The Welsh in the Midwest: Welsh Settlement in Wisconsin and Beyond

Welsh Settlement in Wisconsin & Beyond Robert Humphries, M.A. § Colonial Period: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia & Other Colonies § 1790-1800s: Welsh immigrants come to New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio § 1818: Mynydd Bach migration from Cardiganshire to southeastern Ohio § 1840-1860: Large wave of Welsh immigrants to northern states, including Wisconsin § 1862: Homestead Act § 1860s-1900s: Continued Welsh immigration to coalfields in Pennsylvania; migration across the Mississippi to Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas & Missouri § Primary motivations were economic, often personal and related to local conditions § Most Welsh farmers were tenants on small farms § Little land was available § High rents impoverished tenant farmers § Church tithes unpopular with Nonconformists § Social and political unrest § Following family and friends (chain migration) FAREWELL Britain, her complaint and strife, Her woeful want, sorrowful cries; Farewell Wales and her oppressive lords, Her rustic poor who cry out … Sad is the tyranny and injustice, That pollutes England in church and court … And to punish them for their poverty, In the workhouse many hundreds Of Welsh mothers, despite being so beloved, Are taken away from the children … All this barbarism is done under the guise of Christianity, Within this broad land, A prime reason for all to shun it, By sailing peacefully across the sea. Richard W. Jones, Y Cyfaill O’r Hen Wlad, 1855 “Yr oedd yn amser gwan yn Nghymru y blynyddoedd hynny ac yr oedd llawer o lythyrau canmolaethus yn dod o’r America ac yn arbenig o ddyffryn mawr y Mississipi fel y gelwid y darnau o’r dalaeth boblogwyd gan Gymry y pryd hwnw. Cofiwyf yn dda fel y byddai hen gymeriadau doniol yn son am, a chanmol “Dyffryn yr Afon Fawr,” dyna y rheswm goreu yn ol fy mam fach i, sef llythyrau canmoliaethus y rhai ddaethant yma gyntaf.” It was a hard time in Wales in those years and many enthusiastic letters came from America, especially from the great Mississippi valley as the area of the state populated by the Welsh was then known. I remember well how some funny old characters would praise the “Valley of the Great River.” This was the main reason [why the Welsh came to Wisconsin] according to my dear mother, namely the positive letters from those who came here first. J. Edno Roberts, Oshkosh, 1915 Oshkosh, 1855 Most Welsh immigrants wanted land more than anything else. Because many had experience working in industry as well as agriculture, they often worked in eastern states in order to save to buy land further west. Slate: New York & Vermont Coal & iron: Ohio & Pennsylvania Mary Jones, born in Aberdare, Glamorgan, whose husband, Morgan Jeffries Jones came from Myddfai, Carmarthenshire. (Iowa County Historical Society). Federal land could be purchased for $1.25 per acre. Forced removal of Native Americans and the Homestead Act of 1862 opened up more land for settlement. Welsh settlers in Minnesota experienced direct conflict with Native Americans during the Dakota War of 1862. Sam Hudson, Otoe Tribe § Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Racine, Wales, Cambria, Oshkosh, Columbus, Dodgeville & Bangor—rural Columbia, Waukesha, Winnebago and Iowa counties § Minnesota: Mankato, Blue Earth & Le Sueur counties § Iowa: Old Man’s Creek, Williamsburg, Lime Spring § Missouri: Dawn, Bevier § Nebraska: Nemaha County, Blue Springs-Wymore, Carroll, Norden § Kansas: Arvonia, Emporia § Illinois: Chicago Welsh farm in southeastern Nebraska Jones & Owens store, Dodgeville, Wisconsin A. K. Knowles, ‘Religious Identity as Ethnic Identity: The Welsh in Waukesha County’ in R. C. Ostergren and T. R. Vale. Wisconsin Land and Life (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997), 282-299 Caergybi, near Dodgeville, Wisconsin Plat map of Wales, Wisconsin, 1891 Three main denominations: § Welsh Calvinistic Methodists (Presbyterians) § Welsh Congregationalists § Baptists Also: Wesleyan Methodists, Anglicans, Unitarians & Mormons Sunday Schools & Christian Endeavor Churches were the center of social life and helped maintain the Welsh language. Carmel Welsh Presbyterian Church, Pecatonica, Wisconsin, 1915 Good Templars pamphlet, Oshkosh, 1875 Christian Endeavor Cymanfa program, 1893 § Most immigrants from Wales spoke Welsh; many spoke only Welsh. § Welsh chapels encouraged literacy. § Welsh-language periodicals such as Y Drych, Y Cyfaill o’r Hen Wlad and Y Cenhadwr Americanaidd kept immigrants informed about events in Wales, the USA and elsewhere. § Eisteddfodau, poetic and musical competitions conducted in Welsh, were held in many communities. § In some places, Welsh continued to be spoken into the mid-20th century. One of the first Welsh people I met in New York when I set foot there in September was a gentleman from Wisconsin. He spoke perfect Welsh. “What part of Wales did you come from?” I asked. “I have never been to Wales,” he answered; “I was born and raised in Wisconsin.” Tarian y Gweithiwr, November 19, 1908 Mifflin, Wisconsin, School District No. 3 Record Book, 1858 William E. Powell (Gwilym Eryri) 1841-1910 Blue Valley Welsh Band, Wymore, Nebraska, 1894 § The older generation passed away as younger people moved to different communities § Children and grandchildren of Welsh immigrants began speaking English § Intermarriage with other ethnic groups and denominations § Decline of Welsh-speaking churches § Welsh Calvinistic Methodists joined the Presbyterian Church, USA in 1920 § Born in Ynys Môn (Anglesey), Wales § Began preaching at age 20 § Came to the United States in 1866 and married Edward Davies of Watertown, Wisconsin § Became the first woman ordained a minister in Wisconsin at age 44 § Returned to Wales and campaigned on behalf of David Lloyd George § Died in Washington, D. C. in 1915 § Mother of Joseph E. Davies (1876-1958), US ambassador to the Soviet Union § Born in Lucas, Iowa § Father was a Welsh immigrant coal miner § Began working in the mines at age 16 § President of the United Mine Workers of America, the largest union in the United States, 1920-1960 § Led the union through strikes in 1943 and 1946 § Campaigned for the first Federal Mine Safety Act, passed in 1952 § Unitarians from Cardiganshire § Richard & Mary Lloyd-Jones emigrated to Wisconsin in 1843 § Lived in Ixonia and Bear Valley before settling near Spring Green § Prominent members include Rev. Jenkin Lloyd-Jones and Frank Lloyd Wright