Lögberg-Heimskringla - 19.10.1990, Qupperneq 5

Lögberg - Heimskringla • Föstudagur 19. október 1990 • 5
Centermial Celebration
The Unitarian Church of Winnipeg
was organized in 1891 as the First Ice-
landic Unitarian Church, the oldest
Unitarian congregation in Westem
Canada. In 1921, this group merged
with the old Winnipeg Tabemacle (or-
ganized 1894) to form the First Feder-
ated Church of Unitarians and Other
Liberal Christians, which erected thc
present building in the same year. In
1945, First Federated Church merged
with the Unitarian Church ofWinnipeg,
formerly known as All Souls Church
(organized 1904). Since that time the
church has come to be commonly known
as the Unitarian Church of Winnipeg,
though itretains the legal name of First
Federated Church.
Bjöm Pétursson, the founder of the
church, had travelled from farmhouse to
farmhouse on the Manitoba and North
Dakotaprairies, spreadingthe good news
of Unitarianism, before settling in
Winnipeg in the autumn of 1890. He
commenced preaching in the fall, the
church being formally organized on
February 1,1891. North ofWinnipeg, in
a dramatic Easter Sermon, Magnus
Skaptason challenged the doctrine of
etemal damnation as unworthy of a God
who was “the etemal source of love” and
Delegates to the founding convention of the United Conference of lcelandic Churches,
Winnipeg, June 26,1923, on the steps of the Legislative Building in Winnipeg. People who
are recognized, are as follows: Front row: (left to right) Mrs. Hólmfríöur Pétursson; Próf.
Ágúst H. Bjarnason; Mrs. Sigrföur Bjarnason; Reg. Rögnvaldur Pétursson; Sigrföur Vidal;
Thorsteinn Borgfjord. Second Row: Mrs. Thórun Kvaran; Mrs. Gudrún Borgfjord; Thora
Borgfjord; Mrs. Olöf Halldorsson; Mrs. Anna Kristjánsson; Mrs. Gudrún Johnson; Rev.
Magnús J. Skaptason; Mrs. Júlfana Johnson; Dr. Magnús B. Halldorson; Mrs. Simmons; S.
Bergman. Third Row: Jóhannes Gottskálksson (Gottfred); Rev. Ragnar H. Kvaran; Rev.
Fridrik A. Fridrlksson; Rev. Albert E. Kristjánsson; Mrs. Ingibjörg Björnsson; Gisli J.
Magnússon; - ; Philip M. Pétursson. Fourth Row: - ; - ; Sveinbjórn Árnason; Ólafur J.
Björnsson. Top Row:- ; - ; Ólafur 0. Magnússon; Sæmundur Borgfjord; - ; Capt. Joseph
B. Skaptason. Upper Right: - ; - ; Björn B. Ólafson; Rev. Eyjólfur J. Melan; Hannes
Pétursson; Gudmundur 0. Einarson. On the picture but unidentified: Sigurdur Sigbjörnson;
P. K. Bjarnason; Methusalem Ólafsson; Magnús 0. Magnússon.
went on to suggest that the holy scrip- controversy that ensued, five Interlake
tures were the work of human hands, congregations joined the Winnipeg
not the direct revelation of God. In the church in the Unitarian fold. When
Péturssondiedinl893,Skaptason took
up the ministry of the Winnipeg church.
Since that time, the history of the con-
gregation hasbeen characterizedby hu-
manitarian outreach and the advocacy
of “freedom, reason, and tolerance” in
matters of rehgion.
Through the years, many noteworthy
individuals have been associated with
the Unitarian Church of Winnipeg and
its antecedents: Joseph T. Thorson,
former President ofthe Exchequer Court
of Canada and President of the Inter-
national Commission ofJurists; Howard
Pawley, former Premier of Manitoba;
Arthur W. Puttee, the first Labour
member of the Canadian parliament;
Margret Benedictsson, pioneer suífrage
leader; and Seymour J. Farmer, former
Mayor of Winnipeg, to name only a few.
Amongtheministerswhohave served
Winnipeg churches are Rögnvaldur
Pétursson, who also served as a Field
Secretary for the American Unitarian
Association (AU.A); Horace Westwood,
who later served as Dean of Starr King
School for the Ministry at Berkeley;
Philip M. Petursson, who became a
member of the provincial legislature
and Minister of Cultural Affairs; and
William P. Jenkins, who was a Vice
President of the AU.A
On October 21, the church will cel-
ebrate the centennial of its First Icelan-
dic Unitarian Service.
A window to the past
The letterpublished here was written by Páll Snsebjömsson,
who lived at Bjamastaðir at Hekkla, Ontario, to his children
ivho stayed behind in lceland.
These letters ivere found in a drawer at the family’s estate
upon the death ofone ofPálVs descendants, and arepublished
here withthe pemtission of Eileen Martin of Milton, Ontario
who was in possession of the letters and Don Gislason, who
translated thern from Icelandic into English.
Bjamastöðum, (Hekkla, Ont.)
1892-3?
My dearest Sifa:
Gunna wrote me on the 15th of this
month with news that Bensi left the
day before with our cousin Þór for Ice-
land. This didn’t enter his head until
the day before leaving. I am tellingyou
this now although you may have al-
ready seen him before this letter reaches
you. They set off on the 14th from Duluth
and planned to reach Boston on the
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Atlantic coast in three days. Someone
had just arrived in Duluth from there
and told them about a sailing ship that
was going home to Iceland to fish. If
they could catch it they would be able
to travel with little cost or even for free
and it would probably be a faster jour-
ney than by going by steamship to
Scotland and from there home. But the
time was shortas the ship was leaving
on the 17th so it is not certain if they
were able to reach it in three days.
Our health has been rather poor
this past winter with mostly influenza
and colds, but this condition has less-
ened and our well-being is improving.
*Jóa was quite ill for the entire winter
and all the food she has been able to eat
has made her sick. She probably men-
tioned this in a letter to Gunna who
sent Jóa 5 dollars for a doctor’s exami-
nation and medicine. A month ago
Jakob drove her to Parry Sound which
is about 30 English miles away. The
doctor there told her that it was all due
to too much hard work. She is now
takinghermedicine andisfindingmuch
improvement and so, if she continues
with this remedy I hope that she will be
just as good as before.
You ask me in your letter to give my
opinion as to how well people can man-
age here. This is not in my power for I
am not knowledgeable enough in this
matter. I can only judge from the taxes
that are paid by those around me and
they seem small compared to how it
was at home. All the taxes Jakob had to
pay for the year were 10 dollars and two
days work on road improvement. This
includes taxes for school maintenance,
all thoroughfares, footpaths and public
service needs. He keeps 22 cattle, 15
sheep, 3 pigs, and 3 horses but four of
the cattle are calves and fourteen of the
sheep are ewes. He has 150 acres of land
but I would imagine that one third of
this is cleared. I don’thesitate in saying
that the soil is much more fertile than at
home, despite the severe winters here.
In any case,it would have to be so.for an
individual farmer requires much less
land to support himself than at home.
Generally, I would not advise anyone
who owns reasonably good farm land at
home to sell it and emigrate to Canada.*
On the other hand, if I were to base my
judgement on the condition of working-
people (in Iceland) when I left, itis much
different here, especially for women.
However, you say in your letter that
their situation at home has improved a
great deal and continues to do so; if that
won’t prove fatal to the farming class...
[the letter ends abniptly at this point
and without a signature it is likely that
the concluding page(s) has been lost]
* Jórunn was 54 years old when she
died in 1915. She was buried in the
Hekkla United Church pioneer cem-
etery. Her husband Jakob Einarsson
was four years her junior and he died in
1933 at Hekkla. Jóa and Jakob were
married in Canada, probably in 1888.
Páll Snæbjömsson and his three grown
daughters, Sólveig, Jómnn and Guðrún
arrivedtheyearbefore at'Bjamastöðum
where Páll’s brother Bjarni
Snæbjörnsson had established his farm
in the fall of 1873. This farm, of course,
was named after its owner and in loose
translation means ‘Bjami’s Place’. The
holdings seem to have been 150 acres
each which is somewhat larger than the
100 acre plots further south in the
province. No doubt this was to accom-
modate the uneven soil quality and
hilly terrain.
The brothers Gísli and Jakob
Einarsson and other family members
arrived at Hekkla in August of 1878.
Their widowed mother María kept
house for Bjarni and a decade later her
son Jakob married Bjami’s niece ‘Jóa’
Pálsdóttir. Gísli, Jakob and Bjami lived
and farmed on contiguous lots with
various family members in their re-
spective households. There probably
were never more than 10 Icelandic
family units at Hekkla although there
were a total of twenty-eight farm lots
owned by these settlers. This was a
small community, interdependent and
with close family and neighbourhood
ties. Due to migration to North Dakota
and other American destinations and
marriage outside of the ethnic group,
Hekkla as a distinct ‘Icelandic-Cana-
dian’ community ceased to exist by the
tum of the century. Only about half a
dozen families from the original Ice-
landic settlers remained in the
Muskoka district. The surrounding
population and immediate neighbours
were of AngloCeltic and German back-
ground.
Bjami died in 1897 without issue
and therefore, willed his property to
Jacob and Joan Einarson as they be-
came known outside of the Icelandic
community.
* Independent land ownership in
Iceland had become more difficult and
there developed towards the latter part
of the 19th century growing numbers
of transient workers and unemployed
individuals in temporary lodgings. Due
to economic restrictions and a dozen
years of cold winters and short sum-
mers, there was widespread hardship
throughout the island, especially
among the marginal farm workers and
small landowners. For many, emigra-
tion to North America was a welcome
option.