Christian J. Melquist was born January 25, 1856, at Smedshammereiet tenant farm in Gran, Kristians amt (today Oppland fylke), Norway. He and Bergit (Betsey) Torgrimsen, the Iowa-born daughter of Norwegian immigrants, were married November 19, 1878, in Bancroft, Minnesota. They had ten children, eight of whom survived beyond 1910, including: Edith (Ida), Theodore, Betsey Christine (died young), Alfred John, Mary R., Edwin (died young), Selma Beatrice, Clifford H., William M., and Alice L. By 1880, Christian and Betsey had moved into Otter Tail County, Minnesota, making their home in Fergus Falls. As of 1890, Christ worked as a brakeman for the Northern Pacific Railway, making the death of his little Betsey especially devastating. It was reported in the Fergus Falls Daily Journal on Monday, April 14, 1890:

"Tragic Death of a Little Girl – Betsey Christine Melquist, 7 year old daughter of Chris. Johnson Melquist, met a sudden and frightful death Sunday night at about 6 o'clock. With other children she was playing around the turn-table of the Northern Pacific road, east of Sheridan avenue. Some boys were working the cranks which turn the ponderous mechanism. It is supposed that the little girl was accidentally pushed or fell. At any rate she was caught between the movable table and the stone pier or abutment, and before the machinery could be stopped was terribly and hopelessly crushed. She was extricated as soon as possible and taken to her home near by, and a surgeon summoned, but nothing could be done. Her arms were broken, her chest crushed in, her ribs broken and there were many internal injuries. She died within thirty minutes after the accident. Her father, who is employed as a night fireman at the paper mill, was summoned at once, and the family were all present about the death bed. It was a sad and shocking accident. The funeral will be help Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock from the house."

Six months later, on October 23, 1890, area newspapers ran this bulletin: "Chris Johnson Melquist, of Fergus Falls, has instituted a suit for $25,000 damages against the Northern Pacific road for injuries received while in the discharge of his duties as a brakeman. A lawsuit for $25,000 in those days would be a multimillion dollar complaint today. It remains to be seen how the suit was resolved, but Christ's days on the railroad were over. As of the 1905 Minnesota State Census, Christian was a "farm machine expert." Fergus Falls city directories tell us that the family resided in various homes – on Northern Avenue, Bismarck Avenue, Douglas Avenue – throughout the first decade of the 1900s. The Melquists lived in Fergus Falls as of April 1912, as mentioned in Randi Melquist's obituary, but by 1917 had dropped the last name, Melquist.

From that time forward, the family name was Johnson. Christ and Betsey Johnson moved to Minneapolis around 1914. In the 1920 census, the couple lived in the city with two of their children, Clifford and Alice, with Christ doing "tool repair." By the 1930 census, Christ and Betsey were retired, and the 70-something couple lived with their two grown sons, Clifford and William. Clifford was referred to as "head of household." Christ suffered a stroke in the summer of 1938 and was treated at the Minnesota Sanitorium in Minneapolis. He died there of the effects of this condition at age 82, on January 25, 1938. His remains were laid to rest at Hillside Cemetery in the city. His wife Betsey survived him.