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The Vatnsdal family figures in importance
in caring for
Guðrún Halldórsdóttir
(Valdemar's mother) in her old age. This becomes apparent in the
1920 US Census, when she, as Guðrún Gislason, and her husband,
Jonas, are listed as "Mother-in-law" and "Father-in-law" of the
Johann J. Vatnsdal family. In this 1905 accounting, we see
that Johann (Gudmundsson) Vatnsdal and his wife, Una, are living
with their son, Johann, and daughter-in-law, Jonna (?).
Somewhere between this 1905 Minnesota census and the 1920 US
census, Una dies and Johann marries Guðrún Halldórsdóttir.
Where does the surname "Vatnsdal"
originate? Icelandic Genealogical expert, Halfdan Helgason,
states that in 1889, a Jóhann
Guðmundsson, age 50, and his wife Una Stefánsdóttir, age 54,
emigrated in 1889 from the farm Brúsastaðir in Húnavatnssýsla.
The farm Brúsastaðir is in a region in
the county of Húnavatnssýsla called Vatnsdalur. On arriving
in North America, Jóhann Guðmundsson must have chosen
a new surname that reminded him of the country he had left
behind in Iceland , and became known as Jóhann Vatnsdal in
the new land.The connection
between the Vatnsdals and
Guðrún Halldórsdóttir-Gislason,
must be Johann J. Vatnsdal's wife, who is listed in the
various census from 1905-1920 as "Jonna," "Valdenna" and "Jonina."
What remains unclear is her connection to Guðrún. Is she
Guðrún's own daughter, or her step-daughter?
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