Record on the Day of Confirmation.
Marcus Bonichsen Christiansen
Born on the 21st Febr. 1876, confirmed
on the 8th March 1902 in the ev.-luth.
parish at Denison, Iowa.
Memory Verse.
Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord as long as I live
and sing praises to my God because I am here. Psalm 146, 1. 2.
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise him until death;
Because I still count hours on earth,
I want to sing praises to my God.
Who gave body and soul,
Be praised early and late. Hallelujah!
[Signed]
Fried. O. Lothringer,
ev.-luth. Pastor
Notes from Steve: I didn’t make a mistake in the spelling of Bonichsen. The certificate has only one “n”. Grandpa C was 26 when he was confirmed, the year after Grandpa and Grandma were married. I would bet that her influence led to his being confirmed. The paragraph following the memory verse is the first stanza of the hymn, Lobe den Herren, o meine Seele. The earliest publication of the hymn that I could find is in Deutsches Evangelisches Kirchen-Gesangbuch, 1854, Nr. 79, reproduced below. I have seen a citation ascribing authorship to Johann Daniel Herrnschmidt, 1714.
Christiansen Family Stories 