Thanks to all of you for joining my Mail list. More than 50 has joined since Feb 28th. Unfortunately there were some troubles at the host, it was not accessible at all times and some people could not join. Hopefully these problems are over.
I know already many of you through interesting correspondance over the years, I have even met some of you here in Iceland, I have tried to assist some of you in your search for ancestral lines but some of you (few I hope) may even think that I'm a total . . . . (censored), having not responded to your queries.
Well, that's not because I didn't want to. Maybe I didn't have the answere so complete as I wanted and put the question aside, intending to work on it later. But steady flow of emails and only few hours in the evenings and weekends for this hobby simply makes me let some of you down. Sorry. No intention.
Anyway, my interest for this topic, the genealogy, and especially the genealogy and history of the Icelandic people who emigrated and searched for a new life in a new country keeps me going along with you and please, please don't stop writing, don't stop asking and not the least give me and other List members information through this Newsletter so the search for roots and family becomes easier all the time.
Regards,
Hálfdan

 Vise men say that all living Icelanders descend from bishop Jón Arason at Hólar in Skagafjörður county, North Iceland. And that includes of course all of you descending from Icelandic settlers in N-America. If you have ever received your ancestral family tree generated from an Icelandic genealogy database for - say - 12 to 15 generations you will without doubt find among your ancestors, bishop Jón Arason, who was considered one of the greatest chiefs Iceland has ever had. Jón Arason, born 1484, was the last Catholic bishop in Iceland and fearlessly he refused to adopt the Reformation when it was directly ordered by the Danish king Christian III that the Icelandic people should adopt the new faith with all that it implied.
Bishop Jón Arason´s struggle against the king's power ended by his being seized in the autumn of 1550 and beheaded 7 Nov that year with two of his sons, Björn and Ari, without legal proceedings on demand of the king's representative.
Jón Arason was not married, his mistress was Helga Sigurðardóttir and together they had four sons, Magnús, Sigurður, Björn and Ari and the daughters Helga and Þórunn. They all had descendants except Þórunn.
You can see a very small file of Jón Arason's descendants which I started nearly five years ago, but after the start I did nothing!
Do you know how you descend from Bishop Jón Arason?

Most names have a meaning, also the Icelandic ones - believe it or not ; )
Have you ever wondered about the meaning of your Icelandic grandmother's name or great grandmother's. Take a look at my page Icelandic names and see if you find your ancestors names. I know I have a way to go before that page is finished, if it ever will be finished :) Anyway, if you don't find the name you search for, just let me know and I'll see if I can do anything about it.

Lundar Diamond Jubilee - 1887 to 1947. Few years ago I came across this interesting book. It's the story of the Swan Lake and Shoal Lake Settlements in Manitoba, Canada. The book was published in 1948, the content in English and Icelandic and two years later an additional volume was published in Icelandic. For those searching for settlers in these areas the two volumes are very useful, giving genealogical information on (probably) most of the settlers' families as well as a lot of very interesting photos.
Let me know about book you find interesting and useful in your genealogical work in regard to your Icelandic roots.

Choosing the Settler of the Week shouldn't be a problem. There is such a great number of men and women who emigrated that it's just to pick one or two randomly from the thousands. And that's what we do today.

Lárus Sigurður Lárusson Freeman
emigrated in 1881 from Dalasýsla county, West Iceland. He settled in Akra, N-Dakota US, and later in Pine Valley, Manitoba, Canada.

Ásgerður Sturludóttir
emigrated from Dalasýsla county, West Iceland, in 1888. She became Lárus Freeman's wife.

Jón Magnússon Nordal
emigrated in 1876 from Mýrasýsla county, West Iceland, and settled in Argyle, later in Glenboro, Manitoba, Canada.

From now on the newsletter is only "sent" to members of the Mail list for The Emigration from Iceland to North America. If you find it worth mentioning, you can urge your friends to join the Mail list through
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This Newsletter is sent to you by
Hálfdan Helgason
Reykjavík, Iceland.

Next number:
15 March 2003