On coming to Canada, Sigurbjorn and his family joined his brother, Johann Johannson, who had taken the name of Reykdal and lived on NW 14-6-14. Sigurbjorn later lived on 8-6-14. Jakobina and Sigurveig attended Bru School and the family attended Grund Church.

    Sigurbjorn had been a poet and a "community skald" in Iceland, and in Argyle he continued in this role, writing and composing poems about birthdays, weddings, and funerals. In 1902, his friends Thorstein Johnson and Bjorn Walterson published a collection of his poetry.

    In the Johansson home, many long winter evenings were devoted to reading and discussion of literature, the Scriptures, poetry, the Sagas. As a result, Sigurbjorn's daughters retained a life-long interest in and love for literature, particularly poetry.

    When Sigurbjorn died in 1903, at the age of 64, his home was moved to the farm of Arni Sveinsson, where Maria lived for some time. She later lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Sigurveig and John Sveinsson, who cared for her until her death in 1916.

    Jakobina attended Bru School, then normal school in Winnipeg. At the age of 16 she undertook her first teaching position at a school in New Iceland. She then taught at Frey in Argyle. She married Isak Johnson, a building contractor. They lived in Winnipeg, then moved to Seattle, Washington. Jakobina's early interest in, and study of literature led her to writing poetry and to translating Icelandic poetry into English. She was also very active in Seattle, lecturing in the city and at the university [of Washington] on Icelandic literature and culture, as well as working with Icelandic cultural societies. In 1933, at the age of 50 years, she was honored by the Icelandic government for her contribution to Icelandic culture in American with a government-sponsored trip to Iceland, where she was invested with that country's most distinguished honour, The Order of the Falcon. Later, she enjoyed a second trip to Iceland, this time a gift from a group of Icelandic university students in Seattle who had boarded with her, and wished to thank her and pay tribute to her for her interest and aid. The Johnson's home in Seattle was unique because of its unusual early-period design and construction. Jakobina's extensive library and her collection of art works and artifacts, particularly from the Orient, made her home in its own way, a centre of cultural interest. Jakobina died in 1977, at the age of 94. Jakobina and Isak had 7 children: Kari, Ingolf, Konrad, Harold, Marie, Johann, and Stephan.