|
Séra Páll Ţorlaksson (Pastor Paul Thorlaksson) donated the land in 1881 from the corner of his homestead.
The allocation was large enough to have a small cemetery. Paul´s offer was accepted in 1881 but several years
passed before the church structure became a reality. Services were held in Paul´s log home despite his
declining health from tuberculosis.
Séra Páll died 12 March 1882 at Mountain and is buried in the Vikur Church Cemetery. Because of the bitter cold,
his funeral could not be held until April 2nd. The funeral was conducted by a Norwegian pastor, the Reverend
Christian Flaten. Séra Páll´s younger brother Niels Steingrímur Thorlaksson delivered the Icelandic eulogy.
Four Icelandic children were baptized beside Paul´s coffin.
30 Oct 1894, the monument stone to Séra Páll was unveiled at a ceremony to honor this man that so many loved.
His story is one of strife but constant hope for the future of the Icelandic pioneers.
He was one of the leaders to bring the Icelanders into Pembina County.
Our Icelandic ancestors had such a difficult life during the early settlement years in the Gimli area,
that many of the Icelanders agreed to try a new colony further south on the edge of the Pembina Hills.
After the winter of 1877-1878, many people feared for the lives of their families. They could see that the living
conditions would not improve in New Iceland. Meetings were held and many reached the same conclusion:
They must find a new settlement.
Jóhann Hallsson and his son, Gunnar, Magnús Stefánsson, Sigurđur Josúa Björnsson, Árni Thorlaksson, and
Séra Páll joined together to search for land in the spring of 1878. Back in New Iceland, the Chairman of the Colony
Council, Ólafur Ólafsson from Espihóll, called a meeting where Séra Páll told them of his travels through
Pembina and Dakota Territory.
More and more men ventured south to the Pembina Hills area to inspect the land. Among them was Jón
Bergmann, who is the father of Friđrik Bergmann, who also became a pastor of this congregation.
The traveling was mostly done on foot because of the destitution the Icelanders endured.
From Gimli in New Iceland to the Pembina Hills is about 160 miles.
By the spring of 1879, Ólafur Ólafsson and Séra Páll finished circulating a petition and sent it to the Canadian
Government with the signatures of 130 families. They requested a release of the loans the Canadian
government had given them along with cows and other animals that were purchased with this money.
The petition was rejected. Through help from the Norwegian Synod, money was sent to assist the Icelanders.
The Norwegian Synod and the Norwegian immigrants had assisted the Icelanders with funds previously and
were highly regarded by Séra Páll and the Icelanders that they helped throughout the settlement period.
Other farmers and merchants also gave out loans, cattle, and equipment to the Icelanders with the promise to
repay with interest when they harvested their crops.
By the fall of 1879, about 50 families had moved to the Pembina Hills area. Most of them were destitute.
Séra Páll also had moved to Mountain permanently by this time, but he was seriously ill. Even though
he was extremely frail, he continued to conduct services and assist his countrymen in the best ways possible.
Three elementary schools in Pembina County were organized by him by January of 1880.
In the fall of 1880, Séra Páll writes;
‘‘At last there appeared to be good reason to believe our settlement would survive the coming winter,
for several farmers had a fair crop that autumn and our community had been augmented moreover, by the arrival
of a number of self-supporting individuals and even men of some means from Lyon County, Minnesota, and
Shawano County, Wisconsin. Quite a few of the settlers who had hired out as harvest hands returned to their
homes with appreciable sums of money, and we were also joined by people with means of their own who came
from Winnipeg and other places in Manitoba.’’
The first meetings to formally organize church congregations were held on the following dates:
24 Nov 1880 for the Gardar Congregation
30 Nov 1880 for the Mountain or Vikur Congregation
02 Jan 1881 for the Hallson Congregation
The second annual meeting for the Mountain congregation was held 04 Jan 1882. This was Séra Páll´s last
public function. At this meeting, his address to the members explains how precarious his condition has become.
He talks about resigning and their need to extend a call to another pastor. His pay for the year total from all three
congregations on the basis of individual donations was to be: $202 in cash, 29 bushels of wheat, 9 bushels of oats,
and 25 days of work.
He continues:
‘’I would particularly recommend to the congregations that they continue meeting for worship as they have the
past year and not let themselves become discouraged from this practice. Some people are reluctant to admit that
although Christ bade us pray to Him in private, he also commanded us to acknowledge and worship him publicly,
as prescribed by the word of God and as circumstances permit. To neglect the services which congregations and
pastors have dedicated to the public worship of God is a greater sin than is realized by men who give the matter but
passing thought...... I would, moreover, urge all my Christian countrymen in these settlements to take more interest
than some have up to now in attending congregational meetings and sharing our efforts to spread and extend the
kingdom of God.’’
At the beginning of the year 1882
To my congregations at Park,
Mountain and Tongue River.
Paul Thorlaksson
The end of a dictation from Séra Páll says,
‘‘If my account contributes to a better understanding of our settlement and the reasons for establishing it,
my purpose will have been realized. My countrymen at home, who struggle from year to year on hard, barren
soil, can comprehend more fully that the Lord has provided good land here, for them as well, if they have the
ability and the will to take advantage of it.
And so may the Lord be praised for His never failing help to us, undeserving sinners though we be.
Mountain Post Office, Pembina Co., Dakota, February 11, 1882.’’
Of course, Séra Páll had his detractors and the colony at New Iceland was severely split.
He kept working hard for his countrymen and wanted the best for them. Even though his health was failing,
he continued to strive for better living conditions for his flock.
Only after his death did many of his fellow countrymen, including some of his most vehement opponents, begin to
appreciate the extent of his contributions to the well-being of Icelanders in North America.
During the 1880s the Pembina settlement succeeded in holding its own. Little by little the farmers extended their
acreage and managed to wipe out their debts as well as those that Paul and his brother Haraldur had incurred on
their behalf.
After Séra Páll´s death on March 12, 1882, the Icelandic community in Pembina County did not have a pastor that
spoke their language for over a year. A call was made to Páll´s cousin, Hans Thorgrimsen. He had not completed
his education yet and was in St. Louis at Concordia Seminary. Additionally, he requested time for visiting Iceland
before coming to Dakota. His first service at Mountain was outside 05 Aug 1883.
On 10 Mar 1884, plans were made to build the Mountain Church on the lot Séra Páll had donated.
The church was 46 feet long by 28 feet wide and was built of oak beams. The construction began that spring and
except for the altar, pulpit, pews, and belfry, it was completed at the end of the summer in 1884. At this time, the
Mountain congregation was still associated with the Norwegian Synod. Gardar (Park) and Tongue River were not
affiliated with them at this time.
Pastor Thorgrimsen wanted all the Icelandic Lutheran congregations in Canada and in the United States to be united
in the Icelandic Lutheran Synod. In January of 1885, the Mountain congregation agreed to hold the first meeting of the
new Synod in Winnipeg the following June and this body became known as the Icelandic Evangelical Lutheran Synod
of America.
In the spring of 1886, the Reverend Hans Thorgrimsen received a call from the Norwegian congregations in Sioux
Falls, South Dakota. The Mountain congregation then sent a call to the Reverend Fridrik J Bergmann, newly ordained
upon his graduation from Mount Airy Seminary in Pennsylvania. Along with Mountain, he served three other churches.
His first service was at the church in Mountain on Sunday, 05 Jul 1886.
From ‘Saga Víkr-safnadar’ Sept. 1888 by Fridrik J Bergmann:
‘’Rev. Hans went on to become one of the most beloved ministers among the Icelanders in America. A
handsome, charming, well-built man, he was also gifted with a God-given voice, which although untrained was as
fine as that of the best professionals. His absolute stand against drink and dancing prompted the witty Icelandic
American poet K.N. Julius to satirize him unmercifully. After describing a wild scene of revelry where beer was
‘’overflowing’’ he closes the poem thus:
Ţar var söngur, ţar var dans,
Ţar ver ég og Séra Hans.
(There was song and there was dance, and there was I and Rev. Hans.) Rev. Hans was not amused!
|
