Orville and Gertrude Christianson Farm Records (S5085)
1941-1992
Historical Sketch
This collection contains the records of the Christianson Farm and familyin Hickory Township, southeast Pennington County.Christian Christianson (1862-1917) began homesteading land for the farm in 1905. The Christianson farm remained in the hands of the family for more than nine decades, varying in size from two to three quarter sections. The farm was cultivated in small grains, and the Christiansons maintained herds of dairy and beef cattle.Orville Christianson (1910-2002), the son of Christian and Olive (1880-1936) maintained the farm with his wife Gertrude from 1936 until his retirement in 1992. He worked the farm in partnership with his brother Merritt, while Orville’s wife Gertrude (nee Hanson, 1904-2007) maintained most of the farm's records. Before marriage, Gertrude was a rural elementary school teacher in North Dakota and Minnesota from 1927 to 1936. After the Christiansons retired, the farm remained in family hands until it was sold to a neighbor in 2000.
Collection Description
The records of the Christianson farm consist of individual business and partnership tax records that have been copied from the originals and organized annually. The records are color coded for ease of use, and contain information about the crops planted, the expenses, harvest yields and farm incomes. Some sketch maps also indicate how individual fields were planted at various points in time.
The family papers consists of greeting cards, postcards, financial records, photographs and wedding documents. The bulk of the family papers consist of Gertrude’s personal papers. These papers include her records from elementary school, high school, teacher training school, personal financial records, and teaching career records. She taught in rural elementary schools near Devils Lake, North Dakota and in Pennington County.
Inventory
Box 1
- Orville and Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson biographical Information
- Family photographs, 1901-1993
- Farm tax records, 1941-1992
- Farm financial records, 1902-1954
- Farm miscellaneous records, 1920s-1950s
Box 2
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson financial records, 1927-1947
- Christianson household financial records, 1936-1990s
- Greeting cards, 1890-1930s
- Postcards, 1904-1920s
- Orville and Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson wedding records, 1936
- Orville Christianson’s school (Little Oak District #65, Pennington County) souvenirs and holiday cards, 1919-1927
- Hans and Annie (Homme) Hanson records (Gertrude’s parents), 1939-1961
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson correspondence, 1912-1949
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson elementary school papers, 1911-1922
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson high school papers, 1922-1925
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson high school yearbooks, 1923, 1925
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson teacher training papers, 1925-1926
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson teacher’s annual reports, 1928-1935
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson teaching certificates, contracts, insurance, misc., 1930s
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson attendance annual reports, 1927-1936
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson teaching programs, circa 1920s-1930s
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson photographs from time as a teacher, 1927-1936
- Gertrude (Hanson) Christianson greeting cards received while a teacher, 1927-1930s
- School District #9 records, 1926-1935
- Little Oak School District #65 records, 1915-1950