Minneota, Minnesota
Jóhannes Halldórsson was among the first Icelanders to move west to North America. A few of his countrymen had settled in Wisconsin in the years 1870-1873, so Jóhannes went there in 1873. He lived there in various places near Milwaukee and took the time to get to know the community in the making. With the valuable experience he gained during the five years there, he moved west to Minnesota, arriving at Minneota, a small growing village in a relatively young settlement. Gunnlaugur Pétursson was the first Icelander to take land there in 1875 and was able to describe the land’s advantages to his friends in Wisconsin and no less at home in Iceland. Jóhannes was the first Icelander to settle in Minneota, he did so because he thought there was the best chance for him to do business, and it really fascinated him. Jóhannes took an active part in the social formation in the village, for example he was the first treasurer of the town council. Commercial jobs of various kinds fascinated him and in 1883 he founded an Icelandic store in company with Jónatan Jónatansson. They named their shop Frost & Peterson, Jóhannes had taken the name Frost, no doubt he thought of his adopted land when he chose the name, but Jónatan’s father was Pétursson and his son Jónatan wrote himself as Peterson in the west! They ran this store together for a few years, but then broke up. Jóhann started working as a shopkeeper again in 1890 and worked in a store in one form or another all the time.
A Useful Member of Society
Wherever Icelanders settled together in large or small groups on the west coast and formed an Icelandic settlement, there were always individuals who took initiative and led the group. When the plans for an all-Icelandic colony of New Iceland in Manitoba came to nothing around 1880, it became clear that Icelandic immigrants in Canada or the United States were participants in the formation of new nations, were part of a young society in the making. In order to be able to participate in the best possible way and adjust to new ways, people realized the need to learn English, good English skills were the key to the future. Jóhannes Halldórsson was one of those who made an effort to study English, his interest in commerce and business undoubtedly played a role. When he settled in Minneota, he is soon employed as an interpreter by the railroad company that built railroads throughout the district with headquarters in Minneota. He had met Norwegian immigrants in Wisconsin and got to know their colonies, among other things, church matters, but there has never been a state church in North America, the immigrants had to completely take church matters into their own hands. Establish congregations, hire pastors and build churches. In Minnesota, Icelanders formed congregations, one was in Minneota, and Jóhannes was always actively involved. Among other things, he took charge of the congregation’s Sunday school for many years. He was very involved in the formation of such a school in the town of Blaine, Washington, where he lived from 1907 to 1911.
English version by Thor group.