Jóhannes and Jónína Snjólaug Photo: RbQ
Jósef Jóhannesson was born on August 16, 1876 in Húnavatnssýsla. He died on January 6, 1942 in the Lakes Settlement (Vatnabyggð). He took the last name Gillis in the west.
Spouse: January 4, 1917 in Garðar, Jónína Snjólaug Benediktsdóttir b. April 15, 1889 in the Garðar Settlement in North Dakota.
Children: 1. Emma Margrét b. November 8, 1917 2. Jósef (Joseph) b. April 27, 1919 3. Clarabelle b. May 16, 1921 4. Benedikt Hilmar b. December 11, 1922 5. Valgerður Ásta b. May 31, 1925 6. William d. at birth.
Jósef emigrated west to Winnipeg in 1887 with his parents, Jóhannes Gíslason and Valgerður Stefánsdóttir. He was with them in Manitoba and moved with them to Duluth, Minnesota in 1892. There he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1897 and was discharged in 1904. He settled in Winnipeg and became a police officer there for a few years before moving to the Garðar Settlement in N. Dakota. He and Jónína moved to Wynyard in Saskatchewan in 1920, where Magnús, Joseph’s brother, lived nearby. Joseph settled there until his death. Jónína Snjólaug was the daughter of Benedikt Jóhannesson and his first wife, Ásta Sæmundsdóttir. Jónína moved to Winnipeg in 1943 and lived there with her sister Ingibjörg and her daughter Valgerður.