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22 - History of Iceland by Knut Gjerset · History of Iceland

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  Speaker 1: Chapter nineteen of History of Iceland by Canute a year set.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Icelandic immigration
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  Speaker 1: the Icelanders in America. A feature of singular interest and
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  Speaker 1: importance in the modern history of Iceland, as of the
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  Speaker 1: other European countries, is the immigration to America, a movement
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  Speaker 1: in which also the Icelanders have participated. The economic development
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  Speaker 1: which during the last few decades has brought such improvement
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  Speaker 1: in social conditions everywhere in the North, had not made
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  Speaker 1: itself felt at the time when the real emigration from
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  Speaker 1: Iceland began. Some progress had been made, but the condition
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  Speaker 1: of the peasantry and the poorer classes was so little
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  Speaker 1: improved that immigration to America from all Scandinavian countries was
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  Speaker 1: increasing rapidly under the stimulus of improved facilities for ocean travel.
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  Speaker 1: This migratory movement of the venturesome and depressed of Europe
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  Speaker 1: to the New World, with its hopes and opportunities, exerted
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  Speaker 1: its influence also on Iceland. The economic conditions there were
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  Speaker 1: still very unfavorable, and the bitter and hitherto fruitless struggle
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  Speaker 1: for political liberty had led leading newspapers to advocate immigration
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  Speaker 1: as the only solution of the pending national questions. Immigration
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  Speaker 1: from Iceland to the United States and Canada may be
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  Speaker 1: said to have begun in eighteen seventy, but even long
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  Speaker 1: before that time, a few Icelanders who had been converted
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  Speaker 1: to Mormonism had sought new homes in America. In eighteen
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  Speaker 1: fifty one to two Icelandic Mormons from Copenhagen came as
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  Speaker 1: missionaries to the best Man ye Yoor. In eighteen fifty five,
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  Speaker 1: a few persons who had accepted that faith, among other
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  Speaker 1: Samuel Biarneson and his wife, emigrated to the United States,
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  Speaker 1: founding a settlement at Spanish Fork in the state of Utah.
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  Speaker 1: Other converts followed later. In eighteen fifty seven, thirteen persons
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  Speaker 1: from Iceland arrived in the colony. Of late years, many
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  Speaker 1: of the Icelandic Mormons have returned to the Lutheran faith,
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  Speaker 1: and the colony at Spanish Fork is neither large nor prosperous.
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  Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty three, the first immigrants to Brazil departed
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  Speaker 1: from Iceland under the leadership of Magnus Eriksson. A few
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  Speaker 1: left later, at different times, going by way of Copenagen
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  Speaker 1: to Germany, where they joined German emigrants going to South America,
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  Speaker 1: but this emigration was never of great importance, and no
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  Speaker 1: Icelandic settlement was founded there. In eighteen seventy three, many
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  Speaker 1: persons signified their desire to go to Brazil, but as
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  Speaker 1: Magnus Erickson, who had hitherto acted as guide, declared that
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  Speaker 1: he would no longer act as leader of emigrants going
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  Speaker 1: to that country, they joined another group going to the
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  Speaker 1: United States and Canada. The immigration to the United States,
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  Speaker 1: begun in eighteen fifty five, was continued in eighteen seventy
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  Speaker 1: when four young Icelanders from i rarer Baki came to Milwaukee.
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  Speaker 1: They settled on Washington Island, Wisconsin, thus founding the second
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  Speaker 1: Icelandic settlement in America. A few more immigrants arrived the
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  Speaker 1: following year, but although the colony still exists, it has
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  Speaker 1: never grown beyond a small group of families. In eighteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy two, almost three hundred Icelanders came to America. Among
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  Speaker 1: these were the leaders Sigh Triger Yo Nissen, one of
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  Speaker 1: the founders of the large Icelandic colony New Iceland, Paul
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  Speaker 1: Thorlak's Sun, who founded the Icelandic settlements in North Dakota
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  Speaker 1: and Hansby Thorgrenson, who took the lead in founding the
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  Speaker 1: Icelandic Lutherans in America. In eighteen seventy three, a ship
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  Speaker 1: carrying one hundred and fifty three immigrants sailed from Akirri
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  Speaker 1: in northern Iceland to Canada. Thirty more immigrants, who found
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  Speaker 1: no room on the ship, followed later in the fall.
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  Speaker 1: All agreed to settle in the same place, but when
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  Speaker 1: they arrived at their destination, some went to Nova Scotian,
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  Speaker 1: a few to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the greater number founded
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  Speaker 1: a colony on the Russo River near Muskoka, Ontario, where
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  Speaker 1: the post office Hecla was built. Many men who later
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  Speaker 1: became prominent among the Icelanders in America were in this
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  Speaker 1: group of immigrants, Among others the poet Stephen G. Stevenson,
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  Speaker 1: Baldwin L. Baldwinson, and Jan Johansen Bardall. In that year
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  Speaker 1: came also Reverend Jan Bijarnison, who later became so prominent
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  Speaker 1: a leader in the Icelandic Church in America. He had
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  Speaker 1: been moved to come to America with his wife, threw
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  Speaker 1: letters from his friend Paul Thor Laxen, who had entered
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  Speaker 1: the theological seminary of the German Lutheran Missouri Sninnen at
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  Speaker 1: Saint Louis. Bijarnson and his wife came to Milwaukee and
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  Speaker 1: after a few days, proceeded to Saint Louis, where they
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  Speaker 1: met Paul Thor Laxen. Reverend Biarnison did not enter the
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  Speaker 1: theological seminary in Saint Louis, Budwin instead to Decor, Iowa,
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  Speaker 1: where he became assistant to Reverend v. Korn, one of
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  Speaker 1: the leading ministers of the Norwegian Lutheran Senate. In January
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy four, he was appointed teacher in luther College, Decora, Iowa,
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  Speaker 1: but in the spring of that year he resigned and
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  Speaker 1: returned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When news was brought that Iceland
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  Speaker 1: had received a constitution, the Icelanders in Milwaukee arranged a
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  Speaker 1: celebration in which all the Icelanders in the city took part.
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  Speaker 1: Speeches were made by Reverend Jon Bijornsen, by the editor
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  Speaker 1: Jan Oluffson, who had accompanied him from Rikievic and others.
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  Speaker 1: At this time, an Icelandic society Icelandia Veelig was founded
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  Speaker 1: for the purpose of promoting intellectual interest among the Icelanders
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  Speaker 1: in America. A movement was also set on foot to
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  Speaker 1: find a suitable place for an Icelandic colony where the
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  Speaker 1: immigrants might dwell together. As Wisconsin did not seem to
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  Speaker 1: offer the desired opportunity, committee were appointed to investigate where
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  Speaker 1: a suitable location might be found. Sigvs. Magnusson and Jan
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  Speaker 1: Haldorson were sent to Nebraska. As a result of their visit,
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  Speaker 1: a few Icelanders settled in that state, but it was
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  Speaker 1: not selected as a site for the new colony. Another committee,
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  Speaker 1: led by Olaf Olafson and Jan Olifson, was sent to
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  Speaker 1: Alaska about their expedition. Jan Olifsen later published a book,
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  Speaker 1: Alaska Licening ah landi ag Land Costum et cetera, Washington, d. C.
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  Speaker 1: Eighteen seventy five, probably the first Icelandic book printed in America.
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  Speaker 1: But Alaska was not found to be a suitable place
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  Speaker 1: for a colony. The Canadian government carried on active work
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  Speaker 1: and sent paid agents to Iceland to encourage immigration to Canada.
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  Speaker 1: In September eighteen seventy four, the steamer Saint Patrick brought
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  Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty five Icelandic immigrants directly to Quebec.
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  Speaker 1: At the entrance to the harbor, a governor officer accompanied
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  Speaker 1: by johann Arngrimson, who had come to America in eighteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy two, met them and sought to persuade them to
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  Speaker 1: settle in Canada. Many of the immigrants said that they
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  Speaker 1: intended to go to the United States, but after some negotiations,
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  Speaker 1: they entered into an agreement with the government representatives, promising
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  Speaker 1: to settle in Canada on the following conditions. They were
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  Speaker 1: to enjoy full liberty and right of citizenship at once
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  Speaker 1: on the same terms as native born citizens. A sufficiently
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  Speaker 1: large and suitable tract of land for a colony was
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  Speaker 1: to be granted them. They were to preserve unhindered their
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  Speaker 1: personal rights, their language, and their nationality for themselves and
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  Speaker 1: for their descendants forever. The reason for this agreement was
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  Speaker 1: that the immigrants believed that there was more freedom in
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  Speaker 1: the United States than in Canada. Journeying westward from Quebec
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  Speaker 1: to Ontario, they founded a settlement at Kin Mount, about
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  Speaker 1: sixty miles north of Toronto, but the land here proved
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  Speaker 1: to be so poor that the settlers grew discs. Contented
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  Speaker 1: and wished to find a better location. In the fall
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  Speaker 1: of eighteen seventy four, Johan Arngrimson, representative of the Canadian government,
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  Speaker 1: came to Kinmount and durged the discontented settlers to move
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  Speaker 1: to Nova Scotia, where a suitable tract for a settlement
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  Speaker 1: would be granted them. About eighty families promised to go.
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  Speaker 1: They moved early in the spring of eighteen seventy five,
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  Speaker 1: and others followed later in the summer about thirty miles
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  Speaker 1: from the coast, at a place which they called ELGs
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  Speaker 1: Shaither they founded the settlement Markland, but as the land
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  Speaker 1: was Stonian covered with timber, it was little suited for cultivation.
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  Speaker 1: The following year more people from Iceland came to the settlement.
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  Speaker 1: It is thought that it numbered at one time about
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  Speaker 1: two hundred people. Bryn yul For Bryn Yulfsen was the
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  Speaker 1: leader in the settlement in all things pertaining to religious
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  Speaker 1: and educational work. It was a gifted man and worked
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  Speaker 1: with ontiring zeal to promote the welfare of his people,
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  Speaker 1: but the settlement did not prosper. In eighteen eighty one
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  Speaker 1: to eighteen eighty two, most of the settlers moved away
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  Speaker 1: to join their countrymen in other localities. In eighteen seventy five,
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  Speaker 1: Goon Lager Peterson and his wife, who had settled in
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  Speaker 1: Wisconsin in eighteen seventy three, moved to Lyon County, Minnesota.
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  Speaker 1: More settlers from Wisconsin joined them the following year, and
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  Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy seven. Many immigrants from Iceland derived people
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  Speaker 1: of other nationalities also settled there, but the Icelanders are
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  Speaker 1: very numerous around Mini Oda and Marshall, Minnesota. In eighteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy eight, the Icelanders in the settlement organized a society
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  Speaker 1: for the purpose of printing books and papers, for establishing
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  Speaker 1: a common burial ground, and for gathering together for the
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  Speaker 1: reading of the scriptures on Sundays. The first clergyman who
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  Speaker 1: visited the settlement and helped to organize congregations was the
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  Speaker 1: pioneer leader, Reverend Paul Thorlusen, who visited the settlement in
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy seven. In eighteen seventy eight for congregation were organized,
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  Speaker 1: all of which were served by the same minister. In
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  Speaker 1: eighteen ninety seven, in Icelandic Quarterly the was founded, edited
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  Speaker 1: by B. B. Johnson and Reverend Jannis A. Sigurdson of
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  Speaker 1: Acra North Dakota. This periodical continued to appear to nineteen
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  Speaker 1: oh five. In nineteen oh two, the Icelanders of Minnesota
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  Speaker 1: began the publication of a monthly edited by Thord Thorer Durson,
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  Speaker 1: MD and Reverend Bjorn B. Johnson. The periodical ceased to
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  Speaker 1: appear in nineteen oh eight. Among the prominent men reared
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  Speaker 1: in this settlement is Honorable G. B. Bjornson, editor of
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  Speaker 1: the Neota Mascot for years a leader in the Minnesota
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  Speaker 1: State legislature. As the Icelanders in Eastern Canada were dissatisfied
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  Speaker 1: with conditions in the localities where they had settled, Lord Dufferin,
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  Speaker 1: Governor General of Canada, who was very friendly to them,
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  Speaker 1: moved the Canadian government to grant them financial aid to
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  Speaker 1: move their colony to a new site. Talor, who had
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  Speaker 1: become acquainted with the Icelandic settlers at Kinmount, offered to
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  Speaker 1: serve as guide in searching for a better location. In
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy five, a committee headed by sig Dreger Yo
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  Speaker 1: Nissen was sent from Muskoka under the guidance of Taylor,
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  Speaker 1: to find a suitable place for a colony. They selected
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  Speaker 1: a strip of land along the west shore of Lake Winnipeg,
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  Speaker 1: calling it New Iceland. In the fall of that year,
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  Speaker 1: a few settlers from Ontario arrived in the new colony.
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  Speaker 1: The following year, about one thousand, two hundred immigrants arrived
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  Speaker 1: from Iceland. The colony grew so fast that had already
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  Speaker 1: numbered about one thousand, four hundred people, the largest Icelandic
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  Speaker 1: settlement in America. On January four, eighteen seventy six, a
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  Speaker 1: general meeting was held in a council of five was
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  Speaker 1: chosen to act as temporary government for the colony. Shortly
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  Speaker 1: after New Iceland had been founded, that two most influential
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  Speaker 1: church leaders among the Icelanders in America, Reverend Paul Thorlasen
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  Speaker 1: and Reverend Jan Bijards, arrived in the colony. Paul Thorlaksen,
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  Speaker 1: who had served some Norwegian congregations in an Icelandic congregation
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  Speaker 1: which he had organized in Wisconsin, and had served as
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  Speaker 1: missionary preacher in other Icelandic settlements, was called as minister
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  Speaker 1: by settlers in New Iceland in eighteen seventy six. He
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  Speaker 1: arrived in the colony October ninth, eighteen seventy seven, and
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  Speaker 1: organized the first congregation there. Jan bijarn Missen, who after
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  Speaker 1: leaving luther College, had worked for a time as assistant
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  Speaker 1: on the Norwegian newspapers Scandennavian and bud Sticken, was also
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  Speaker 1: called as minister by some settlers in New Iceland. In
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy six, in the summer of that year he
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  Speaker 1: visited the colony, and on November eighth the following year,
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  Speaker 1: he arrived there with his wife and entered upon his
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  Speaker 1: work as pastor and church organizer. Between these two leaders
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  Speaker 1: of church, controversy soon arose, which divided the Icelanders in
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  Speaker 1: America into two parties. Paul Thorlaksen adhered to the conservative
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  Speaker 1: of Lutheran views of the German Lutheran Missouri Senate and
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  Speaker 1: the Norwegian Lutheran centered. He sought to prevail on his
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  Speaker 1: countrymen to associate themselves in church work with the Norwegians
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  Speaker 1: of the Norwegian Lutheran Senate, but Jan Biarnissen opposed the plan.
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  Speaker 1: He considered the Senate too conservative as he rejected the
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  Speaker 1: doctrine of the verbal inspirations of the Bible and differed
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  Speaker 1: with Reverend Thorlixen also on other doctrinal questions. The meetings
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  Speaker 1: Hill between the two leaders and their adherents March twenty
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  Speaker 1: five to twenty six, eighteen seventy eight in March seventeen, eighteen,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy nine to discuss these questions only widened the
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  Speaker 1: breach between the two parties. During the first years in
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  Speaker 1: the colony, the settlers suffered much as they were poorly
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  Speaker 1: equipped to live in the severe climate of Canada. An
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  Speaker 1: epidemic also broke out, which carried away hundreds of people.
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  Speaker 1: In these drying days. The Canadian government granted them alone
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  Speaker 1: to aid them in Reverend Paul Thorliksen solicited among the
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  Speaker 1: Norwegians and the United States, who contributed one thy three
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  Speaker 1: hundred dollars to the relief fund. In eighteen eighty, young
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  Speaker 1: Jarnisson had to go to Island to visit his dying
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  Speaker 1: father a bid farewell to his congregations, and did not
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  Speaker 1: return to New Iceland. In eighteen seventy seven, steps were
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  Speaker 1: taken to organize a more permanent government for the colony.
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  Speaker 1: Two meetings were assembled, each choosing five men to act
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  Speaker 1: as a committee in drafting laws for the people. These
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  Speaker 1: laws were later submitted to a general meeting assembled at
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  Speaker 1: the town of Gimli. February five, eighteen seventy seven, the
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  Speaker 1: colony was divided into four settlements, the fifth in Ness
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  Speaker 1: by Goth, Arness by Goth, Plots by goth and the
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  Speaker 1: McClay by Goth At an election held February fourteen, each
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  Speaker 1: settlement chose five men to act as a local council.
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  Speaker 1: Each council chose one of its members as President bi
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  Speaker 1: thor stir Yori. The four presidents formed a general Council
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  Speaker 1: for the whole colony. The nine then do Rath with
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  Speaker 1: the president and vice president. This council had charge of
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  Speaker 1: all matters common to the four settlements. A constitution for
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  Speaker 1: the colony was framed at a meeting held January eleventh,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy eight. This fundamental law, the only one of
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  Speaker 1: its kind among the Icelanders in America, remained in force
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  Speaker 1: till eighteen eighty seven. New Iceland was a state with
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  Speaker 1: its own constitution, laws and government, even its own language
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  Speaker 1: and distinct nationality. No other people than the Icelanders were
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  Speaker 1: allowed to settle within its borders, but in all except
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  Speaker 1: local affairs that remained under the authority of the Canadian government.
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  Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy seven, a company was organized in the
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  Speaker 1: colony to print and publish books and papers, The Press
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  Speaker 1: Lagaya Islands, a printing press was bought in Minneapolis, and
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  Speaker 1: on September tenth of that year, the first icelanding paper
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  Speaker 1: in America, the fram Fari, began to appear, its editor
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  Speaker 1: being Haldour Brium. In eighteen eighty the papers ceased to
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  Speaker 1: be published. It lived only a short time. It is
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  Speaker 1: of great importance as a source for the early history
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  Speaker 1: of the colony. Other papers were published later Dougs Brune
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  Speaker 1: eighteen ninety three to eighteen ninety six, the periodical Savava
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  Speaker 1: eighteen ninety five to nineteen oh four, Berrugmalia eighteen ninety
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  Speaker 1: seven to nineteen oh one, Balder nineteen oh three to
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ten, nine Dogs Brune nineteen oh four to nineteen
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  Speaker 1: oh six, and Jim Langer nineteen ten to nineteen eleven.
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  Speaker 1: The Colony of New Iceland is still prosperous and remains
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  Speaker 1: the most exclusively Icelandic settlement in America. It has been
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  Speaker 1: represented in the Manitoba legislature by several ablemen born in Iceland,
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  Speaker 1: first by Captain sig Dreiger Jonason and later by B. L.
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  Speaker 1: Paul Winson and S. Thor Waldsen. The religious controversy between
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  Speaker 1: the adherents of Paul Thorleiksen and Jon Biarnison, together with
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  Speaker 1: the hardships caused by poverty and epidemics, led to an
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  Speaker 1: emigration from New Iceland, which resulted in the founding of
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  Speaker 1: New Icelandic settlements and other localities. In the spring of
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seventy nine, Reverend Paul Thorlicksen, accompanied by several leading
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  Speaker 1: men of the colony, set out to search for a
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  Speaker 1: suitable location for a new settlement. A tract in Pembina
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  Speaker 1: County in the northeastern corner of North Dakota was selected.
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  Speaker 1: Some settlers from New Iceland arrived there that same summer,
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  Speaker 1: and many people came the following year from New Iceland,
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  Speaker 1: Nova Scotia and from Icelanding settlements in Wisconsin Minnesota. Before
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  Speaker 1: the new settlement in Pembina County was ten years old,
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  Speaker 1: he was one of the largest Icelandic colonies in America.
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  Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty the first congregations were founded there by
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  Speaker 1: Reverend Paul Thorlicksen, the father of this new and flourishing settlement.
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  Speaker 1: On March twelve, This gifted and faithful worker died deeply
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  Speaker 1: borned by all his countrymen. Brave, gentle and resourceful, of
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  Speaker 1: true and devoted leader, he had warned himself out in
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  Speaker 1: untiring effort to aid his people in their various needs.
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  Speaker 1: In that year, Reverend hans By thor Grimson graduated from
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  Speaker 1: the theological seminary of the Missouri Senate in Saint Louis.
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  Speaker 1: He was called as pastor by the newly organized congregations
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  Speaker 1: in Pembina County, arriving there in the fall of eighteen
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  Speaker 1: eighty three. At this time, a congregation was also organized
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  Speaker 1: in the town of Pembina, the real center of the
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  Speaker 1: Icelandic settlement. In eighteen eighty four, thor Grimsen organized new
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  Speaker 1: congregations farther west in the settlement and also at Grafton
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  Speaker 1: in Marshall County, North Dakota, where some Icelanders had settled.
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  Speaker 1: That same year, he proposed that the Icelandic congregations in
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  Speaker 1: America should unite and organize an Icelandic Lutheran Senate. At
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  Speaker 1: a meeting of delegates from various places assembled at Mountain
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  Speaker 1: in Pembina County January twenty three to twenty five, eighteen
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  Speaker 1: eighty five, this proposal was discussed, A constitution for a
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  Speaker 1: general church organization was drafted and submitted to the various
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  Speaker 1: congregations for their approval. On June twenty four, eightyen eighty five,
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  Speaker 1: a new meeting was assembled at Winnipeg, where the proposed
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  Speaker 1: Senate was organized by the thirteen congregations which had already
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  Speaker 1: signed the constitution. Reverjan Bjorn Nissen, who had returned from
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  Speaker 1: Iceland in eighteen eighty four and had become pastor of
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  Speaker 1: Icelandic congregations in Winnipeg, was elected president of the Senate.
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  Speaker 1: He was also chosen editor of the church paper sam Ningen,
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  Speaker 1: which began to appear in December of that year. In
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  Speaker 1: nineteen oh five, the Icelandic Sendate had thirty seven congregations.
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  Speaker 1: In nineteen nineteen, the number had increased to fifty eight.
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  Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty six, Reverend Hans by Thorgrimsen moved to
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  Speaker 1: South Deldakota, where he took charge of some Norwegian congregations.
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  Speaker 1: He returned to nineteen hundred and continued to serve the
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  Speaker 1: congregations in Pambina County till nineteen twelve. Many Icelanders in
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  Speaker 1: the Pembina Settlement had become prominent in the public affairs
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  Speaker 1: of their state. Among these men may be mentioned Honorable
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  Speaker 1: dj Las dahl Land, Commissioner of North Dakota to see
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  Speaker 1: Honorable MB. Bryn Yulfson, a brilliant lawyer and political leader,
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  Speaker 1: also deceased. In both houses of the state legislature, Bembina
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  Speaker 1: County has been repeatedly represented by men born in Iceland.
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  Speaker 1: While New Iceland was being settled, many Icelanders came to Winnipeg,
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  Speaker 1: the chief point of communication in that part of Canada.
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  Speaker 1: Many remained in the city, forming a colony which dates
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: its origin from the same years as that of New Iceland.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: This flourishing city in time attracted so many Icelanders that
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: it became the center of the Icelandic settlements and of
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Icelandic intellectual life in America. Already in eighteen seventy seven,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: and Icelandic society, the iceland Dinga Bailig, was organized there
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: for the purpose of guiding Icelandic immigrants in finding homes
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: and settlements founded by their own countrymen, so that they
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: should not become scattered everywhere. Another aim of the society
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: was to provide instruction for children and young people, both
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: in the English language and in their own mother tongue,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: to cultivate among their people of reading and intellectual pursuits,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: and to aid the sick and needing. A Sunday school
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: was organized in which children received instruction and religion and
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: in the Icelandic language. In eighteen seventy seven teachers were
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: hired and a general public school was maintained throughout the winter.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Instruction was given in writing, arithmetic, English and Icelandic, forty
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: pupils being in regular attendance. In eighteen eighty one, the
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: iceland Ding of feleg was reorganized under the name of
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: fram Barabalik. The aim of the society should be to
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: further everything which might be a benefit to the Icelandic
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: people in America. A school committee was chosen and money
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: was collected to support the school, which had hitherto have
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: been maintained through the efforts of private individuals. The same year,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: the Society of Icelandic Women was organized in the city,
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: the aim being to aid Icelandic immigrants who were arriving
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: every year in large numbers. The society also labored and
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: contributed money to the support of the Icelandic School for
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: this purpose, One of the members, a young girl, Gudrun
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Yan's daughter, gave one half of her yearly earnings of
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: fifteen dollars a month, a striking illustration of the devoted
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: self sacrifice which characterized the brave Icelandic immigrants. In eighteen
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: eighty three, two years after the society was organized, the
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: treasurer reported that about five hundred dollars had been contributed
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: to various charitable purposes, and that a cash balance of
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty dollars remained in the treasury. The
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: society continued to exist till eighteen ninety. Both Paul Thorlsen
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: and Jon Bjarnisson had visited Winnipeg on their journeys to
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: New Iceland, but no Icelandic congregation was organized in the
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: city till eighteen seventy eight, when Reverend Yan Bjarnison organized
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: the Trinity Congregation. The real growth of this congregation began
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty four, when Reverend Bjarnison returned from Ian
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: to become its pastor. It was then reorganized under the
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: name of the First Lutheran Church of Winnipeg, a church
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: where erected in eighteen eighty seven. In nineteen oh four,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: it was destroyed by fire, and a new church was
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: built the same year, finer than any Icelandic church which
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: had hitherto been built. There are now four Icelandic churches
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: in the city and several societies. Reverendjon Jarnison made the
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: church service as simple as possible, discarding Cassock and enchanting
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: the most characteristic features of the Lutheran ritual. He was
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: not only a learned man and an able speaker, but
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: an inspiring leader, more highly beloved and honoured by his
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: people than any other Icelander in America. When he died
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: in nineteen fourteen, Reverend Biorn B. Johnson was elected President
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: of the Icelandic Lutheran Senate. A small Unitarian Senate has
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: also been founded by the Icelanders in Winnipeg. Many Icelandic
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: papers and periodicals have been published in Winnipeg Leefer eighteen
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: eighty three to eighteen eighty six, Heimskringla, which began to
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: appear in eighteen eighty six, Luxburg which has been published
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: since eighteen eighty eight, and many period articles. About six
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: thousand Icelanders are now living in that city. Most of
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: them are prosperous, not a few being wealthy merchants and
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: men of prominence in civic life. Honorable Thomas H. Johnson,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: who has represented Central Winnipeg in the Legislature, is one
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: of the leading men in Western Canada. One of the
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: leading surgeons in this part of Canada is doctor B. J. Branson, FACS,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: Professor in the Winnipeg Medical Institute. From the mother colony
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: on Lake Winnipeg, sprang other Icelandic settlements in Canada. One
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: of the most prosperous of these is the one at
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Argyle in southwestern Manitoba, founded in eighteen eighty by Sigurdure,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Christo Ferson and other settlers from New Iceland. Many Icelanders
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: have settled in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. In the
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Saskatchewan Legislature, one of their leading men, Honorable W. H. Paulson,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: has served as representative. Groups of Icelanders are also found
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: in various cities in the United States and Canada. In
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Chicago and Minneapolis, they have settled in considerable numbers. Many
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: also live in Seattle, Bellingham, Victoria, Marietta, Plane Point, Roberts
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: and other places on the Pacific coast. The Icelanders in
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: America now number about twenty thousand. About one third of
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: them belonged to the Icelandic Lutheran Synod. One of the
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: most notable traits of the Icelanders in America as well
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: as in their own country, is their love of learning,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: poetry and intellectual pursuits. Even as immigrants in a new
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: environment and living under a different culled circumstances, they did
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: everything possible to educate their children into foster intellectual life
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: among their people. In the newly established settlements, literary societies
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: were founded, congregations were organized, schools and reading circles were established.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: Papers and periodicals were published. As soon as the settlers
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: had touched their first cottages. While they were yet i
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: few in numbers, they began to consider the possibility of
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: founding a higher school, preferably a college, for their own
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: young people. In eighteen eighty for, a young Icelander, Freeman B. Anderson,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: from Toronto, came to Winnipeg. He urged that a higher
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: school should be established for the Icelandic young people. Much
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: interest was awakened and a committee was appointed to promote
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: the plan, But the difficulties to be overcome were found
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: to be so great that the plan was abandoned. It
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: was revived at the yearly meeting of the Icelandic Senate
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty seven by Reverend Frederick J. Bergman and
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: fred John Friddrickson, the president of the Senate. Reverend John B.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: Rnsson had received one hundred dollars as paid for his
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: service as editor of the church paper. This sum he
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: donated as the beginning of a fund to be raised
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: for establishing an Icelandic college under the auspices of the Senate.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Since that time, the college question was brought up at
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: every yearly meeting of the Church and money was gradually
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: collected for the college fund. In nineteen hundred, the question
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: of a high Icelandic institution of learning took a new turn.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: It was then decided to create chairs in Icelandic in
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Wesley College, Winnipeg, belonging to the Methodist Church, and in
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: the Gustavus Adolphus College of the Swedish Augustana Senate at
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Saint Peter, Minnesota. In nineteen oh one, Reverend Frederick J.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Bergman was appointed teacher in Icelandic in Wesley College under
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: the auspices of the Icelandic Lutheran Senate, which also paid
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: his salary. He continued to serve till nineteen oh nine,
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: when he was succeeded by Runolph Martinsen, who served till
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen. In nineteen oh five, another in Icelandic was
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: established at Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, Minnesota. Magnus Magnuson
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: of Cambridge, England, a nephew of a richer Magnuson, was
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: appointed professor, serving till nineteen oh nine when the chair
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: was discontinued. The desire of the Icelanders to establish a
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: higher educational institution of their own was finally realized in
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen when a resolution was passed at the yearly
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Convention of the Icelandic Lutheran Senate assembled at Mount in
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: North Dakota, to establish an Icelandic Institutional learning in Winnipeg, Canada.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Before the next yearly meeting of the church, Reverend Yon
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Biarnison died and the school, founded according to the resolution
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: of the previous year, was given the name of Jan
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Bjarnison Academy. Reverend Runolph for Martinsen was elected president of
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: the institution. During the fist year, it had thirty students
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: and a faculty of three teachers. The aim of the
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: school is to bring the young people who attended under
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Christian influence, to preserve for them as far as possible,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: their Icelandic heritage, and to prepare them for useful service
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: in church and state. In nineteen fourteen, efforts were made
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: to raise an endowment for the school, the Yon Barnison
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Memorial Fund. This fund now yields a yearly income of
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: about one four hundred dollars. The other necessary means for
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the operation of the school are derived from tuition fees
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: and private contributions. Unexpected difficulties were created by the outbreak
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: of the World War. Collection of funds and the erection
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: of suitable buildings had to be postponed into peace and
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: normal conditions should again invite a distraught generation to constructive efforts,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: but the Icelanders in America themselves have been unabled to
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: accomplish for the promotion of scholarly interest in their literature
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: and culture has at times been done by American higher
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: institutions of learning, which have created extensive collections of Icelandic
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: books and are offering courses of instruction and older Icelandic
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: language and literature. The largest collection of this kind has
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: been created at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, through the
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: initiative of Professor Willard Fisk, formerly librarian of the university.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: The collection, which is now in the charge of a
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: special custodian, Professor Haldor Hermannson, is considered to be the
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: largest Icelandic library outside of Iceland. End of chapter nineteen,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: End of History of Iceland by Canute yearset