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Volcanic eruptions, lack of farmland, illnesses, and polar ice that halted the fishing industry were just a few of the reasons that our ancestors left Iceland. Other hardships included social and economic underdevelopment, trade monopolization, religious issues, and overcrowding of the inhabitable land. Between 1870 and 1914, over a quarter of Iceland’s population immigrated to North America. They left their homeland, enduring a difficult voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in primitive, cramped ships. Many people died or became very ill on their journey, taking that chance for a better life in America.
Ship agents in Iceland encouraged immigration by promoting the farmland associated with homesteading, and the wide open, rich land. Many Icelanders traveled together, as did many other ethnic groups, so they could stay near their friends and kinsmen, speak together, and keep their customs. The new settlers faced many hardships in their new homeland and traveled far distances to reach their destinations. The majority of the first settlers in Thingvalla were those who left the Canadian settlements. After the initial settlement of 1878-1880, people started coming directly from Iceland to Dakota Territory, and by 1883 essentially all the land was taken. In 1893, Thingvalla township had 130 landowners listed on the 1893 Plat Map.
In 1889, the Icelandic immigrants in the Eyford region of Thingvalla Township, Pembina County, North Dakota, organized the Thingvalla Lutheran Church as a religious society. The charter members of the Thingvalla Lutheran Church were: J. Sigurdson, Magnus Snowfield, Sigurbjorn Gudmundson, Bjarni Dagson, Jakob Eyford, Johann Sigurdson, Snaebjorn Hannesson, Eyolfur Benediktson, Jon Thordarson Breidfjord, Einar Sigurdson, Sigurdur Thorsteinn Asmundson, Asmundur Asmundson, Gunnar Einarson, Gunnlaugur Jonsson, Jon Asmundson, Anne Kr. Jonsdottir, and Sigurdur Bjarnason.
The church and their religion was an important part of the pioneer’s life. They worked together to build a beautiful church in the center of their community. The Eyford region is located about four miles south of the town of Mountain and about half way between the towns of Mountain and Gardar. The church was located on the east side of Highway 32. Thingvalla Township was named after the Icelandic homeland of Þingvellir.
The original church structure was a 26 x 40 foot building with a 52-foot bell tower. The construction cost was about $2500. The Thingvalla cemetery and church is built on land that was donated by one of the earliest Icelandic pioneer homesteaders, Jón Ásmundsson, from Kolfreyjustaður, Suður Múlasýsla, Iceland. The original committee to solicit collections toward building a church was composed of Jakob Eyford, Bjarni Dagson, and Olafur Olafsson. The building committee was Jakob Eyford, Job Sigurdson, and Sigurbjorn Gudmundson.
The church was dedicated on August 9, 1893. The first services were conducted by Rev. Fridrik J. Bergmann for $6.00 per sermon and he was paid for the year on December first of each year. Membership of the church on June 24, 1889, was 49 confirmed and 40 not confirmed. Sunday School was started during the pioneer days in 1890. Other clergy are listed on the Clergy Page.
The Eyford community draws its name from Jakob Sigurðsson Eyford, (1827-1921). He emigrated from Eyjafjarðarsýsla, Iceland in 1873 with his wife, Guðlaug Benediktsdóttir (1835-1909) and six children. He came in 1881 to North Dakota from New Iceland, Manitoba and his home was in the center of the community for many years. He took the surname of Eyford since his homeland was the county of Eyjafjörður, Iceland. He donated land for the post office, store, and the community center. They were located where an old oxcart trail crossed one branch of the Park River. These buildings were in use until the 1970’s. But the church, was still used for special services and remained a prominent landmark in the community until the tragic fire in 2003.
The Eyford Ladies Aid was formed in 1892 and they made many contributions of time and money to the church. The first purchase was a large bell to place in the steeple to call the members to the church. They also helped to fund the purchase of the pump organ, pews, pulpit, and the light fixtures in 1953. They continued through the years to keep the church looking beautiful and clean.
Kristján Níels Jónsson Júlíus (1859-1936), a satirical poet, was born in Akureyri, Iceland. K.N. or Káinn as he was known at the time, labored for most of his adult life in our rural community. Many of the graves in the Thingvalla Cemetery had been dug by him and he was the last grave digger in the Thingvalla community. The following is taken from an old newspaper, “He went at his task as if he were making up a bed for a tired friend, said his close friend, Dr. Rognvaldur Petursson, and most of those buried there were the poet’s personal friends. Here he, too, rests now on the grassy flat, with a small stone at his head. But at the side of the church stands a stately monument with his likeness carved into it. It was placed there by the friends and admirers of K.N. in the United States and Canada, but designed by the neighbors, who thankfully remember the poet whose gentle humor lightened their burdens and eased their struggles for half a century, brought sunshine into their homes, and was an ever active geysir of fun and easy, original wit. Poor as he was in terms of material possessions, K.N. enriched these communities and set their cultural atmosphere as no other man has.” He was a unique, beloved poet and humorist. Some of his poems became published in two books. This large monument, dedicated to K.N. Julius, was located on the north side of the church. You can see this monument on our photo page. It was originally built in 1936 and was reconstructed in 1999 in conjunction with the 100th Annual “Deuce of August Celebration.”
The Thingvalla Church separated from the Icelandic Lutheran Synod in 1910 due to a disagreement between members over the doctrine of plenary inspiration. This is the doctrine that the Bible is inspired not in part but fully, in all its elements alike. That all things discoverable by reason as well as mysteries, matters of history and science as well as of faith and practice, words as well as thoughts were inspired by God. They felt that the writers of the Bible were supernaturally guided to express exactly what God intended them to express as a revelation of His mind and will. Difficulties and phenomena that are unexplainable are not errors but a communication from God that expresses all He wished.
The minority members of the congregation, with backing from the Icelandic Synod, filed legal action against the majority members for ownership of the church stating that the majority members had departed from original faith and violated the constitutions of the church and synod. The minority members eventually lost the case upon the ruling of the North Dakota Supreme Court in 1914.
Secretary minutes can be read at the link opening the Secretary Minutes page.
The Thingvalla Lutheran Church held services about once a month during the summer. They remained a part of a larger parish of other churches that made up the Pembina Hills Lutheran Church congregation. This congregation of churches rotated services through each church in the summer months and consolidated their services during the year to the churches in Mountain and Gardar. This larger congregation was formed in 1984 from a base of members from five Icelandic churches in the area. This step was taken because of a dwindling rural population, and in order to preserve and maintain the church buildings as active sites of worship.
In 2001, Preservation North Dakota honored Thingvalla with the Preservation Excellence Award. The church members had accomplished many restoration projects and repairs to the exterior.
In June 2003, the Thingvalla Lutheran Church was destroyed because of an accidental fire, which started during construction work, being done to preserve the building. The Thingvalla Lutheran Church was nearly 110 years old at the time of the fire.
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