Although families tended to be larger during the turn of the 20th century, even parents with two or three children often had some of their offspring stay with the family farm, while others moved away to live in towns, or establish farms of their own.

In about 1920, Charles Jens Christenson moved away from the farm owned by his stepfather, Elling Ellingson, and his mother, Johanna Christenson.

Charles had been born to Johanna and Jens “James” Christenson in Arkdale, Wisconsin, in 1893. He was the youngest of four children, with two older sisters, Elizabeth and Selma, and an older brother, John.

Jens Christenson died in 1897.

Sue Sitter/PCT A fourth generation of Christensons stands on the front steps of a restored farmhouse on land purchased by Charles “Chuck” Christenson’s great-grandfather, Charles Jens Christenson. From back left are son Carter, daughter Ellie, Mary and Chuck Christenson. Daughter Annie stands in front.

After Jens died, Charles’ mother moved the family west to Rugby, where Johanna married Elling Ellingson in 1902. Ellingson had established a homestead in Walsh Township, Pierce County, in 1888.

Johanna and her three children lived on the Ellingson farm seven miles north of Rugby. All children helped on the farm.

When the children came of age, John took charge of the Ellingson farm. Elizabeth and Selma married and moved away to begin new lives.

Charles married Katherine Tuff, started a family, and set about establishing a farm of his own.

A new legacy

In 1924, he bought a 160-acre farm from Axel Ferngren of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for $4,500, the equivalent of $77,939 in 2022.

The price included a barn, a chicken coop, small granary and a large three-story home, which has sparked conversation among family and friends over the years because of its distinctive design.

Charles Christenson’s grandson, Michael, who goes by the name Mike Christenson, said the house dates from 1908 to about 1914.

“We think it’s a Montgomery Ward home,” he said.

The home resembles one of several models sold in the Montgomery Ward catalog between 1908 and 1930.

Johanna Christenson Ellingson, left, stands with her husband, Elling Ellingson, on their Rugby farm in the early 1900s.

“They sold the houses in kits that you put together,” Christenson noted. “You had the pieces shipped to you on a train.”

Mike’s son, named after Charles Christenson, lives in the house with his wife, Mary, and three children today. The home has been remodeled over the years, with carpets on the main floor removed to reveal a hardwood floor. The family also removed walls between the large living room, dining room and kitchen for more open space.

The home’s distinctive long front porch remains, along with a dormer window and sloped roof topping the square structure.

Charles and Katherine Christenson had settled into the home with their young son, James, in 1924.

Katherine gave birth to a second son, Wesley, later that year.

Karen Christenson, left, sits on the back porch of their home on the family farm along with husband Mike and their dog.

Wesley would purchase the farm after marrying Lylis Grider in 1947.

The couple would make their home on the family farm and rear their four children, Paula, Mike, Kent and Kris.

Country school and hard work

Mike and his older siblings attended Hendrickson School District #3, a one-room schoolhouse, as their parents had.

Their father and Uncle James had also attended Rugby High School, taking the train into town every Monday and returning home on the train the following Friday. In the winter, a horse-drawn sleigh took them to the train depot. They stayed at a home in Rugby while attending school during the week.

Lylis (Grider) Christenson, left, is shown in a 1947 wedding photo taken with her husband, Wesley Christenson.

Mike Christenson said he and Paula and Kent took a school bus into town after attending the country school. All siblings would later take the bus into Rugby for school, and all graduated from Rugby High School.

Mike Christenson said he remembered “lots of stories” from his dad and grandpa as he grew up on the farm.

Like many farmers whose parents survived the Dirty Thirties, he said he remembered stories about tough times.

“They talked to me about the grasshoppers,” he said Charles and Wesley had told him.

“The swarms were so thick, they ate the wooden fence posts, but I think that’s hard to believe, but they could destroy stuff in a hurry, I know that,” he said.

“I don’t remember being poor as a kid,” Christenson added. “We weren’t rich, either, but when Grandpa Charlie and Dad were going at it as farmers, there wasn’t a lot of money to be made.”

“They always had food,” he said. “They had chickens, pigs, ducks, beef cattle and milk cows. Grandma and Mom would go to town to get sugar and flour so they’d have stuff to cook with, but we had all the other stuff on the farm. Everybody did that back in those days.”

“It was tough times, but they were always happy,” he added.

“I can remember when we had Christmas with my kids, and Dad and Mom would be there,” Christenson said. “Our kids would get piles of presents. Dad said, ‘We got a pair of gloves, a pair of socks, and maybe an apple and an orange, and that was it.'”

“They didn’t have any of that stuff kids have now,” he added.

New generations take over

When Mike Christenson grew up, he lived on the family land and set up a household of his own. He moved another home onto the property where he and his wife, Karen, still live today.

He has served as a Pierce County commissioner for several years.

Mike and Karen Christenson reared three daughters and one son in the home.

After their son, Charles, known as Chuck, graduated from Rugby High School, he returned to Rugby with a degree from Northland Technical College. He started work as an electrician and married Mary Koch, who had moved to the Pierce County area from the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio.

Chuck Christenson purchased the farmstead and the home that had belonged to his great-grandfather Charles.

The fourth generation of Christensons now lives in the restored Montgomery Ward home that belonged to Charles and Katherine nearly 100 years ago.

The family farm now consists of 3,200 acres of owned and rented land.

“We grow wheat, oats, soybeans, corn for silage and hay for the livestock,” Chuck Christenson said, adding the family also owns about 100 head of Black Angus cattle.

“I love it out here,” he added. “It’s pretty neat. Farming doesn’t feel like work, because it’s something I enjoy.”

“It’s special for the kids to be a part of this and grow into farming, too,”

Mary Christenson said she enjoyed the change of pace from suburban life to farm living.

Changes and traditions

“I like it,” she said. “It’s quiet here.”

The Christensons attend Little Flower Church. Mike Christenson’s father and grandfather had been members of the Lutheran Church.

Mike Christenson said although the younger Christensons have changed the churches they attend, faith has always been “very important” to the family.

Other things have changed on the family farm over nearly a century as well. Chuck converted the former Hendrickson School District building into a shop for his business, CES Electric.

But some things about the property haven’t changed, including a mystery of sorts.

Years ago, Mike Christenson found a flat piece of stone with a cross carved on its face partially buried on the family land. Christenson said he’s been trying to find out the story behind it ever since.

Chuck Christenson said he’s wondered about the stone as well. “We think it comes from one of the original homesteaders here, but we’re not sure,” he said.