The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.1977, Síða 8

6
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
AUTUMN 1977
colony, it not only being the means of
enlightening the colonists themselves on
matters pertaining to agriculture and
farming in general, but it will also help
to increase the population of the colony
by attracting the attention of Icelanders
in general to its advantages’.
To the little group of people in New
Iceland, a newspaper served the practi-
cal necessity of communication. We - the
inheritors - are left to wonder whether
they gave one thought to the historic
importance of their enterprise.
“The Icelandic immigrants in
America were from the first concerned
about the preservation of their language
and nationality. ‘There was common
agreement that two things were neces-
sary for the preservation of their pre-
cious heritage: a separate colony and a
paper in the Icelandic language, pub-
lished in America. These two projects
were so closely linked that it was scarce-
ly to be considered that one could thrive
without the other Both projects were
included among the objectives of the Ice-
landic Association formed at Milwaukee
in 1874.
“The New Iceland colonists were from
the first alive to the need for a paper but
the process of getting settled and the
outbreak of the small-pox epidemic
limited their journalistic activity in the
first year to the writing of Nyji
Thjodolfur, but as soon as the small-pox
epidemic began to abate, the first
practical move was made. At the Gimli
meeting, on January 22, 1877, the
founding of a paper was discussed, and
the consensus of opinion was that a
stock company should be formed to
finance the purchase of a printing press.
Certain individuals undertook to
promote the sale of shares and at a
meeting on February 5, they reported a
sufficient number of promises to
warrant proceeding with the project.
The New Iceland Printing Company was
formed, by-laws were framed and
adopted, a board of directors was
appointed, and one-half of the proposed
capital, or five hundred dollars, was
called in.
“The directors immediately wrote to
Reverend Jon Bjarnason, at
Minneapolis, and obtained his services
in the purchase of a printing press and
type. Due to the fact that a die had to be
made for some of the letters of the Ice-
landic alphabet, it was June before the
press arrived, and even then it was not
complete. The first issue of the paper
Framfari (Progress), printed in a log-
cabin at Lundi, appeared on September
10, 1877.
“The moving spirit in the enterprise
was Sigtryggur Jonasson, who gave
generous financial support, and the
other promoters were Fridjon
Fridriksson and Johann Briem, Jonas-
son’s brother-in-law. These three
contributed a large share of the capital
and formed the Board of Directors.
“Pending the appointment of an
editor, Jonasson undertook the work of
editor, with the support of Johann
Briem, who made several notable contri-
butions to the paper. The printer was
Jonas Jonasson, a brother of Sigtryggur,
who had learned his trade in Iceland.
His yearly salary was two hundred and
fifty dollars.
“Framfari was published three times
a month, a four-page issue, 15Vi by IOV2
inches. The subscription rate was $1.50
in New Iceland, $1.75 elsewhere in
Canada, the United States and Europe
(seven crowns in Iceland).
“The founding of a paper less than
two years after the arrival of the first
settlers in the colony, in a community of
some fifteen hundred people, the
majority of whom were destitute, and in
the year of a devastating epidemic, is