|
|
The Tale of Runa, Guðrún and The Pipers By Roy Einar Christopherson The third Tale |
 |
Runa 'Thorsteinson' Thordarson, born 17 Mar 1895,Washington [1]. Died 28 Dec 1986 at Seattle, WA [2] Residence: 1900 Blaine City, Whatcom, Washington [3]. In 1910 at Point Roberts, Whatcom, Washington [4]. Daughter of Dagbjort 'Dagbjartsdottir' Þorsteinsson and Helgi Þorsteinsson. Runa 'Thorsteinson' Thordarson married Benjamin Thordarson (Photo to the right) On May 19th, Roy had information from Pauline DeHaan, many cousins and family, all come together painting a picture of Roy's grandmother, Guðrún Runa nee 'Thorsteinsson/Stoneson' Christopherson and her best friend Runa 'Thorsteinson' Thordarson. In America we usually spell Guðrún as Gudrun. For without Pauline and their help, this tale might not of been told! Imagine your great grandparents taking a train after leaving, their homeland of Iceland, forming a friendship with another couple, that lasts their whole lifetime, and more importantly continues with their children; Guðrún & Runa. Here is an example of just that, Lifetime Friends. |
 |
|
|
|||
RUNA'S SIBLINGS: 1. Groa Þorsteinsson 2. Runa 'Thorsteinson' Thordarson (self) 3. Elsa Þorsteinsson |
RUNA'S CHILDREN: 1. Helgi Thordarson Hilda Thordarson Margret Thordarson |
Verify Dagbjort Thordarson, b. 14 Aug 191 |
 IMG_SCAN_3889 Runa to Gudrun Post Card of Pt.Roberts Copyright Runa Thordarson Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Collection |
 IMG_SCAN_3889-Back Back side |
|
|---|---|---|
 IMG_SCAN_3370 Helgi & Margret Thordarson of Pt.Roberts Correction: That is Helgi and my mother Hilda. From Hilda's son, Runa's Grandson Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Christopherson Collection |
 IMG_SCAN_3379 Little Dagbjort Hilda (4 months old) Verify Runa is mother. Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Collection |
Other photos Roy has IMG_SCAN_3438_PC_Wagon_helgithordarson IMG_SCAN_3447_PC_UnknownBoy100_helgi.margaret_thordarson IMG_SCAN_3460_PC_runa.ben_thordarson IMG_SCAN_3462_PC3_Glossyruna.thordarson_icelandicoutfit IMG_SCAN_3473_PT.Roberts_04.09.1915_RunaT to GudrunChristopherson IMG_SCAN_3464-PC_PtRoberts IMG_SCAN_3465_PC_PtRoberts IMG_SCAN_3408_StonesonOddst IMG_SCAN_3881_Runa_SIZE (youngest of Runa) IMG_6164_SCAN_pt.roberts_newsletter All of Runa's photyos have been placed into an jAlbum SlideShow for the family only here. |
On April 14, 2013, Roy emailed Gary Simundson photo #3404 and the back with names on it. Two names stuck out, as every person was not recognized in the many photos in the collections. The names Helgi and Margaret. Knowing Gary´s family connection [see below], Roy sent a copy to him. Here is his response 'Jackpot! The "our children..." mentioned on the back of the photo are Runa Thodarson's. Margaret is holding the blonde baby (Amy), the little boy [sic Girl] Hilda is holding must be Ricky and Charlotte (wife of Runa's son Helgi, adult male in back row far right) is holding Dorothy who happened to have spent Easter with us this year!...' |
"Our chlidren and all eleven grand children. Home together for the first time this summer " |
|
 |
IMG_SCAN_3404 circa ___ Standing - back row, L to R: Steven Castellano [14], Mike Castellano [16], Philip Thordarson [16], Helgi Thordarson - See image 3370 above left women seated: Margaret THORDARSON Kragness, holding Amy [2 1/2]; Hilda THORDARSON Castellano, holding Rick [3]; Charlotte Thordarson, holding Dorothy [2]. Standing left: David Kragness [6], Verna Kragness [8] Standing right: Runa Marie Thordarson (dark hair) [13]; Kristina Thordarson (blond hair) [12] |
To view the whole family, visit Dagbjort Thorsteinson's page here |
CIRCA 1920 |
Groa and Kolbeinn Simundson Roy makes another discovery this evening. For a year he wonders who Groa and Kolbeinn were, and why there are photos of them, not just a few, but many photos. There were postcards and photos of their entire life, probably sent to Gudrun! It is hard for us in this day and age, to understand the past. With the Internet connecting us in less than a minute, to any point in the world, to find something like this book posted in PT. Roberts, or even Sagas in Iceland. We cannot imagine mail arriving by boat once a week. Photographs were new in the late 1800s and became less expensive to send to relatives or friends. When was the last time you sent relatives photos of the family? Groa was the 2nd born of Helgi Þorsteinsson and Dagbjort 'Dagbjartsdottir' Þorsteinsson, known as Daga. Groa married Kolbeinn Simundson, who became Reverend. There are many unknown family or friends in the collection of photo scans by Roy, the mystery of who Groa and Kolbeinn, for this family historian has been solved. The mystery photo of the Baby in the Buggy may have an answer after all, since Roy has a few more pages of 'Echoes of the Past' to read. See image 3379 below. While dedicated pages of this whole family may not be required on these findings, even though no relation has been found...yet, Runa's family are Icelanders, thus, at some point, our relatives. Roy had to create this page! Finding this treasure creates a new puzzle to solve after reading the following... "Crystal Water Beach was part of the homestead of a family named Taylor from the eastern United States. Mr. Taylor, of English descent, established a home and orchard near the present junction of Robert Drive and Waters Road." Is this our William Taylor? Reviewing timelines, our Taylor was at Argyle District, Manitoba, Canada, NW 36-5-14 Taylors Hill in 1881 and passes away. Found Daga's actual gravestone...I think. Like playing darts, Roy just keeps throwing them (searches on the Internet) until he hits the board or get a bullseye. The birthdate seems to match. Bulls-eye! http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Thorsteinson&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=7102449& Now before I got to this page with many Thorsteinsons. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GSfn=&GSmn=&GSln=Thorsteinson&GSby=&GSbyrel=in&GSdy=&GSdyrel=in&GScntry=0&GSst=0&GSob=n Yeah, internet searching gets over-whelming. Without photos of them, this is the next best thing. Just wondering if related having same name. A common name. As stated on Runa's story, Stone Stoneson met her parents on the train. Thorsteinson is almost as common as Smith. |
 IMG_SCAN_3331 Rev.Kolbienn & Groa Simundson wedding day Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Christopherson Collection |
 IMG_SCAN_3602 Rev. Kolbeinn and his second wife Sara (Scott) Simundsson wedding photo 1953 Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Christopherson Collection |
 IMG_SCAN_3890 Simundson Family Xmas Card cropped Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Christopherson Collection |
|
| Other Photos not posted IMG_SCAN_3602_Simondsons copy IMG_SCAN_3890_PC_Xmas_Simundsons |
IMG_SCAN_3891_PC_Xmas2_Simundsons IMG_SCAN_3894_Rev Simundson |
IMG_SCAN_3897_Groa and Kolbeinn Simundson IMG_SCAN_3898_Groa and Kolbeinn SimundsonFamily (roadside picnic) |
| Kolbeinn and Groa's children are | |||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
1.
Leonard |
2.
Jonas K |
3.
Dorothy |
4.
Marjory |
5.
Luther (Gary's father) |
6.
Daniel |
 IMG_SCAN_3218 Marjory SIMUNDSON Wesen Nursing School Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Collection |
The Pipers Whoa, If the child is correct which I do not recall seeing before, this may be the connection to The Pipers! Children: Elsa Dorothea Thorsteinson Piper (1903 - 2005) I have a bunch of postcards from The Pipers of this little girl to a young woman. The Christmas cards are very elaborate for the time. Wow! Look, there is an Elsa listed as possibly the mother. Leads to here. |
 Backside of Photo to the right |
|---|
|
Hi Roy, I visited your webpage and it is very interesting. You have done a lot of good research. Dagbjort's diary has been made into a small booklet by her daughter (now deceased) Runa, (the photographer) and is in the Point Roberts library called "Echoes Of The Past". Runa wrote it in the 1980's, I believe. Pauline Pauline is in contact with Runa's nieces and Paul and Dorothea in Point Roberts, WA. Roy ends this Tale of Runa, Gudrun and The Pipers with photos of one child. Possibly the baby above, Nancy. Atleast until he receives a group photo of the family . Runa's story and this tale were so compelling he wrote this out throughout one evening into the following day. |
 IMG_SCAN_3386_Pipers Gary says ''this is Elsa’s daughter, not Groa’s´´ Courtesy of The Sig & Hank ChristophersonCollection |
 IMG_SCAN_3377 Nancy Dagna Piper Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Christopherson Collection |
Source: Crystal Water Beach - History of Point Roberts - Read 'Echoes of the Past' at this website Article By Dermott McInnes |
Other photos Roy may have of Runa's |
||
IMG_SCAN_3489_PC_TheDyke, long shot down the top of the dyke. IMG_SCAN_3405_runa.thordarson IMG_SCAN_3408_StonesonOddst IMG_SCAN_3493, Public School IMG_SCAN_3494_PC_Cannery. |
IMG_SCAN_3495_PC_LogCabin, Cabin and mud with shingle roof,partial view of two walls, door and roof. Logs extend past corners of walls. Pointed end-2 angle cuts. Text: DESERTED...text faded into the overgrown ferns in front of cabin. BACK: Ranka Johnson to Rooney (Roy's G.M.), Mar 3, 1914. ...The Seattle Icelanders are going to have a play here Tues night. "El?neyer's Anrikikj...last letter might be an R We have this picture in the archives.I assume it a log cabin that was already here when the Icelandic settlers arrived. The Clark book mentions an article about Henry Roeder, claimed to be "one of the two first white settlers in Whatcom County" who fished at Point Roberts in 1854. He wasn't the only one who came for the fishing and we have no idea who built the cabin, nor where it was located. We consider ourselves lucky that Runa took so many pictures as a young girl and that we have the negatives in the archives., Pauline |
MG_SCAN_3497. Photo of light bldg. entrance, back in Icelandic. 9. IMG_SCAN_3496_PC_3 House, Three houses IMG_SCAN_3881_PC_RunaThordarson_Closeup copy, Back:... Remember me your friend IMG_SCAN_3863_Their-Ship_Ch_UnknownBoy100_Helgi Thordarson, Runas son_simmundsson IMG_SCAN_3918_House_Runa.benThordarson__Front IMG_SCAN_3920_Xmas_Runa and Ben Probably by another Photographer IMG_SCAN_3489_PC_TheDyke IMG_SCAN_3490_PC_Pt.Roberts, waves coming onto the beach IMG_SCAN_3491_PC_Flood.PtRoberts, possibly the dyke broke. Marked 5. 1913-1914 IMG_SCAN_3492_PC_MessHouse. PtRoberts, G&B CO. |
New Slideshow Album available to Daga's family only Log-In Required http://www.christopherson.net/genealogy/protectedalbums/thordarson_runa/ |
 IMG_SCAN_3382 Roy believes this to be at the PT. Roberts Cannery. Trees similar to that area. Buildings and piers look same in the full Cannery photo Courtesy of The Sig & Hank Collection |
Other Tales by Roy Tale of Two Photos Tale of Wrangler Kay Background: "Ben and Runa owned Ben's Store, the one and only store on Point Roberts to be open all year long. Runa used postcards such as this for their Christmas greetings to friends and customers. The store was one of those good old fashioned "we have everything" type of stores. One resident remembers being able to do all her Christmas shopping right there with fancy boxes of chocolate, perfumes and all sorts of stuff. If you couldn't find it at Ben's, you had to travel to Bellingham an hour plus each way in those days, or into Canada to Ladner, B.C. or up to Vancouver B.C. She (Runa) did a lot of photography and we have her to thank for a lot of historical images of Point Roberts in earlier years. She probably is the photographer that did most of your postcards as she would write "Point Roberts" on the postcard and had them printed on card stock. Pauline |
| Research Groa, she married Kolbein Simundsson who became a Lutheran Minister in Seattle, perhaps in the Ballard area. I should mention that their youngest son, Dan Simundson, became Dean of the Lutheran Theological College in Minnesota." Pauline, Point Roberts Historical Society, P. O. Box780, Point Roberts, WA 98281 Blaine Icelanders have a website you could contact for information. The contact person is Rob Olason. |
| Grand daughter of Helgi and Daga Roy found Sylvia Schonberg first quite awhile ago. She is the grand daughter of Helgi and Daga, daughter of Laugi, and still resides at PT. Roberts. We have never been in contact. Sylvia Schonberg is a Point Roberts native whose grandparents, Helgi and Dagbjort Thorsteinson, were among the founding members of Trinity’s congregation. She began playing the organ at Trinity at thirteen years of age and has being playing since then at churches wherever she has been. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree at Washington State University , she raised a family of six children before beginning her teaching career. Later she received a Master’s Degree in School Counseling from Western Washington . Sylvia returned to Point Roberts in 1987 and has been since then Trinity’s organist and pianist and member of the Worship and Music Committee. Here is Helgi´s lineage back in time. Courtesy of the great Helgi Helgason, who Roy is greatly appreciative of his work in genealogy in Iceland. What is the meaning of GUDRUN In Icelandic, it is spelled this way, and I suppose it should be posted exactly as thus - Guðrún GENDER: Feminine USAGE: Norse Mythology, Scandinavian, German In 2004, it was ranked first before Anna and Sigríður. According to Icelandic custom, people are generally referred to by first and middle names and patronyms are used if disambiguation is required. In Old Norse, Goðrún was an alternative version. The Faroese equivalent is Guðrun and the mainland Scandinavian version is Gudrun. source PRONOUNCED: Goo-Da-Roon. The d is more like TH Meaning & History From the Old Norse name Guðrún meaning "god's secret lore", derived from the elements guð "god" and rún "secret lore". In Norse legend Gudrun was the wife of Sigurd. After his death she married Atli, but when he murdered her brothers, she killed her sons by him, fed him their hearts, and then slew him. Many girls in Iceland are named Runa, and many of them are called Runa if their first names are actually Guðrún. Disclaimer: Roy retouched the Intro photo of Guðrún & Runa. He believed if Runa had the same tools, she would do the same. Only possible due to having other photos of both of them, which were almost exact in pose, age and features, which Roy used Photoshop Dodge & Burn tools. This Tale has not been approved by Runa's family. Any corrections are welcomed. Sources: [1, 2, 3, 4] Ancestry.com, Public Member Trees (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Runa Thorsteinson. |
