Jón Gíslason was born on April 21, 1852 in Borgarfjarðarsýsla. He died in Washington in 1926. He took the last name Reykdal in the west.
Spouse: 1) Þóra Halldórsdóttir b. March 8, 1954, d. April 21, 1883 in Minnesota. 2) 1891 Ragnheiður Friðrika Jónsdóttir b. September 3, 1863, d. November 19, 1925 in Blaine.
Children: With Þóra: 1. Svanhildur (Svana) b. September 22, 1880 2. Helgi Elías. With Ragnheiður: 1. John Levi b. 1889 2. Margrét Ágústa b. 1892, d. January 1, 1893 3. Augustus Sigurður b. 1893
They moved west to Quebec, Canada in 1881 and from there to Michigan in the United States. They lived there for some time before moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From there, life’s road led them to Minneota, Minnesota in 1887. Ragnhildur came west in 1888. They went west to the Pacific coast and lived in Ballard, Washington. They moved from there in 1905 to the Lakes Settlement (Vatnabyggð) in Saskatchewan, but moved back to the west coast and settled in Blaine.