Our birthday boy for this post is John Friedrich Christisen, who was born on June 25, 1869. So, today would be his 157th birthday. John was the son of Anton and Margaret (Poehner) Christisen. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. His baptism record can be seen here.

John is found in the 1870 census as a baby. The census taker wrote the family’s surname as Christ in this entry. John’s father was a farmer in the Bois Brule Township. John was the firstborn child in his family and the only child in this household in 1870.

John was 10 years old when the 1880 census was compiled. Four more Christisen children had been added to this family.

John was still single twenty years later when we are able to view the 1900 census. John and a younger brother were helping their father on his farm.

In a later plat map, we find the Anton Christisen farm located east of the town of Sereno, not far from Perryville .

John’s later obituary stated that he was of the “Bluff community”. In an actual satellite map of approximate area shown in the above image is displayed below. With the help of seeing where the railroad runs through, you can see that there is a wooded area looking down on the Mississippi River bottoms on the other side of the railroad. This must have been “The Bluff” mentioned in John’s obituary.

John got married in 1900 after the census was taken, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Margaret Ann Mabuce, who was born on January 31, 1883. Margaret, often called Maggie, was the daughter of Jacob and Charity (Yount) Mabuce. Her later death certificate says that she was born in Bollinger County, but by the time of the 1900 census, we find the Mabuce family living in Perry County. Maggie was 17 years old at that time. Her mother had died in 1894, so her father was a widower. He was farming in the Bois Brule Township. Not only was Maggie living in the same township as John Christisen, you can see in the image below that they must have been close neighbors. I have included the Christisen household in the image of Maggie’s census entry below. It’s easy to see how John and Maggie got acquainted.

John Christisen married Margaret Mabuce on October 31, 1900, Reformation Day. These two were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. The church marriage record for that wedding is pictured here.

According to our German Family Tree, 12 children were born to John and Maggie. All the way up until 1917, their children were baptized at Immanuel, Perryville. After that, I was unable to determine where their children were baptized. Their last 2 children was a set of boy/girl twins. The male twin died right away. When the 1910 census was taken, we find the Christisen’s with 5 children. John was a farmer. I did not show it, but the entry for John’s parents is on the same census page, so I think it is likely that John and his father may have been farming the same land or land very nearby.

The 1920 census shows a considerably larger Christisen household. It included 10 children. Three older daughters were helping their mother with the housekeeping, and an older son was helping John with the farming.

Next, we find the Christisen’s in the 1930 census. Their set of twins was born in 1921. The female twin that survived is found in this entry. Seven children were still living with their parents.

The Christisen’s had a family photo taken, and I figure it was taken at about this time. All 11 of the surviving children are included.

John Christisen died in 1933 at the age of 64. We can view his death certificate below.

John’s obituary can be read here. The first line says he was a well-known farmer of the Bluff.

Maggie was a widow when the 1940 census was taken. Her son, who was also called John, was doing the farming.

We find Maggie in the last census we can view from 1950. Just 2 single children were living with her. Both Maggie and her son, John, were farming.

Margaret Christisen died in 1963 at the age of 80. We can also take a look at her death certificate.

John and Margaret Christisen are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

The evidence that I was able to locate in this story seems to point to the fact that both John Christisen and his wife, Maggie, lived on the Bluff near Sereno all of their lives. Perhaps they once lived on farms that were adjacent to one another, and once they were married, continued to live on one of those farms. We also know that there were 11 children from this couple that were also born and raised on that farm. I am guessing that there are descendants from this couple that are alive today who might have memories of visiting that farm. Hopefully some of them might consider sharing some of those memories by commenting on this post.