Charles Andrew Christopherson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 248-251 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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				CHARLES ANDREW CHRISTOPHERSON. 

	Charles Andrew Christopherson, a lawyer of Sioux Falls, 
recognized at the outset of his career the fact that advancement at the 
bar must depend upon individual merit and capability. Accordingly he 
has been most determined and careful in preparing his law cases and 
wisely employs every legitimate advantage to attain success, but, while 
his devotion to his clients, interests is proverbial, he never forgets 
that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. 

	Mr. Christopherson was born in Amherst, Minnesota, July 23, 1871. 
His father, Knute C. Christopherson, was a native of Norway, born on 
the 24th of June, 1836. In 1850, or when a youth of fourteen years, he 
came to the United States, settling in Wisconsin, and later he removed 
westward to Amherst, Minnesota, where he established a home. He 
conducted a farm in that locality and devoted his remaining days to the 
tilling of the soil, passing away February 11, 1894. He was a devoted 
member of and an active worker in the Lutheran church, and his life was 
at all times guided by high and honorable principles. In early manhood 
he wedded Julia Nelson, who was born November 15, 1843, and was called 
to her final rest on the 8th of May, 1904. In their family were seven 
children: Gilbert C., who is president of the Sioux Falls Business 
College in Sioux Falls; Henry M., living on the old homestead; Charles 
Andrew; Mary C., who is in Portland, Oregon; Alfred J., also of 
Portland; and two who died in infancy. 

	Charles A. Christopherson attended the Amherst public schools, 
also pursuing the high school branches, and later he attended the 
business and normal school at Sioux Falls. Deciding upon the practice 
of law as a life work, he began reading with that end in view and in 
1893 was admitted to the bar. The following year he entered upon the 
active work of the profession, practicing alone until 1913, when he 
admitted Fredolph H. Melquist to a partnership under the firm style of 
Christopherson & Melquist. They engage in the general practice of law, 
and their clientage is now large and of a distinctively representative 
character. 

	On the 30th of November, 1897, Mr. Christopherson was married to 
Miss Abbie Deyoe, a daughter of James P. and Jennie (Yorker) Deyoe, 
both of whom were natives of the Empire state. Removing westward, they 
settled in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where for many years the father carried 
on merchandising. Their daughter was born and reared in Cedar Falls. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Christopherson have been born two children, Wanda M. and 
Charles A. 

	The republican party counts Mr. Christopherson as one of its 
strongest endorsers where state and national issues are involved; at 
local elections he votes independently, considering only the capability 
of the candidate and not his partisan connections. He was a member of 
the house of representatives of the thirteenth general assembly of 
South Dakota and made an excellent record as one of the lawmakers of 
the state. He was reelected to that position, becoming a member of the 
fourteenth legislative assembly, and was unanimously endorsed by the 
republican caucus as their nominee for speaker of the house, and at the 
opening of the session on the 5th of January, 1915, was elected 
speaker, in which capacity he served throughout that session. For six 
years he served as a member of the Sioux Falls school board and for 
three years was its president. In Masonry he has attained the Knights 
Templar degree of the York Rite, the thirty-second degree, K. C. C. H., 
of the Scottish Rite, and has become a Noble of the Mystic Shrine and 
is a past grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons 
of this state. He belongs also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and in all the local bodies of 
these organizations has filled practically all of the chairs. He is 
likewise a member of the Dacotah, Minnehaha, Country and Commercial 
Clubs and of the Congregational church, associations which indicate 
much of the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his 
conduct. His influence is always on the side of right alla progress, 
and he has done much to uphold the legal and political status of his 
section of the state and further its intellectual and moral upbuilding.