When the Icelanders came into the northern portion of present-day Argyle in 1880, they soon formed communities centred around Bru in the east and Grund north of present-day Baldur.

Some of the first settlers in the Argyle district were folk from Iceland and by 1884, their numbers were sufficient to band into organized groups and start to plan the building, of a place to worship. On New Year's Day, 1884, the first meeting took place at Mr. and Mrs. Bjorn Watterson's. Thirty-six persons agreed to form the first Icelandic Lutheran Congregation and thus be the charter members. This was named Frikirkju Congregation at Bru.

On Jan. 6, 1884, a second meeting was held in the western part of the community where 35 more members were added to the congregation. Within a year the congregation had grown to 90 members. First deacons were Bjorn Jonsson, Kristjan Jonsson, and Jon Olafsson. First trustees were Bjorn Jonsson, Skafti Arason and Skuli Anderson. First service was held Oct. 24, 1884.

Distance and mode of travel hampered the progress and continued growth of the congregation. The result was that on July 26, 1885, the Frelsis Congregation (Grund) was organized to serve the western community. The two congregations later reached a compromise to build a church at Grund. This was done and the church built in 1889. Therefore these two congregations of Frikirkju (Bru) and Frelsis (Grund) worked together in harmony for over 20 years and shared the same church building.

(Source: Come Into Our Heritage, p 23, pp 183ff [1981; Adapted])

This is the oldest standing Icelandic Lutheran Church in Canada. It was built in 1889 by volunteers under the direction of carpenters Byring Hallgrimsson and Arni Sveinson. The wood frame structure built on a simple rectangular plan, is representative of late nineteenth-century church architecture in rural Manitoba.

The prevailing taste for the gothic revival style is expressed here with the pointed windows and delicate window tracery on the tower.

Many of the early congregation members first settled in New Iceland (Gimli) in the late 1870's, before homesteading in the Municipality of Argyle in the 1880's. In 1964, Frelsis Congregation joined Baldur Immanuel Lutheran Church

(Source: Rural Municipality of Argyle website, [2024/02; Adapted])

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Established in 1882, the plots are 16 feet (~4.9 m) square and numbered 1-14 from south to north. The rows of plots are numbered 1-15 from east to west.

A walkway 2 feet wide is left all around each plot.

Many of the inscriptions are in Icelandic and are not readily written in English because several characters have no English equivalent.

(Source: Manitoba Genealogical Society [2003; Adapted])

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Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD10-12-06-14-W1

In the Rural Municipality of Argyle

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As noted above, a part of the community's story, and those of its inhabitants, from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1981 is told in the volume "Come Into Our Heritage", especially on the cited pages.

NOTE: The local history book entitled "Municipality of Strathcona - A Snapshot in Time", published in 2009, contains a list of burials on pp 895ff known to the authors at that time.

Free digital versions of these and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #1272), transcribed by a member or members in NNNN and updated in NNNN. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the "MGS Manitoba Name Index" (or MANI). Some additional information is contained in the 1996 MGS publication "Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites" (revised edition, Special Projects Publication, 106 pages).

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Additionally, many records for defunct Lutheran congregations in Manitoba are now kept in their main offices in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.