Christensen, Carl W.

Carl W. Christensen, born in Racine, Wisconsin, on December 26, 1877, became a prominent business man and the genial cashier of the allied Selma National Bank and Farmers Savings Bank of Selma after moving to Fresno County in 1912. He grew up on a South Dakota farm in Turner County, where he acquired an excellent education through self-study and a private tutor, eventually teaching school for four years. He then entered the banking industry in Viborg, South Dakota, where he worked for eleven years and served as cashier before moving to California to succeed W. E. Street. In his new home, he actively helped reorganize the old Farmers Bank of Selma and served as one of the directors for the allied financial institutions.

Beyond his banking profession, Christensen was a man of remarkable musical attainments who previously achieved celebrity as a cornetist and bandmaster in South Dakota. In Selma, he expanded his interests by purchasing eighty acres of land planted to Thompson seedless grapes, muscat grapes, and peaches, and he built a family residence on Logan Street in 1913. He and his wife, Etta M. Nielsen, raised three children named Warren N., Roger W., and Alan D., and the family became active members of the First Baptist Church, where he served as Sunday School superintendent. He also demonstrated significant community involvement by rendering valuable service during the local Liberty Loan, Victory Loan, and Red Cross drives associated with the activities of the war.