Mystery Monday: East Market Street

UPDATE:  Port Clinton guru Chazz Avery left a comment on the original post that he could not verify the couple but he did confirm that this house is from 212 Adams Street and stood there until at least 1959.  His comment in its entirely is as follows: "I cannot verify the couple but the house in the first photo is indeed 212 Adams Street in Port Clinton. I can verify that it stood in that location until at least 1959. This is confirmed by the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. An aeriel photo from 1963 shows an empty lot. It's uncertain if the house was razed or moved. There are several houses around town that look like it so it was possibly moved. Further research is needed to determine. In 1974 a house that stood around the corner at 313 E. Second St. (Port Clinton's first library) was moved to the empty lot on Adams St. It is the house that stands there today."  Thank you for your assistance Chazz!  


Okay, this is going to be some guesses, conjecture, a working hypothesis and some simple stabs in the dark but I think I have this one solved. Let me know what you think. After staring at this picture for a couple years I think I pegged down the who & where of this picture. If you will look to the left of that photograph you will see a white house. That white house looks almost exactly like this white "house":


If you look carefully you will see the same diamond pattern in the stone under the porch. The first window in the basement is in the same location. The windows on the front porch are in the same place, they just went from two windows to one. The chimney on the main house is in the same location but the chimney in the summer kitchen was removed. The window on the side has been made smaller and the door was removed by the current owners. It did originally have two front doors. The attic window is the same. Even though you can't see it in my picture, the small building on the right side of the picture is still there in all it's splendor and glory. Although it is now white.

That gives me a location. How many of you are familiar with Port Clinton? Okay, now how many of you are familiar with East Market Street? That's what I thought. East Market Street was the original name for what is now called Adams Street. The giant "island" in the middle of the street is because there used to be a farmers market there. (And on some weekends in the summer there still is.) On further research I uncovered the obituaries of Rickleff Christiansen and his wife, Caroline Japsen.

Rickleff Christiansen died at his home on East Market street, Saturday, July 15th, 1925, aged 84 years. The infirmities of old age caused death.

The deceased was born in Schleswig Holstein, Germany, and came to this country in 1867. He was an expert mechanic and was well known through out the county. He was married to Caroline E. Japsen at Oak Harbor in 1871. His wife died in 1915. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Ed Semon and Mrs. Fred Bredbeck, and one son, Redlef Christiansen.

The funeral was held Tuesday afternoon from the late residence. Rev. Lambertus conducted the service. The body was laid to rest in Lakeview cemetery.

Not very specific but a clue none the less. When I went back to 1915 (yes, I have a working time machine but ssshhh, it's our secret) I found the obituary for Caroline.

Mrs. Rickleff Christiansen, mention of whose illness we made in last week's Herald, died at her home on Adams Street, last Saturday morning, the stroke of paralysis, which she had about a week previous, being the cause.

Mrs. Christiansen would have been 75 years of age the 23d of the coming April. She had long been a resident of Port Clinton, residing in the home in which she died, for 45 years. She leaves besides her husband, one son, Ret. Christiansen, of the firm of Christiansen & Euranius, tinsmiths, and two daughters, Mrs. Fred Bredbeck and Mrs. Ed. Semon, both of this place.

The funeral services were held from her late home, last Monday afternoon, in charge of Rev. Hansen, of the Church of Peace. Interment in Lakeview cemetery.

Rickleff & Caroline lived at 212 East Market Street. As you can see from my picture of the white house the house next door is 212. I would like to warn you that if you drive down Adams Street today you will see a very different looking 212. So, I asked the most senior neighbor in the area if they knew anything about the original 212. When they moved into the neighborhood 212 was nothing but a vacant lot. My guess is the original was either torn down or moved. Since some of the other older houses in the area were moved, either is a possibility.

In light of all the above information I believe this to be Rickleff Christiansen and his wife, Caroline Japsen.

Timeframe: The Cyko stamp on the back dates from 1904-1920's. It is the one on the far left in the very last row. The females clothing dates at 1904. If you look the sleeves are the same fullness the whole length of her arm and there is an odd seem on her skirt which makes it very specific to this time frame. Caroline turned 63 in the spring of 1904. Rickleff would be 62 in the spring of 1904.

Where It Fits: Assuming this is Rickleff Christiansen he is the brother of Marie Christiansen-Johannsen, the wife of Wilhelm Johannsen. That also makes him the brother of Boy Christiansen, Martin August Christiansen, Amalia Marie Christiansen, Johannes "John" Christiansen, Johanna Christina Sophia Christiansen-Hansen, Anna Marie Christiansen-Ketelsen and twin brother to Gude Maria Christiansen-Johannsen. They were the children of Redlef Christiansen & Gude Maria Boysen.

Caroline Japsen was the daughter of Carsten Niels Japsen & Karen Albert Jansen. Her brother, Niels, is the father of Caroline Japsen-Johannsen, the wife of Julius Georg Johannsen.

Rickleff Christiansen & Caroline Japsen were the parents of Gute Clara Elizabeth (died at 5 years), Redlef, Carstens (died at one month), Clara Bredbeck & Sara Semon.