Utah Icelandic Settlement

Two natives of Iceland, Þorarinn Hafliðason and Guðmundur Guðmundsson, while studying in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1851, met two Mormon missionaries from Utah. After careful investigation, they converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They returned to their homeland to share their newfound faith. In 1852, Þorarinn drowned at sea. Guðmundur carried on the proselytizing activities. Many converts were baptized on the shore of Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland.

Samúel Bjarnason and his wife, Margrét Gísladóttir, and a traveling companion, Helga Jónsdóttir, were the first converts to leave Iceland for Zion, in Utah. They sailed from Iceland in the fall of 1854 to Liverpool, England, on the ship James Nesmith. From England, they continued on to New Orleans, where they boarded a riverboat headed to St. Louis, Missouri. After passing through Mormon Grove, the group arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley 7 September 1855, three hundred days after their departure from Iceland. Brigham Young, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, directed Samúel, Margrét, and Helga to settle in Spanish Fork, Utah. With a foundation of sixteen Icelandic pioneers, the first permanent Icelandic settlement in the United States was established in Spanish Fork.

Nearly four hundred Icelanders immigrated to Utah from 1854 to 1914. Before 1869, Icelanders made the trip to Utah by sailing on ships, traveling in wagon trains, and pulling handcarts. After that time, they traveled to Utah by steamship and train. Because the pioneers had very little money to help themselves or others, they found it necessary to work together as they settled in their new homes. In 1897 the Icelanders in Spanish Fork held their first Icelanders Day. Kate B. Carter wrote, “The Iceland people in Utah are said to have preserved the folklore and customs of their mother country more than any other nationality that pioneered in Utah.”

Icelanders that returned to Iceland, as missionaries, after immigrating to Utah were; Loftur Jónsson, Magnús Bjarnason, Þórður Diðriksson, Samúel Bjarnason, Einar Jónsson, Jón Eyvindsson, Jakob Baldvin Jónsson, Gísli Bjarnason, Pétur Valgarðsson, Eiríkur Ólafsson, Einar Eiríksson, Halldór Jónsson, Halldór B. Jónsson, Þórarinn Bjarnason, Jón Jóhannesson, Loftur Bjarnason and Jón Júlíus Sveinsson. Elias W. Eiriksson son of Einar Eiríksson went to Iceland with his father in 1913. Johan P. Lorentzen was sent to Iceland, in 1853, to assist Guðmundur after Þorarinn died at sea.

Before 1869, Icelanders made the trip to Utah by sailing on ships, traveling in wagon trains, and pulling handcarts. After that time, they traveled to Utah by steamship and train. Because the pioneers had very little money to help themselves or others, they found it necessary to work together as they settled in their new homes. In 1897 the Icelanders in Spanish Fork held their first Icelanders Day. Kate B. Carter wrote, “The Iceland people in Utah are said to have preserved the folklore and customs of their mother country more than any other nationality that pioneered in Utah.”

In 1887 the Icelandic members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built a meetinghouse, where they conducted church services in Icelandic because many of them found it difficult to learn English. In 1892 the Icelandic Lutherans of Spanish Fork built a small frame church where the sermons were taught in Icelandic and English. Runolfur Runolfsson, who had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Iceland and immigrated to Spanish Fork, converted back to Lutheranism and led this congregation.

A lighthouse monument honoring the Icelanders who settled in Utah was built on the east bench of Spanish Fork at 800 East and Canyon Road in 1938. Andrew Jensen, a historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dedicated the monument on August 2, 1938, as part of the Iceland Days celebration. J. Victor Leifson and Eleanor B. Jarvis were co-chairs for the monument project. Gesli Bearnson donated the land and John K. Johnson designed the monument in the shape of a lighthouse, reflecting the seafaring background of the Icelanders. Fred Wilson built the original Viking ship on the monument.

The centennial celebration of the first Icelanders coming to Utah was held on June 15–17, 1955. Elder Anthony R. Ivins of the First Council of Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, opened the celebration as a keynote speaker during a religious service on Wednesday, June 15. Elder Ivins replaced Elder Henry D. Moyle of Twelve Apostles, who had been called to Texas on Church business. The celebration concluded with a parade on Friday, June 17, a national holiday in Iceland.

Byron T. Geslison, his wife, Melva, and their twin sons, David and Daniel, were called to Iceland in 1975 to renew the missionary effort of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When the Geslisons arrived in Iceland there were no missionary discussions or tracts in Icelandic. Byron had the Voice of Warning and Truth, written by Thordur Didriksson in 1879, re-printed to use as a missionary tract. The Icelandic government officially recognized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1 November 1983.

The centennial celebration of Iceland Days was held in Spanish Fork, Utah in 1997. Iceland’s President, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, and his wife, Guðrun Katrín Þorbergsdóttir, attended the event. President Grímsson and his wife were honored by Spanish Fork City as the grand marshal of the Fiesta Days parade on July 24th. President Grímsson and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke at a pioneer heritage fireside.

The first Þorrablót was held in Utah in the spring of 1998. It was at a board meeting that the possibility of having Thorrablot came up, and the board of directors voted to try this Icelandic event. Oli Olafsson was at the board meeting and made arrangements for the thorramatur to be brought in from Iceland. The event was held at the Spanish Fork Veterans Memorial Building.

On 30 June 2000, in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, a monument honoring the nearly four hundred emigrants from Iceland to Utah was dedicated by Elder William Rolfe Kerr, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The monument overlooks the North Atlantic Ocean and what was is known as Mormon Pond the location where many early Mormon converts were baptized.

At Hofsos, Iceland the exhibit “The Road to Zion” was opened by Iceland’s President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson on 3 July 2000. The exhibit shows how Icelanders joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and went to settle in Utah in the mid nineteenth century. It tells the tale of the first settlers, their difficult journey over sea and land, and their lives and those of their descendants to the present day. This exhibit was moved to the Culture House in Reykjavik, opening 5 May 2005.

A sesquicentennial celebration was held on 23–26 June 2005, 150 years after the first Icelanders arrived in Utah. The Icelandic monument in Spanish Fork, Utah was given a face lift for the occasion. Major additions to the new Icelandic Memorial include 1) a rock brought from the shores of Vestmannaeyjar, 2) eight bronze plaques describing the history of the Icelanders of Utah, 3) a new granite monument to all the Icelandic emigrants, listing the names of nearly four hundred Icelanders who traveled to Utah before 1914. The new Icelandic Memorial was dedicated by Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on 25 June 2005. Iceland’s President, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, also spoke at the dedication of the new memorial.