Magnús Sigurðsson at Storð wrote a chapter in Ólaf Þorgeirsson’s Almanak in Winnipeg in 1932, called Landnemar Geysisbygðar i Nýja Íslandi (Settlers in the Geysir Settlement in New Iceland). There he says the following about Jóhann:
Lineage and Origin
“Jóhann Sæmundsson. – His father was Sæmundur the farmer at Grjóti in Þverárhlíð, Jónsson. Sæmundur was the brother of Helgi in Neðra – Nesi and Guðrún, Helgi Jakobsson’s mother. Jóhann’s mother was Guðrún Jónsdóttir, Arason of Akranes. – Jóhann moved to the West in 1899. He was first in Cavalier, N. D. He moved to New Iceland in 1901 and homesteaded.- Jóhann’s wife is Þóra Guðmundsdóttir. They married in the fall of 1907. Þóra had then come west with her brother Sigmundur, who took land in the Árdal Settlement northeast of Árborg (N.V.36). Their father was the farmer Gudmundur at Galtastaðir (front) in Hróarstunga, Arngrímsson farmer in Blöndugerði, Sigurðsson farmer in Gautland, Jónsson farmer at Mýri in Bárðardal, Halldórsson farmer at Lundbrekka, Ingjaldsson farmer at Kálfaströnd by Mývatn. The family can be traced back to Bjarni buna, Grímsson master in Sogn, in a straight line through the centuries. Half-brothers by common fathers were Arngrímur in Blöndugerði and Jón, Althing representative, in Gautland. Sigurðar’s first wife in Gautland was Arngrím’s mother, while his second wife was Jón’s mother. Sigríður’s, Jóhann’s wife, mother’s name, Þóra. She was Eyjólf’s daughter of a farmer in Grímsstaðir in Meðaland, son of Þorvarður”.
Human Virtue
“Jóhann Sæmundsson is one of the best farmers in the village. He was one of the first people in his settlement to build on a concrete foundation. This is how all his buildings are completed. A concrete basement is under the house, which is very elaborate in every way. Jóhann is a farmer in the best way. A reliable and solid farmer in the community. And you can hardly find a more reliable friend than Jóhann Sæmundsson – firm on the field and firm in his disposition, determined and sincere. Noteworthy is also the nobility of both husband and wife, their hospitality and generosity. Þóra is one of those women who cannot see others suffer, without lending a helping hand, however she can. – Their children are Gunnar and Aðalbjörg. They are beautifully intelligent and well behaved.”