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Kinyon Digital Library

History of Adair
County, Iowa, 1915.

Biographical.  Volume 2.

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Martin Christensen.

Martin Christensen is numbered among the self-made men of Jefferson township and the proof of his active life is seen in his farm of two hundred acres which is situated on sections 26 and 27.  He was born in Denmark, September 21, 1873, a son of Hans and Karen Christensen, who were also natives of that country.  The father died there in the year 1876 and the mother some years afterward came to America, arriving in this country in 1901.  Since then she has married again, becoming the wife of Iver Berg, of Clinton, Iowa.

The only son of the mother's first marriage is Martin Christensen, who was only three years of age when his father died.  He remained in his native country until he reached the age of fourteen years, and then came to America, making his way to Audubon county, Iowa, where he was employed for two years at farm labor.  He afterward learned the butcher's trade, which he followed until 1906, when he purchased the farm upon which he now resides, on sections 26 and 27, Jefferson township, Adair county, comprising two hundred acres of land that is naturally rich and productive, so that the fields respond readily to the care and labor which he bestows upon the place.  He has made it an excellent property through the improvements put upon the farm, and in addition to cultivating the cereals which are raised in this climate he makes a specialty of raising and feeding hogs and cattle, thereby adding materially to his income.

In 1899 occurred the marriage of Mr. Christensen and Miss Bodel Mary Nelson, a native of Germany and a daughter of Nick L. and Mary (Lund) Nelson.  The father is now living in Carroll county, Illinois, but the mother is deceased.  Mr. and Mrs. Christensen have become the parents of four children:  Alford, Blanche W., Clarence M. and Howard Woodrow.

The family attend the Christian church and they are interested in all that pertains to the material, intellectual and moral progress of the community.  In politics Mr. Christensen is a democrat and is now serving for the second term as township trustee, in which connection he is active in furthering the best interests of the community.  He cooperates in many plans that have proved beneficial to the district and is now cashier of the Farmers Association and has served as a director of the telephone company.  He believes in progress and his work has always been along the line of advancement for the community or for his individual interests.  He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, inasmuch as he started out in life empty-handed.  Coming to the new world when but fourteen years of age, he has since been dependent upon his own resources and his life record indicates what may be accomplished when one has the will to dare and to do.

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