First Icelandic Settlers in the United States

Monuments to the Emigrants of Vestmaneyjar, Iceland

Two monuments, one in Utah in the United States and another in Vestmaneyjar, Iceland. Both to commemorate the Icelandic pioneers who emigrated from Iceland to Utah between 1854 and 1914.

The Vestmaneyjar monument was dedicated on June 30, 2000. Present were representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the city council of Vestmaneyjar and the Icelandic Association of Utah. A representative from the Icelandic Association of Utah presented the gift to the people of Iceland.

The sculpture atop of the monument is an eight-foot-tall angel, titled “The Messenger". Each side panel has the name of all 410 emigrants. The inscription on the center pedestal, in both Icelandic and English, reads: “In Honor of the Icelanders that heard the call to build Zion and moved to Utah 1854 to 1914.”

On August 1, 1938, the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and the Icelandic Association of Utah dedicated a lighthouse monument commemorating the first permanent Icelandic settlement in the United States. The lighthouse is a replica of an Icelandic lighthouse and contains a Viking ship on top with the 16 original Icelandic immigrants’ names etched into the monument.

In June 2005, 65 years after it's dedication, another monument, listing the names of the 410 Icelandic emigrants who came to Utah was erected, a one-ton rock from Vestmaneyjar, Iceland was brought and mounted nearby and several plaques telling the history of Icelandic pioneers coming to Utah were added.

It all started in 1851 when two young men left their home in Vestmaneyjar to study in Denmark, Thorarinn Haflidason and Gudmundur Gudmundsson. While in Denmark the two met Mormon missionaries from the State of Utah. They were successfully converted as believers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Excitedly, they returned to Vestmaneyjar to tell others about their newfound faith. Sadly, Thorarinn drowned the following year, in 1852. but Gudmundur continued on the mission. To convert his people to his newfound faith.

By 1854 three of Gudmundur’s converts would be the first to to leave Iceland for Utah. Samúel Bjarnason and his wife, Margrét Gísladóttir, and a traveling companion, Helga Jónsdóttir. It would take no less than 300 days for them to get to their new homeland. In the Fall of 1854 they would take the first leg of their journey on a ship from Iceland to Liverpool, England, on a ship named James Nesmith. From England, they continued on via ship to New Orleans in the United States. From New Orleans they boarded a riverboat and headed to St. Louis, Missouri. After passing through Mormon Grove, the group arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on September 7, 1855.

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 sixteen Icelandic pioneers, it is said that the first settles would settl in Spanish Fork, Utah.

The Icelandic Association of Utah is social organization committed to keeping the history of the Icelandic settlers alive and passing it on to the next generation. The meet for social events throughout the year. To learn more please visit their website here: Home (utahicelanders.org). Consider supporting them by becoming a member and/or join in on one of their events to meet people with interest in the Iceland Lifestyle.

To visits these sites: 1) Icelandic Monument in Utah. 785 East Canyon Road, Spanish Fork, UT 2) Visit the Vestmannaeyjar Folk Museum on the Island of Heimay in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, called the “Icelandic Heritage Among the Mormons.” click here for the Museum's website: Sagnheimar – Byggðasafn Vestmannaeyja. The monument is nearby.