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Icarians

ICARIANS, a French communistic organization, which after the destruction of the Nauvoo Temple by fire on Oct. 9, 1848, bought the walls of the building with the intention of building a new roof and then using the house as a seminary for their people. But while they were in the act of re-constructing the edifice on May 25, 1850, a terrific gale crossed the river from the Iowa side and blew down the walls. The Icarians tried to rebuild Nauvoo, where they had secured much property at a trifling cost, but broke up their organization and were scattered, being unable to make a success of their plans concerning the rebuilding of Nauvoo.

Icelandic Mission

ICELANDIC MISSION embraced the island of Iceland, which is the second largest island belonging geographically to Europe. The island, which has an area of 38,709 square miles and a population of 104,000, is about 400 miles from the nearest point in Scotland and 500 miles from the nearest point in Norway. Iceland was granted independence by Denmark in 1918 with permanent neutrality. The present king of Denmark is acknowledged as sovereign. The climate of the southern part of Iceland is temperate, though wet and stormy. The principal [p.352] productions are hay, cattle, ponies, goats and sheep. Iceland’s main importance lies in its fisheries which are of considerable richness. The capital of Iceland is Reykjavik with a population of 25,000. In 1930 Iceland was included in the Danish Mission and contained only a few scattered members of the Church.

The history of the Icelandic Mission dates from the early part of the year 1851, when two young men, Thorarinn Haflidason Thorason and Gudmund Gudmundson, natives of Iceland, were converted to the restored gospel in Copenhagen, Denmark. Having learned trades in Denmark they were ready to return to their native land, but before leaving Denmark, Bro. Thorason was ordained a Priest and Bro. Gudmundson a Teacher by Apostle Erastus Snow. On their arrival in Iceland these two young men commenced to make propaganda, and a number of people on Westmanøen (a small island near the main land) believed their testimony, and Benedikt Hanson and his wife were baptized by Bro. Thorason. Shortly afterwards Bro. Thorason was accidentally drowned, while out fishing, and though Bro. Gudmundson continued to preach as a Teacher, he had no authority to baptize. He reported conditions to Pres. Erastus Snow in Denmark, who then greatly regretted that he had not followed the promptings of the Spirit and ordained Bro. Gudmundson an Elder before he left Denmark. Owing to difficulty in securing passports for missionaries, it was not until two years later (1853) that an Elder could be sent to Iceland. In that year Johan P. Lorentzen, of Copenhagen, landed on Westmanøen, where he found a few converts, whom he baptized and then ordained Bro. Gudmundson an Elder, and set him apart to preside over a branch of the Church which he organized June 19, 1853. Soon afterwards nearly all the members of the branch emigrated to America.