The Christianson family comes from Feoy, Norway. This is a small island located on the west coast of Norway, near Haugesund and Karmoy (note that the "o" in Feoy is the Norwegian letter that has a slash through it). Feoy translated means "cattle island" and it has a population of about 100 people. The Christiansons were the main land holders on the island, and the main house still stands today and is used as a summer retreat for family members wishing to get away from busy Norwegian cities. The Christianson family is able to trace their roots through royal lines beginning in the Middle Ages. Among several notable monarchs, the Christiansons are also descendants of Emperor Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire, Chief Rurik (founder of Russia), King Alfred the Great of England, and King Harald Haarfagre (Fair Hair) the first king of Norway. 
This picture is of an ancestor from the mid 1400s: Lady Johanna Til Asdal. In addition to the monarchs listed above, the Christiansons are also descended from various Barons, Counts, Earls, Dukes and Kings throughout Europe, and from the following royal houses: Bohemia, Byzantium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Much more research is possible on these family lines.
Jon Christian Thorson was born in 1824, and was the main land owner of Feoy in the mid 1800's. It is through Jon Christian that we get the Christianson family name today (note that the family in Norway spell the name Christiansen). Here is a picture of Jon Christian Thorson and most likely his second wife, Barbro Olsdotter Sorhaug, circa 1860. More information about Jon Christian and his ancestors can be found in the Karmoy Torvastad Bygedebok 1979 (history book of Karmoy, Torvastad Norway), and in Jon Jonsen Haalands Slekt, 1933, where he traces the family history back to the eighth century going through various royal families. Here is a rough draft Microsoft Word document of that family tree information. (or click here for a MAC version). Feel free to open the document and print out a hard copy, or save it to your computer or disk. 
Jon Christian Thorson and his first wife, Eli Kristina Evertsdotter Torvastad (born 1832), had three children: John Christian (b-1851), Bolla Kristina (b-1853) and Tore (Thomas) Wegner (b-1856). After Eli's death, Jon Christian married Barbro Olsdotter Sorhaug. They had four children: Evert Kristian (b-1860), Ola (Oliver) (b-1863), Ingeborg Katrina (b-1864) and Knut Martin (b-1866). Here is a photo of a picture (hence, the poor quality including flash) of Thomas Christianson and some of his siblings: Evert, Bolla, John Christian, Thomas, and Oliver. This may have been taken around the time of Jon Christian Thorson's death. Thomas never made a trip back to Norway, but Oliver did. The photo of siblings appears to have added separate photos of Bolla and Thomas in the back row.
Tore Wegner Christianson was born March 22, 1856 and took to the sea at 16. He sailed on vessels that plied between ports of various European countries. After nearly three years of this work, he sailed to the USA around 1875 and took the American name Thomas. He was later joined by his younger half-brother Ola who took the name Oliver (see photo on the right). Tom settled in Fillmore County, Minnesota (near the border of Iowa and Wisconsin). Oliver never married and later moved to North Dakota and lived on a small farm near the McCoy family outside of Larimore, North Dakota. This was near his niece Milley Lord and nephew Marshall Christianson. Gordon and Dona (Christianson) Martin later lived on the farm after Oliver passed away. Marlis Christianson Wigestrand can still remember her great-uncle Oliver and liked to comb his hair. She also remembers her mother Kate looking through the kitchen curtains in disgust and saying "Ach! Here comes that uncle Oliver, again!" Living near by, apparently he came by a bit too often to visit. Oliver dropped the "son" from his last name "Christianson", as he didn't care for it, and went by Oliver Christian. Oliver died in 1935 and is buried in the Newburg Methodist Church cemetery.
Thomas Christianson married Julia McCallson (Mickelson) on January 17, 1877. Julia was the youngest of five children, and the only one born in America, in Leland, Illinois in 1858 to parents Jorgen Mickall Christopherson (1814-1893) and Gundla Karine Jonsdotter (1816-1907). Jorgen, Gundla and their children immigrated from Skare, Norway (near Haugesund) in 1857. It took them three months on a sail boat to make it to America. They spent their first winter in Illinois with a brother that had immigrated before them. They stayed there for two years before coming by oxen and covered wagons to Lanesboro, Minnesota because the train only went to Chicago. Apparently the brother's old place back in Illinois is now the location of the state fishery. 
Jorgen and his family purchased 80 acres in Holt Township (two and a half miles southeast of Lanesboro) on April 11, 1866 from Southern Minnesota Railroad Co. In 1874 they sold the land to their son Christopher who owned it for a couple of years before selling again in 1876. Documents indicate mortgage issues in having to sell the farm. Ultimately Jorgen and his family settled on a farm just west of the Newburg, Minnesota area in Fillmore County (near Mabel, Minnesota), and not far from Iowa and Wisconsin. This wasn't far from Spring Valley, MN where the famous Laura (Ingalls) and Almonzo Wilder family lived for a while during that time period, from Little House on the Prairie. The children of Jorgen and Gundla were as follows: Martha Christine (1840-1916), Christopher Conrad (1844-1898) who became a local Methodist minister, Helje Andreas (1849-1931), Anne Malene (1853-died of rattlesnake bite in USA), and Julia (1858-1936) their only child born in the USA. Some of Julia's siblings took the family name Mickelson and some took McCallson. Jorgen and Gundla are buried at the Newburg Methodist church cemetery, in the center of this photo.
Thomas and Julia Christianson had a farm west of Newburg, (later owned by A.D. Gray). In later years, in 1917 they downsized to a smaller farm located on the north outskirts of Mabel, Minnesota. Here are two photos of Thomas and Julia, one circa the late 1870's (possibly their wedding picture), on the left, and another circa the 1920's on the right. Julia was very musically talented, and played the organ in their Methodist church, and was very active in their church and community. Most of their children inherited a talent for music. Dona Christianson Martin can remember visiting her grandparents, Tom and Julia, and recalls building a bird house with her grandpa when she missed the nail and hit Tom's thumb. She remembers her grandpa Tom liked to laugh.
Tom and Julia Christianson had seven children. Their oldest was (1)-Milley: She had married Theodore Tobiason, and had two girls: Viola (Jeffers) and Thelma. Viola had two daughters named Gerry and Lynn Jeffers. Millie and her family had settled in the Northwood area of North Dakota. After her husband's death, she later married Arthur Lord. He was a banker in Larimore. Milley played the piano very well. (2)-Charles: He married a woman named Edna. They had no children, and lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Charles had a glass eye and was a piano tuner. (3)-Wagner: He married a woman named Maud and they lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They had two sons: Rayburn and Ruben. Ruben may have had a couple of children in Florida. Ray remained single and worked for the railroad for many years. (4)-Marshall Douglas (b-1887-1967). He married Katherine CeCelia Landman, and settled in the Kempton/Larimore, North Dakota area. They had four children: Doug, Dona, Doris and Marlis. See below for more details. (5)-Ernest: He had what appears to be Down syndrome, and was institutionalized most of his life in Fairbault, Minnesota. 6)-Walter: His first wife, May, died from TB. His second wife was a woman named Fern and they lived in Larimore, ND for a time. Walter was an orchestra leader of a band called Christy's Orchestra, and they traveled all over during the Teens and Roaring Twenties. They had one daughter: Ardis (Werre). Walter and Fern later had a landscaping company in Fargo, ND. (7)-Loren: He lived on the family farm in Mabel, Minnesota. He worked on a boat on the Great Lakes for two years. After his father's death, he moved to Minneapolis with his mother. He was employed in a manufacturing plant for three years. He became ill for a few months due to lead poisoning. He died in 1930 at the age of 27. Here is a photo of the Christianson boys, probably taken around 1907. L-R = Charles, Walter, Loren, Wagner and Marshall.
This is a photo of Ernest and Walter Christianson, taken circa 1895. Ernest had what appears to be Down syndrome, and was institutionalized in Fairbault, Minnesota, most of his adult life. Thomas Christianson had a stroke and died February 8, 1927. He had fallen a few days prior, and broke a couple of ribs, but was recovering before the stroke. In a newspaper clipping it says "Tom's immediate ancestors were of a Scotch-German descent from Norway, and were a sea-faring people dwelling along the coast of Norway." Julia went to live with her son Loren for a time in Minneapolis until he died of lead poisoning. Julia then lived the last eight years of her life with her daughter Milley Lord in North Dakota. In later years, she suffered from dementia and Marlis Christianson Wigestrand can remember being scared having to watch her grandma Julia a couple of times, along with her younger cousin Ardis Christianson Werre, to make sure Julia wouldn't get out of bed. Julia died on July 16, 1936 and was buried at the Methodist Church Cemetery in Newburg, Minnesota.
This is the wedding photo of Marshall and Kate (Landman) Christianson, on Feb 14, 1912. Included in the photo are best man: Albert Landman (Kate's brother), and maid of honor: Louise Landman McCoy (Kate's sister), and flower girl: Viola Tobbiason (Marshall's niece). They were married at Kate's parents farm, near Larimore, North Dakota. Marshall met Kate through his sister, who became neighbors to the Landmans when she and her husband moved to North Dakota to be farmers.
Kate was a seamstress before she married Marshall. They became crop farmers for over twenty years. Marshall was able to play many musical instruments including the fiddle, piano and guitar. He inherited his musical talent from his mother who played the church piano in the Methodist church of Newburg. Marshall and Kate attended a Lutheran church in Larimore, ND. Marshall and Kate had four children: Douglas Landman Christianson (b-1912), twins: MaDonna (Dona) Rosina and LaDoris (Doris) Julia Christianson (b-1914), and Marlis Katherine Christianson (b-1925). Below are two pictures of Marshall and Kate's children, taken on their farm around 1926. L-R are Doris, Doug, Marlis and Dona.
In 1939, Marshall and his family moved to Buxton, North Dakota, to become a mechanic and open a blacksmith shop and garage with his son Doug, in this small Scandinavian town of four hundred people. In the 1950s Marshall served as Buxton's mayor for a few years. Marshall and Kate celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1962. All of Marshall and Kate's children moved to California by the mid 1960s. Doug and Mary (Carrell) Christianson lived in Los Gatos, CA. They had three children: Eleanor, Don and Dick. Dona and Gordon Martin lived in Fullerton, CA and had six children: Dale, Carol, Danny, Joan, Ron and Gail. Doris and Ben Wischnack had four boys: Elston, Warner, Eugene and Steve. After divorcing Ben, Doris married Roy York and Warner, Eugene and Steve took the York family name. Doris and Roy lived in Clearlake, CA. Marlis and Glenn Wigestrand lived in Fullerton, CA and had six children: Vicki, Terry, Tim, Todd, Penny and Troy. 
