Pétur Björnsson and Margrét Björnsdóttir Photo: SÍND
Pétur Björnsson was born on December 22, 1844 in Skagafjarðarsýsla. He died in Gimli, Manitoba on December 26, 1914.
Spouse: 1869 Margrét Björnsdóttir b. November 24, 1844 í Húnavatnssýsla, d. in Winnipeg on November 8, 1919.
Children: 1. Björn b. 1871 2. Rögnvaldur b. 1878 3. Ólafur b. 1879 4. Hannes b. 1880 5. María Filippía b. 1881 died months after coming west.
From left, standing: Hannes, Séra Rögnvaldur, Björn. Ólafur seated. Photo: SÍND
They emigrated west to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1883 and on September 1 of the same year, they traveled on to Pembina, N. Dakota. Pétur took land in the Sand Hills Settlement in the winter and the family lived there 15 years. In 1899 they moved east to the Roseau Settlement in Minnesota where they lived until the spring of 1903. From there, they moved west to Saskatchewan and bought land near Kristnes in the Vatnabyggð Settlement. They moved again to New Iceland and lived in Gimli where Pétur died. Soon after, the widow moved to Winnipeg where all her sons lived. Pétur’s mother, Ragnheiður Guðmundsdóttir, and his sister, Hólmfríður, came west with them.