Jon and Gudrun Magnusson

Information Resources
Robert A. L. Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WASHINGTON 98447
Phone: (253) 535-7586 E-mail: archives@plu.edu

Jon and Gudrun Magnusson
A Guide to Their Oral History Interview

Administrative Information

Creator: Magnusson, Jon and Gudrun

Collection Nr: t202

File Content:
	3 file folders 8 photographs 1 sound cassette 0 compact discs

Processing Information:
	The interview was conducted using a cassette recorder. A research copy was also prepared from the original. To further preserve the content of the interview, it is now being transferred to compact disc. We deliberately did not transcribe the entire interview because we want the researchers to listen to the interviewee's own voice. The transcription index highlights important aspects of the interview and the tape counter numbers noted on the Partial Interview Transcription are meant as approximate finding guides and refer to the location of a subject on the cassette/CD. Interviewed by Inger Nygaard Carr Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky Husby Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler Recording Quality: Good, but Mr. Magnusson was often difficult to understand as he was tired and recovering from surgery at the time.
Restrictions:
	The collection is available for research.

Preferred Citation:
	[Collection Number, Collection Title] New Land New Lives Oral History Collection Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection Robert A.L. Mortvedt Library Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA 98447

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Scope and Content Note

This interview was conducted with Jon and Gudrun Magnusson on November 1, 1982 at Foss Home in Seattle, Washington. It contains information on their family background, emigration, marriage and family, the Icelandic Literary Society Vestri, and Icelandic traditions. The interview also includes family histories written by Jon and Gudrun, a copy of the Icelandic Club Newsletter that announces the 95th and 90th birthdays of Jon and Gudrun, and photographs of Jon and Gudrun's wedding day, the house that Jon built on NW 70th in Seattle, four generations of the Magnusson family, Jon and Gudrun on their 60th wedding anniversary, and Jon and Gudrun at the time of the interview. The interview was conducted in English.

Biographical Information

Jon Magnusson was born on October 1, 1886 in Myrasysla, Iceland to Magnus Gudmundsson and Thuridur Jonasdottir. Jon had two older siblings, Gudmundur and Ragnheidur, and when Jon was eight months old, the family immigrated to America. Unfortunately, his father died of heatstroke in New York, and the rest of the family was deported back to Iceland. Gudmundur was sent to a boys' home, Ragnheidur was taken in by a very nice family, and Jon was allowed to remain with his mother. In 1913, Jon and his mother immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jon did carpentry work for three years in Winnipeg, during which time he met his wife, Gudrun Lindal. Gudrun's parents were Icelandic and she was born in Langenburg, Saskatchewan on October 30, 1891.Gudrun was a teacher in Saskatchewan and was spending her summer vacation in Winnipeg with her aunt, from whom Jon was renting a room. After that summer, Jon did not see Gudrun again until 1920. In 1916, Jon moved to Seattle, Washington, where his brother lived. After Gudrun came to Seattle to care for her ailing sister, she and Jon corresponded for one year. They were married in Winnipeg and then moved to Ballard, Washington. They had three children: Robert, Anna, and Florence. Gudrun learned to read and write Icelandic while Jon's mother, who never learned English, lived with them. The Magnussons were very involved in Seattle's Icelandic community. They attended the Icelandic Church and were members of the Icelandic Literary Society Vestri. Jon and Gudrun have also maintained Icelandic traditions within their household, particularly Icelandic cooking. They returned to Iceland once in 1963.

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Lineage:
Full Name:	Jon Magnusson
Father:	Magnus Gudmundsson
Mother:	Þuridur Jonasdottir
Paternal Grandfather:	Rev. Jon Magnusson
Brothers and Sisters:	Gudmundur Magnusson Ragnheidur Magnusson
Spouse:	Gudrun Lindal
Children:	Robert Skuli Anna Lind Hodgson Florence Ingibjørg Sigga Lindal (adopted niece)
Full Name:	Gudrun Lindal Magnusson
Maiden Name:	Gudrun (Runa) Ingibjørg Lindal
Father:	Jakob Lindal Hansson
Mother:	Anna Hannesdottir
Paternal Grandfather:	Hans Natansson
Paternal Grandmother:	Kristin Thorvardardottir
Maternal Grandfather:	Hannes Throvardarson
Maternal Grandmother:	Holmfridur Jonsdottir
Brothers and Sisters:	Agost Lindal (August) Hannes Lindal Hansina Kristin Lindal Valdimar Lindal (Walter) Benedikt Johann Lindal Gudbrandur Skuli Lindal Jakob Lindal Holmfridur Anna (Freda) Lindal Magdalena Helga Lindal Rosalind Lindal Hans Peter Lindal
Spouse:	Jon Magnusson

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Selected Search Terms This collection is indexed under the following headings
Personal Names
	Magnusson, Jon Magnusson, Gudrun Gudmundsson, Magnus Jonasdottir, Þuridur Magnusson, Robert Hodgson, Anna (Magnusson) Ingibjørg, Florence (Magnusson)
Family Names
	Lindal family Mangnusson family
Geographical Names
	Myrasysla (Iceland) Langenburg (Sask.) Winnipeg (Man.) Seattle (Wash.)
Subjects
	Family -- Iceland Iceland -- Emigration and immigration Myrasysla (Iceland) -- Emigration and immigration Hanavatnsysla (Iceland) -- Emigration and immigration Christmas -- Iceland Naturalization Marriage service Iceland -- Festivals and celebrations Hallgrim's Congregation (Seattle, Wash.) Calvary Lutheran Church (Seattle, Wash.) Names, Personal -- Icelandic Vestri. Icelandic Literary Society (Ballard, Wash.)
Occupations
	Carpenters -- Washington (State) Teachers -- Washington (State)
Genre/Form
	Oral history
Institution
	Pacific Lutheran University. Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection

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Partial Interview Transcription

The partial interview transcription highlights important aspects of the interview. Numbers on the left may be used as guides to important subjects. Two numbers separated by a slash indicate that the first number is for cassette and the second for CD.

020 PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Name - Jon Magnusson. Born October 1, 1886. He was born in Myrasysla, Iceland which is not very far from Reykjavik and Borgarnes. Myrasysla is in the country. They were both from Myrasysla county. His father was a farmer and raised cattle and hay. They also had sheep.

185 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: He has a brother Gudmundur and a sister Ragnheidur.

217 TO AMERICA: First came to America with his parents when he was 8 months old . His father died after one day in New York. This was in August and he died of sunstroke. His mother was sent back.

275 TO AMERICA SECOND TIME: Came when he was 26 in 1913. He came to Winnipeg, Canada. He came over on a big ocean liner and wasn't sick.

309 WINNIPEG: He knew the carpenter trade and got a job finishing apartments. He stayed there for three years. His mother came too. His brother came earlier in 1912. His sister stayed in Iceland. His brother was in Washington State. After 3 years, Jon came to Seattle, Washington.

405 SEATTLE: He worked doing carpentry work in Seattle.

425 WIFE: Met her in Winnipeg, Canada. Her name was Gudrun Lindal. She was a schoolteacher.

450 ICELANDIC ORGANIZATIONS: There were lots of organizations in Winnipeg and he worked with Icelandic people.

462 LEARNING TO SPEAK ENGLISH: He picked it up at work. He didn't go to school except for a little night school.

477 CITIZENSHIP: It wasn't difficult. He studied a little bit.

495 MEETING HIS WIFE: When he came to Winnipeg in 1913 with his mother he rented a room with Gudrun's aunt. Gudrun was also there spending her summer vacation from teaching in Saskatchewan. This how they got acquainted. He didn't see her for 10 years after this.

544 SEATTLE: He came to Seattle in 1916 and they bought a house in Ballard. In 1920, her sister, Kristine Youel (?) became ill and Gudrun came to Ballard to care for her. The next day Jon came to visit. He took her on a tour of the area. After she left, they started corresponding for a whole year. That was their courtship.

617 MARRIAGE: They were married in Winnipeg. It was at her brother's home. She had a white dress and veil. They took the train that night to Vancouver, BC where they stayed for 4 days. When they were in Vancouver they were the attendants for her older sisters wedding.

664 BALLARD: They lived with his mother there. His mother died in 1939. She lived with them for 18 years.

680 ICELANDIC ACTIVITIES: She talks about the formation of the Icelandic church in Ballard.

697 WHY HE CAME TO SEATTLE: Work was poor in Canada at that time. He likes Seattle better.

730 SEATTLE: There were quite a few Icelandic people in Seattle. He went to the Icelandic church were he was a trustee.

745 VESTRI: Icelandic Social Club. They had the books for its library for 28 years. This group ended in 1965 when no one offered to take responsibility for the books when they moved to a different house and no longer had room for the library n their home. The group was called the Icelandic Literary Society Vestri and was founded in 1900 and in 1965 it was disbanded. Most of the books are in Icelandic and there wasn't enough call for them anymore. They were sold and or given to various libraries. The generations following don't read Icelandic and there is a lot of English literature in Iceland now.

835 Gudrun learned to read and write in Icelandic in her home. When she married Jon, his mother never learned English so they used Icelandic.

844 CHILDREN: The older two learned Icelandic, but quit using it when they went to school. They can still understand it. Robert is the oldest and was in WWII. (Continues at I-985.)

875 JON'S RETIREMENT: After he retired he kept on building some furniture. He kept some for himself and gave some to his children.

892 VISITS TO ICELAND: He and his wife went in 1963. Iceland has improved in every way. The manners of the people, the schools, and the university have improved. They have modern conveniences.

945 LIFE IN ICELAND: His mother worked for farmers and was allowed to keep Jon with her. He did chores to earn his keep. When he was 16 he moved to Reykjavik to learn a trade. He rented a house there. Later his mother joined him and kept house for him and from there they left for Canada. His sister was legally adopted by some very fine people that she never left. His brother was sent to a boys home. When he was about 10 he started to work for himself and take care of himself. In 1912, he emigrated to the US. Then Jon came in 1913.

985 CHILDREN: The three children are all university graduates. Robert had to stop in the middle to go to WWII. He came back and finished his studies and became an Executive Vice President of the Sellen Construction Company in Seattle. He married Dorothy McQuillian (?) of Seattle. They have one son, Jon, and he has two sons. Anna is married to Thomas Hodgson. She graduated from the University of Washington and started working for schools. They have three children: Marla is a teacher in Seattle; Kevin is a Chemical Engineer for the Weyerhaeuser Company; and Sally is in her second year at the University in Bellingham. Florence Ingibjorg graduated from PLC and married a man named Reep. They have three children: Karen who is school nurse; David who is a graduate of PLU; and Robert went to Eastern Washington University at Cheney, Washington.

1080 ICELANDIC FOODS: They had rice cooked in milk with currents in. Skyr which a pudding made from buttermilk. They also have a lot of boiled fish. Pannekaker (?) are real thin pancakes served rolled with sugar, jam, or berries inside.

SIDE II

010 ICELANDIC FOODS: Hangikjøt is smoked mutton which is served cold. They used brown, whole wheat, bread with molasses. This bread can be steamed or baked. Hard fish is cod which is dried hard so that you had to break or chew a piece off. This was considered a delicacy. Wienerkake (vineterta) was the chief coffeecake which was like cookie dough baked in cake pans. There were layers with prune jam in between the dough. Then once they were put together it was left to soften and later served with whipped cream.

160 ICELANDIC TRADITIONS: The children cook some of these things and keep the recipes.

195 CHRISTMAS TIME IN ICELAND: Sometimes they had a tree. They had a few presents.

225 SPOKEN ICELANDIC: Iceland has a woman president. He says a ditty in Icelandic about the names of animals.

287 ANIMALS IN ICELAND: Chickens, ponies, cows, cod, haddock, halibut, and all kinds of smaller fish.

302 FATHER: He was a farmer.

309 GRANDFATHER: He was a farmer. His name was Gudmundur Teidsson (?). This was Jon's paternal grandfather. His paternal grandmother was Ragnheidur Jonasdottir (?).

333 MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS: Jonas Jonsson (?) and Gudrun.

340 NAMES: All the women keep their father's name with dottir at the end. The woman is always someone's daughter.

364 CHRISTMAS IN CANADA: Gudrun tells what a wonderful time Christmas was for them on the farm. There were 12 in her family. Her older brother started in November to make the tallow candles. They used bottles for candleholders. Every child got a candle to walk around with. They didn't have a tree. Christmas began at 6 o'clock on Christmas Eve and everyone had to stop working. They always had something special to eat like pannekaker (?), brown bread, the layer cake and smoked mutton. They were allowed to stay up as late as they could. Christmas Eve was the holy day and Christmas Day was another good day. They had some presents and one time she got a doll with a china head. They enjoyed what they got. This was in the early immigrant days in Saskatchewan, Canada.

480 CHURCH: When they could reach church they would go for Christmas. Sometimes there would be services held in the schoolhouse.

495 GUDRUN'S FATHER'S IMMIGRATION: They came to Canada in 1887 with 4 children. Gudrun was born in 1891. They came from Hanavatnsysla, Iceland which was in the west. Her father was a farmer. They came to Winnipeg, Canada were they stayed for three years. Then they moved to the country in Saskatchewan were Gudrun was born.

542 REASONS FOR EMIGRATION: Her father wasn't happy with the work that he had. He wanted to try something new. He was very ambitious. He was interested in a different country. He was interested in education and world affairs.

564 TRIP TO US: It was a slow trip to cross the ocean. It took six days.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Administrative Information

Scope and Content Note

Biographical Information

Lineage:

Selected Search Terms

Partial Interview Transcription