Ari Vídalín Benediktsson was born in Eyjafjarðarsýsla in 1864. He died in Clatsop County in Oregon on January 30, 1920. He took the name Harvey Witalien or Harvey B. Vidalin in the west.
Spouse: Rachel Dobber b. in Texas in 1886.
Children: 1. Herbert Vernon b. September 17, 1909 2. Margrét E. b. December 14, 1910.
Ari came west to Wisconsin in 1873 with his parents Benedikt Vídalín Halldórsson and Sigríður Þorvaldsdóttir. They settled in Minnesota before 1880 and lived for a year in Minneota. Ari was confirmed there and would have been in the first Icelandic group of children to be confirmed there. He was ambitious and in 1889 worked for the Helena Herald in Helena, Montana. From there he made his way to Portland, Oregon, then to Los Angeles, California in 1910 where he was living with his wife and newborn son. He also was called Henry and Harry.