Elías Eggert Eggertsson was born in Barðastrandarsýsla in 1869. He died in California on October 22, 1956. He took the name E. E. Vatnsdal in the west.
Spouse: November 22, 1892 in Mountain, N. Dakota, Guðrún Jónsdóttir b. 1876 in Strandasýsla, d. in the Lakes settlement (Vatnabyggð) in Saskatchewan in 1929.
Children: 1. Jónína Ragnhildur b. October 9, 1893 2. Soffía Alísabet b. December 18, 1894 3. Eggert Franklín b. March 7, 1896 4. Jón (John) b. April 17, 1899 5. Matthías Leslie b. November 1, 1900 6. Lilja b. October 2, 1902, d. in Mountain 7. Theodore b April 17, 1904 8. Jóel Alexander b. March 6, 1906 9. Emily 10. Perla 11. Jónas Hallgrímur b. July 10, 1913, d. 1913 12. Anna Svanborg b. October 24, 1916 13. Jónasína.
Elías came west in 1886 with his parents, Eggert Magnússon and Soffía Friðriksdóttir. They settled in N. Dakota. Guðrún was the daughter of Jón Jónsson and Ragnhildur Jósepsdóttir who came west in 1876 and first settled in New Iceland calling their homestead Mæri. Elías and Guðrún moved to Roseau County in Minnesota in 1896 but severe droughts and floods followed by frequent wildfires made it impossible for young farmers to succeed. They moved back to Mountain and then west to Milton. After some time, they moved north to the Lakes settlement (Vatnabyggð) and settled near Mozart.
Back row: Alexander, Jón, Soffía, Frank, Theodore, Leslie, Jónína. Front row: Emily, Perla, Guðrún, Jónasína, Elías and Anna. Photo: RbQ