Skapti Brynjolfson portrait

• Main Author: Mitchell (Winnipeg, Man.); Winnipeg (Man.);
• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: Pembina County Historical Society; 1882
• Subjects: Portraits; People; Portrait photographs; Men; Mustaches; Icelandic Americans; Brynjolfson; Skapi B.; 1860-; Winnipeg (Man.); Manitoba; Pembina County (N.D.); Canada; Cub Lake; Iceland
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ndshs-dm/id/1053

Studio portrait of young Skapti Brynjolfson wearing a suit jacket and bowtie. Cabinet photographs; 17 x 11 cm. "Mitchell, 566 MAIN St., WINNIPEG"--Printed on front of photograph. "SKAPTI BRYNJOLFSON WAS THE FIRST MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM PEMBINA COUNTY"--Printed underneath photograph. Title created by staff. Hon. Skapti B. Brynjolfson, who is now retired from active labors, engages in farming many years in Beaulieu township and has a pleasant home in section 36 that is the center of true and generous hospitality. He settled in the midst of the Icelandic colony of Pembina county. … Our subject was born in Forsealudal, Valley of Shade, Iceland, the place of his nativity being Hunavatnssysla, in the county of Bear Cub Lake. His birth is dated October 29, 1860, and he is the fourth child of seven born to Brynjolfur and Thorun (Alafsdottir) Brynjolfson. Under his father's guidance our subject acquired the rudiments of education in his own tongue and about 1873 a pamphlet written in Danish by a Scandinavian resident of Texas, United States, came into the hands of his father and was read with much interest, as it described life in the New World, and by him was translated into Icelandic and read to the neighbors, … A letter later received from friends in Canada caused a general and decided movement, resulting in the formation of a colony for emigration, and in August, 1874, a company of three hundred and fifty-two person embarked on the ship "St. Patrick," arriving in due season in Quebec. Soon after their arrival in America our subject settled in Halifax county, Nova Scotia, and remained there until 1881, when he went to Duluth and from thence, in the spring of 1882, to Pembina county, North Dakota. The father entered claim to land in Beaulieu township and our subject worked in a flour-mill in Winnipeg and at elevator work in Duluth and during the time applied himself to the study of the English language, … Mr. Brynjolfson went to Dakota for permanent residence in 1885 and assumed charge of his father's farm on section 35, in Beaulieu township, and in 1892 removed to his present location and devoted his attention to general farming until 1897, when he leased the land and now enjoys a well-earned rest from active pursuits. Our subject married, November 21, 1892, to Miss Groa Johannesson, a native of Iceland, who came to America in 1873, with the first large Icelandic colony. … Mr. Brynjolfson was a nominee for state representative in 1889, but was defeated, and in 1890 was elected state senator and served one term. He was chairman of the committee on public health and served on the committee on education… Politically, he is a Democrat and is strong in his convictions. He holds membership in the Independent Order of Foresters. Information from pages 1070-1073 in the book Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota. 1900.