breidfjordpage6
Upham Centennial Book
Einar Jonsson Breidfjord
by
Thuridur Ingiborg Breidfjord Olafson
Einar Jonsson Breidjfjord and Gudny Jonasdottir were married in Borgum,
Skorgarstrond
Einar
Breidfjord and his wife Gudny
Willhelm and Thura
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Iceland in 1891. Einar was born August 2, 1864 in Laugum
in Hvammssveit, Iceland, Gudny March 30, 1873, Borgum Skorgarstrond,
Iceland. They lived with his parents until they sailed to America in
1894. The first Thuridur was born in Iceland and she was about three
months old when they sailed. She passed away a few weeks after their
arrival. Her name was the same as mine Thuridur Ingiborg. The summer
they came from Iceland, Dad herded sheep for a living. They made their
home with my grandfather Jonas Danielsson and his wife Johanna. They
were my mother's father and stepmother. The following year they moved
to a small sod house about one-half mile from the grandparents' home.
They lived here for a year or two. I was born while they lived on this
place and I was named for their first-born. Dad homesteaded on eighty
acres of land in the Mouse River settlement near Upham, McHenry, North
Dakota. His homestead papers were from 1895-1900. They built a house
here and it was where their first son was born.
The spring of 1901 they moved to Canada near Swan River. My memories
are not quite clear, as I was quite small I remember we drove by
covered wagon from Mouse River, ND, to Deloraine Manitoba. We arrived
the month of June; from Swan River we went twelve miles west where
mother had a sister and brother-in-law, Jónasína,
and
Guđmundur Laxdal. We stayed with them while Dad and
Grandpa
went to find land open for homesteading. They found land 15 miles
north east of Swan River, 4 ˝ miles east of Bowsman, where
they
had adjoining land. Einar homesteaded on SE 34-37-26-W1.
Finnur
Laxdal, and Jonas Danielsson homesteaded on the same section. The
buildings they erected were log cabins with sod roof and no floor.
During the time we spent with mother's sister the second Wilhelm Stein
was born. We moved to our new home when he was about two or three weeks
old. At that time there were no roads, only trails so the going was
quite rough and hard. The first summer we spent in Canada was very
rainy, the men tried to hay but it was too wet so the time was spent
making a barn for the livestock. This first year Grandpa and his
family, Mother and Dad and their family all lived together. In the
spring Grandpa built his house about one-half mile from our place.
Hardships plagued our family all the years we lived in Canada. The
first year Dad lost one of his horses so he had only one that he could
use, because the other was lame from a barb wire cut she could barely
walk, he sold her in the spring. In the spring the lambs died shortly
after birth. They only had five or six sheep. They had one cow named
Branda, one two-year old heifer, Krossa, and one yearling. The old cow
fell in the manger one night, the next morning they found her dead.
This really created a hardship as they just had two young heifers left.
After losing one horse and one getting wire cut this left only one
horse. Dad had to do his haying with a scythe and had to pack groceries
home from town on his back so life was very hard.
In 1902, a family named Skagfjords moved into the neighborhood, which
did help Dad because they had stock and they helped with things that
required horses. In return, Dad had to work very hard in the spring; he
helped them clear their land and lots of time he had to stand in water
up to his knees to do it. They lived about two miles from us. In the
winter Dad would help them with their chores in return for the help he
had received from them. Malfrida (Freda) and her
twin
brother, Daniel, were born November 27, 1903. Daniel passed away when
he was three months old. The following year Dad built a log house with a roof of lumber with
shingles and a floor. We thought we had a really nice home then. Soon
after this they acquired a team of oxen and the last year or so they
bought a team of horses. Asta, my youngest sister was born in 1909 in
Canada. Willhelm worked at Caverly’s planer when he
was
older. In 1915, they sold out in Canada and moved
back to
the Mouse River Loop near Upham. They had a farm in the sandhills east
of Upham until the government bought the land for a wild game refuge.
Then they lived for a time right east of Upham and then finally moving
into town. Thura returned to North Dakota when she was 18,
her family had soon followed. Additional Notes: Einar was a fisherman,
farmer, an intellectual and a genealogist.
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