Sveinn Björnsson was born in Norður-Múlasýsla in 1855. Died in Seattle in Washington in 1941.
Spouse: 1881 Kristrún Ólafsdóttir b. in Suður-Múlasýsla in 1855, d. in Seattle in 1929.
Children: 1. Ólafur Páll b. in Winnipeg in 1882, d. in Washington State in 1960 2. Anna Þórunn b. 1890 in Seattle 3. Theodore Björn b. 1896 in Seattle.
Sveinn grew up with relatives on his mother side. In 1872 he moved to Seyðisfjörður where he began work on fishing boats. He received a letter from his half-brother, Pall in Milwaukee, urging him to emigrate to America. Sveinn landed a spot on a Norwegian fishing boat and headed for Norway. Lack of funds prevented him from emigrating west, so in the next few years he worked on the same vessel and, once on the east coast of Canada, he was allowed to leave and head west. He reached Chicago where his brother Pall was studying Medicine and, after a short stay, he headed for New Iceland where his father, Björn Pétursson and family had settled. After some time he married Kristrún Ólafsdóttir and they moved west to Seattle where they made their future home.