Esten E. Christensen Biography


	This biography appears on pages 881-882 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ESTEN E. CHRISTENSEN. 

	Esten E. Christensen is a native son of Minnehaha county who has 
been so impressed with the opportunities offered by the county that he 
has continued to make it his home. He is a successful agriculturist and 
is also connected with the commercial circles as manager of the Crooks 
Lumber Company. He was born in Benton township, Minnehaha county, July 
17, 1876, a son of Chris and Ingeborg (Estenson) Christensen, the 
former a native of Denmark and the latter of Norway. Both parents came 
to the United States in 1869 and located in Michigan, where they were 
married. The father worked in the Calumet copper mines for two years 
but not long after his marriage removed to South Dakota with his wife, 
arriving in Minnehaha county on the 22d of August, 1871. He immediately 
filed a preemption claim for eighty acres of land in the Sioux river 
bottoms in Mapleton township and six months later he held the deed to 
the place. He then filed on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, 
constituting the southeast quarter of section 1, Benton township, to 
which he removed. At about the same time he purchased a quarter section 
adjoining the homestead. He soon sold his preemption, but subsequently 
purchased a quarter section in Mapleton township and a quarter section 
in Hamlin county, South Dakota, the cultivation of which he directed 
until about nine years ago, when he gave the greater portion of his 
land to his seven children. He is still living but has returned to his 
native land, the past nine years having been spent in Denmark. His wife 
passed away in 1898. 

	Esten E. Christensen was reared at home and received the 
advantages of parental instruction and care. His education was acquired 
in the common schools of the neighborhood and in the Sioux Falls 
Business College. Following his marriage, which occurred in 1898, he 
began farming for himself, taking charge of the operation of the home 
farm of three hundred and twenty acres. After renting it for seven 
years he became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of the 
homestead, as his father at that time gave most of his land to his 
children and as the subject of this review purchased the interests of 
his brothers and sisters in the said quarter section. He has manifested 
his faith in the agricultural future of South Dakota by purchasing 
other land, being now the owner of three hundred and twenty-two acres 
in Brookings county which is as fine land as any in the state. In the 
fall of 1905 he was made manager of the Farmers Elevator Company and 
also of the Farmers Lumber Company at Crooks, having the direction of 
the two business enterprises for a short time. He continued in the 
management of the elevator company until August 9, 1908, when he 
resigned that position, and he has since devoted his entire time to the 
affairs of the Crooks Lumber Company, of which he is manager. He has 
proved an able executive, his knowledge of business procedure and his 
sound judgment enabling him to wisely direct the business. He is a 
stockholder and a member of the board of directors of both the New Hope 
Grain Company and the Crooks Lumber Company and is ranked among the 
financiers of the county. 

	On the 11th of December, 1898, Mr. Christensen married Miss 
Gertrude Nelson, of Mapleton township, Minnehaha county, and to their 
union have been born two children: Inez Mabel and Clara Ovidia. The 
parents are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church, in whose work 
they are very much interested. They are also members of the Modern 
Brotherhood of America, the father being conductor of the lodge. He is 
independent in politics, his sympathies, however, tending toward the 
republican party. He has no aspiration for official preferment, as his 
business interests demand his entire attention. His many friends hold 
him in high esteem because of his ability, his sterling character and 
his agreeable personality.