Christian and his first wife, Susan (Swigert) Glahn, were the parents of only one child; Christian and his second wife, Mary Wilson (Arnett) Glahn, were the parents of a total of 12 children.
Contributed by Shelby Knox


History of Shelby County Missouri. Published in 1911 by Henry Taylor & Company Chicago, Illinois
Christian P. Glahn
The honored subject of this memoir was long numbered among the representative exponents of the great basic industry of agriculture in Shelby county, having been the owner of a finely improved homestead farm in Clack Creek township, and having ever commanded the high regard of the people of the community in which he so long lived and labored to goodly ends, an honest, upright, unassuming gentleman, a devoted husband and father, and a man to whom friendship was ever inviolable. He left the heritage of a good name and it is most consonant that in this history be incorporated and perpetuated a tribute to his memory as one of the worthy citizens of the county. He was summoned to the life eternal on April 24, 1906, secure in the esteem and respect of all with whom he had come in contact in the varied relations of life.
Christian P. Glahn, the subject of this memoir, was about four years of age at the time of the family immigration to America, and he passed the days of his boy hood and youth in Marion county, this state, where he was reared on and assisted in the work of the home farm and where his educational training, very limited in scope, was secured in the district schools of the pioneer days. In 1865 he came to Shelby county with the other members of the family and soon afterward he purchased 128 acres of land in section 6, Black Creek township, two miles south of the village of Leonard, where he developed a productive farm, making excellent improvements on the same, and where he continued to be known as a thrifty and successful farmer and stock grower until the close of his life, on April 24, 1906. As his success became cumulative he made judicious investments in additional land, and at the time of his demise he was the owner of a valuable estate of 873 acres, which is still in possession of the family and which constitutes one of the model farm properties of this section of the state. Mr. Glahn never sought public office, but his influence and cooperation were demanded by his appreciative neighbors, who called upon him to serve as road overseer and as school director. He was essentially loyal and public spirited as a citizen and did all in his power to further the material and civic prosperity of the county in which he so long maintained his home and in which he was not denied the most generous measure of popular confidence and regard, based upon his intrinsic integrity and honor and his kindliness in his relations with his fellow men. He gave a staunch allegiance to the cause of the Republican party, and was a zealous and devoted member of the Christian church, with which his wife also has long been identified, having taken an active part in its work until the infirmities of advancing years compelled her to relax somewhat her earnest efforts in this respect. Since the death of her honored husband, Mrs. Glahn has remained on the old homestead, endeared to her through the gracious associations and memories of the past, and the fine farm has its practical management assigned to her worthy sons, who are numbered among the representative citizens of this part of the county, where they are well upholding the prestige of the honored name which they bear.
On February 22, 1870, Mr. Glahn gave worthy observation of the anniversary of the birth of George Washington by taking unto himself a wife, in the person of Miss Mary Arnett, who was born in Shelby county, on September 11, 1852, and who is a daughter of the late Micajah and Judith (Green) Arnett, who were early settlers of this county, the father having been a native of Kentucky and the mother of Virginia. As already stated, Mrs. Glahn survives her honored husband, as do also eleven of their children. Concerning the children the following brief record is given as a fitting conclusion of this brief memoir: Benjamin F. is engaged in the practice of law in the village of Palmyra, Marion county; Fannie is the wife of Robert Ray, a farmer of this county; Cristian P. is engaged in the practice of medicine at Palmyra; Charles E., James O. and Ernest are associated in the management of the home farm; Mary is the wife of Stephen A Bryant, of Cleveland, Oklahoma; and Alma, Ethel, Milton and Gertrude remain with their mother.