850 and brought his
family to Dubuque, Iowa, he himself coming to Allamakee county and
locating one hundred and sixty acres of wild land on section 29, Paint
Creek township.
In December of the same year his family joined him and
all who were old enough aided in the clearing, development and
improvement of the homestead.
For four years Mr. Conway spent only the
winter months on his farm, while during the summer he worked on the
upper Mississippi river but eventually took up a permanent residence
upon the property.
He was one of the first settlers in Paint Creek
township and endured all the hardships and trials of pioneer existence,
evolving out of the wild and unimproved tract an excellent and
productive farm.
The years brought him prominence, success and
substantial fortune, and he gradually extended the field of his
activities to include participation in local political life. He became
well known in the ranks of the democratic party and held various
important township offices, as well as that of county sheriff.
He died
upon his homestead in 1895 and was survived by his wife until 1904.
To
them were born ten children, five of whom are still living, as follows:
Mary, the wife of John McErlane, of Paint Creek township; D. B., who
resides in Seward, Nebraska; W. P., of York, Nebraska; Rose, the wife of
P. Maloney, of Jefferson township; and O. T., of this review.
The
deceased members of this family are J. J., who died at Sibley, Iowa; J.
F., who passed away in Gurshen, Nebraska; Ellen, the deceased wife of
James Carroll, of Milbank, North Dakota; and two who died in childhood.
O.
T. Conway was reared upon the family homestead and acquired his
education in the district schools of Paint Creek township.
At an early
age he began assisting with the work of the farm and before he was
twenty-one was a practical and able agriculturist.
After the death of
his father he came into possession of the homestead and there he has
since carried on general farming and stock-raising, success following
his well directed and progressive labors.
He married Miss Emma Adams, a
native of Clayton county, Iowa, and they have one daughter, Rose Ellen.
Mr. Conway is numbered among the substantial and representative farmers
of this part of Iowa and among Allamakee county's most progressive and
successful native sons.
His record is an added credit to a name that
has been held in high honor and esteem since pioneer times.
|