Skamokawa Eagle-16 January 1908 Another Old Settler Gone Christen B. Bjornsgaard died in St. Mary Hospital, Astoria, Oregon, Friday, January 10, 1908 from heart disease after an illness of about one week. The death of Mr. Bjornsgaard removes from our midst an old settler and a Christian and honest gentleman. His funeral took place last Sunday from the Skamokawa M. E. Church, attended by a large concourse of friends who followed him to his last resting place in Fern Hill Cemetery. The funeral services were conducted both in the church and at the cemetery by Rev. C. H. Ellicott. Mr. Bjornsgaard was born in Faaberg, Norway, March 10, 1838, and was at the time of his death 69 years and 10 months old. He first came to America in 1867 and resided in Illinois for about two years. He came to California in 1869 where he labored in the great redwoods in Mendocino County, for about two years. He then moved to Nevada's gold fields where he engaged in mining and prospecting. In the fall of 1873 he returned to his home in Norway where he stopped until 1879. He married Agnetta's Varnson and in the spring of 1879 he again, with his wife, left for this country and arrived in Skamokawa, Washington Territory, May 1, 1879, where he took a homestead on which he has continually resided. Mr. Bjornsgaard was a kind neighbor and a good citizen, a loving husband and father. He leaves a wife and six children and four grandchildren, three brothers and three sisters to mourn his death. His children are, Barnhard, Ingwall, Oscar and Marcus Bjornsgaard, Mrs. E. M. Brooks and Miss Esther Bjornsgaard who are all living in Skamokawa. Three brothers and two sisters are residing in Norway, and Mrs. S. P. Hoff of Everett, Washington. Mrs. Bjornsgaard's many old friends extend to her and the family their sincere sympathy in their sorrow. Fern Hill Cemetery-Skamokawa, Washington 10 March 1838-10 January 1908 (As transcribed by the Wahkiakum County Historical Society Museum)