USA > Iowa > Howard County > Lime Springs > History of the Welsh in Minnesota, Foreston and Lime Springs, Ia. gathered by the old settlers > Part 15
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A few years ago a professor of ancient languages, in one of the colleges of Maine, made himself familiar with this fan- guage, by the use of the bible, grammar and lexicon. His tes- timony is this: "Of all the languages I have studied, the most complicated and wonderful in its cuphonic changes is the Welsh." Dr. James Hadley, long professor of Greek in Yale college, had quite an affection for the Welsh; only a short time before his death, he recited to his family, a Welsh hymn, and
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gave them the translation. The Cambrians of the United States are just now proud of an American lady, of Wilkesbarre. Pa., Miss Edith Brower, who it appears, has become quite familiar with the Welsh language. In the Atlantic Monthly. for January, 1895, there is from her pen an excellent article on "The Meaning of the Eisteddfod." Letters written in Welsh by the late Dr. Hugo Schuchart, of Gratz, Austria, show that he had a remarkable command of the Welsh.
This language, though known to but few "foreigners." is the language of Wales, and is the language in daily use in thousands of families in America. It is the language in use in the settlement of which we now undertake to give a short sketch.
The Welsh settlers of Lime Springs are to be found in six -townships, Bristol, York and Beaver. Southern Fillmore county, Minnesota, and Albion, Forest City and Chester, Northern How- ard county, Iowa. The settlement, therefore, is divided into two parts by the state line, and into nearly two equal parts by the Upper Iowa river. Lime Springs is a town of 600 inhabitants. In the language of railroad men, it is a town on the I. & M. division of the C., M. & St. P. R. R., half way between Austin and Calmer. One mile north of it is the old town of the same name. Four miles northeast is Foreston, on the river already mentioned. Foreston is not far from the geographical center of the settlement. With For- eston as a centre, a circle drawn with a radius of twelve miles or so, would include about all the Welsh families in this part of the country.
In early days Foreston was quite a village, containing in 1866 probably fifty or sixty buildings, but when the railroad came to Lime Springs in 1867, its death sentence was signed ; for many a day it has been like the deserted village of Gold- smith, except that in this case the ground is deserted by the buildings, and not the buildings by the inhabitants. The mill, the proprietor's house and barn, the miller's house and Thurber's barn on the hill, are the only buildings now to be seen ; and these are all of recent construction, except Thurber's barn; it stood there, we believe, in ante-railroad times. For the sake of convenience we will go out from Foreston and locate definitely a few other points. A mile and a half south is the Foreston church, four miles southwest is the church of Lime Springs and six miles northeast is the Bristol church. From the location of these Welsh churches may be gathered the location of the Welsh
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Mr. and Mrs. John A. Jones.
EARLY SETTLERS OF SOUTH BEND, MINN.
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Mr. and Mrs. John R. Williams.
EARLY SETTLERS OF BRISTOL, MINN.
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families, for the churches were built. of course, at points most convenient for the greatest number. Eighteen miles north of Foreston is Preston, the county seat of Fillmore; twelve miles southeast is Cresco, the county seat of Howard; four miles south is Barker's Grove, a large grove on high ground ; in very early times, according to tradition, a famous hiding place for horse thieves. The next town above Foreston, on the river, is old Lime Springs, then comes Chester, the next one below is Granger and not far below is Decorah, one of the chief towns in northeastern Iowa.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY SETTLERS-1856-1866.
In this chapter we propose to give rather a full account of some of the early settlers. The first Welshman who came to the vicinity of Lime Springs, of whom we have any account, was R. W. Jones, in the summer of 1856. America may have been discovered before the days of Columbus, but it was Col- umbus who made the western continent known to the civilized world. We believe that there was a Welshman or two near New Oregon (southwest of Cresco) before the coming of Jones, but it was Jones, as we shall see, who made the country known to . others, and drew in other Welsh families. Jones and his wife returned to Dodgeville, Wis., his former home, in the autumn of 1856, and remained there until the spring of 1858. In the spring of 1858, Jones, not wishing to come to the fair land alone, said to an acquaintance, Thomas Evans, "If you will come with me I will get you there eighty acres of land." With their wives they came, and Jones was as good as his word, he secured the north- east quarter of Section 32, York township, and gave half of it to Evans, who built a house thereon, where he lived several years. (This quarter corners land now owned by Rev. R. W. Hughes). Jones at this time, we believe, had two children: one of them now lives near the Foreston church.
During the summer of 1860, Jones went north to Chatfield, where the land office was at that time. Here he accidentally met four Welshmen, J. J. Jones, J. R. Williams, O. D. Owens and R. W. Thomas, moving westward looking for land. Jones began to tell them of the advantages of Southern Fillmore, and prevailed upon these men to turn their faces that way. This was an important event. There was a relationship. J. J. Jones'
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wife was a sister of Owens; J. R. Williams married another sister, and all these were cousins of the wife of R. W. Jones. Yet this meeting in Chatfield was purely accidental, and most important in the history of the Welsh settlement; after this, one family came in the wake of another, one man came because an acquaintance had come before him, but this meeting at Chat- field was a mere accident. Had this not occurred it is quite pos- ble that the Welsh settlement of Lime Springs would never have come into existence, and the lot and relationship of hundreds, if not thousands of persons, would have been otherwise than they are.
J. J. Jones had been upon the northern lakes, and was often called by his companions "Sailor Jack" or oftener "Jack Jones." and this sobriquet clung to him through life. J. R. Williams also became known as "Jack Williams." and is so known to this day, to young and old, Welsh and others. Jack Williams took land in the southeast corner of York, Jack Jones to the north and Thomas to the east, across the line in Bristol.
A Sunday school was started this summer in J. J. Jones' house, with Thomas the only professing Christian among the men as superintendent. Along towards winter Thomas re- turned to Wisconsin, and Jack Williams, before spring, in quest of a wife.
In 1860, D. J. Davies and wife returned to Wisconsin, hav- ing been missionaries among the Omaha Indians for seven years, In the summer of 1861, David and his family, his brother Wil- liam, also, and his family, set out toward the west again ; this time to find a home, possibly in Western Iowa, not far from his former field of labor. These families crossed the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien, and following the main road west through Northern Iowa, encamped one evening on the bank of the Little Cedar river. There they heard Lime Springs mentioned. Wil- liam remembered that his friend G. G. Roberts, in Wisconsin. was accustom to say, that Lime Springs was the postoffice ad- dress of his brother-in-law, J. J. Jones, and the Welsh families with him. Next morning the brothers, leaving their families where they were, "took the trunks out of the light wagon, hitched up the cream colored horses," and started toward Lime Springs, to visit these Welsh families. A few miles west of Lime Springs they met one Richard Lewis, whose people they knew in Wisconsin. He informed them that a few miles further lived a Welshman. Thomas Evans. Evans was one of those enthusiastic men, in whose eyes the future is always bright and
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the place where they live is always the best. He immediately began to descant on the glories of the country. The soil was incomparable, the advantages in every respect most excellent. His arguments must have had weight and his eloquence must have been effective, for we find that William very soon located upon a piece of land and both were quite pleased with the country. . The morning before leaving, David, at family wor- ship, had prayed very earnestly for divine guidance; on his re- turn he said to his wife: "Wel dyma ni wedi gweld tir yr addewid"-we have seen the promised land. The whole com- pany immediately turned about and began to move in the direc- tion of Lime Springs. It was the Fourth of July, 1861 soon after they left the Cedar. David took possession of a small house near the creek, not far from Evans, while -William, and his family, went on his land two miles west. The Welsh community, getting this strong re-enforcement, revived the Sunday school, which had gone down at the departure of Thomas several months before. Late this year two visitors from Wisconsin came to spy the land. Hugh Edwards ( Bod- wrog) and his friend John Roberts.
No family, as far as we know, moved in during 1862. Yet this year was not without its importance. And first, we would mention a cloud of sorrow that came over the little Welsh com- munity ; in March of that year occurred the death of Thomas Evans, the second, as we have seen of the Welsh settlers. He was buried north, near Canfield's, but the remains have since been removed, as we have been informed, to the cemetery of Bristol. The attending physician was Dr. Reed, still residing at Lime Springs. During this summer again came two men on a visit from Wisconsin ; John D. Williams, and his neighbor, William Lewis. Williams was a brother-in-law of D. J. Davies. He had started the summer before, but not meeting the Davies brothers at Prairie du Chien, as he expected, returned home without going further. In June, 1862, he and Lewis came via Dodgeville, up the Mississippi, then west across Southern Fill- more. Williams was accustomed to relate an incident connected with this journey reflecting honor on him as a pedestrian rather than Lewis. Starting out one morning on foot from Caledonia, with thirty miles before them, they espied a team in the dis- tance, going in the same direction. They immediately decided to give chase, overtake it if possible, aud secure a ride. They quickened their pace, exercised all their powers as on they went. They hailed the driver, made signs, but with no success ; either
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he did not hear, or did not heed. Lewis soon began to feel that the task was a big one, was getting discouraged, and advised giving up, but Williams insisted on going on. Lewis was rather corpulent, and had a peculiar gait which was not at all favorable for a forced march. It was a warm June morning. Williams, who was now several yards ahead, and by this time carrying both bundles looked around and saw that the perspira- tion was showing itself through Lewis' linen coat, but on they went.
The present generation are not aware of the fact that John D. Williams, in early and middle life, was able by putting four of his fingers in his mouth, to produce one of the most powerful and piercing whistles ever heard from a human head ; coming at this time to the brow of a hill, he dropped his bundles, put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The driver looked around and brought his team to a standstill. When they came up to him they found that he had a lame horse, or the chase would have been more desperate, and likely less successful. They were carried, however, several miles and were well paid for the extra effort put forth in the morning.
During this visit, Williams bought the quarter section now owned by Rev. R. W. Hughes, for about $450, and eighty acres west of it for $200, and another eighty acres near by, in 1866, with a crop on it for $1,000.
Lewis bought eighty acres in Bristol for $200, and the ad- joining eighty acres in 1869, with a small crop for $3,000. From this it may be seen that the time to buy land in Southern Fill- more was early in the 60's. The first Sabbath Williams and Lewis attended the Presbyterian service at Lime Springs, and listened to a sermon by Rev. Adam Craig. On the second Sab- bath, Williams preached in Welsh at the house of J. J. Jones. This was the first Welsh sermon in this part of the country.
No new family came in 1863, yet it was a year of interest. Early in 1863, Thomas decided to visit Minnesota again. Leav- ing his home near Oshkosh, Wis., he lodged one night with John D. Williams. Williams said to him: "If you see land in Minnesota that you like, come back this way; I can borrow money for you from an old bachelor in this neighborhood, who has money to loan." Thomas went on to Prairie du Chien, and at McGregor found a man from near Lime Springs, with whom he rode as far as Barker's Grove ; then walked to Foreston and on to Jack Williams'. He bargained for eighty acres near what he had bought before, and then returned to Wisconsin. At
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Portage City, he entered the car for Cambria, to get the money promised by John D. Williams, but as he began to look for Cambria, to his amazement he discovered he had taken the wrong train ; that he was on the main line going towards Milwaukee, and was now rushing towards Wyocena. Consulting his pocket- book he found that to get back was simply impossible, for his remaining change had been given for a ticket for Cambria, and now he was rushing away from Cambria on another road. What to do was the question. Finally the conductor kindly allowed him to ride to Watertown, from which place he slowly worked his way towards his home near Oshkosh, depending, most of the way, we presume, upon "John Shank's Mares." After getting home he wrote Williams a letter about the land and the money, adding: "The best way is for you to send the "$200, and take the deed in your own name, and if I can get the money in the future I will pay you." About two years after this, Thomas, having saved the $200, came to Cambria. paid the money, plus the interest, paid the old bachelor, and the deed was signed to him by "J. D. Williams and wife." This is the way men did business in primitive times.
In the spring of 1863, "when the snow was going away," came David Roberts ( Bont Vewydd), and his brother, Robert, to visit the new colony. After them came R. P. Jones and Rev. Robert Morris, a Congregational minister, from Wisconsin. This is a date we can fix. "Morris," says one, preached a ser- mon on Easter Sunday, and baptized a little girl, now one of the wives of Bristol. That was the first time for me ever to hear about Easter." In June, came H. H. Morris and J. D. Wil- liams. They returned to Wisconsin together, and this date we can fix ; for they brought the sad news of the accidental shoot- ing that day, north of Cambria, of a young girl on her way home from school. This happened, according to records still extant, June 26, 1863. During this summer, a little before the Fourth, came Rev. J. A. Jones, of Berlin, Wis., on a visit.
The day before the Fourth, 1864, O. R. Jones and family arrived in Foreston. Mrs. Jones was a sister of J. J. Jones. A little later, probably in August, came Rev. J. A. Jones and fam- ily. Mr. Jones had been called to minister to the spiritual wants of the English congregation at Foreston, and the Welsh people of Southern Minnesota.
Early in 1865 came R. P. Jones and family, and settled on a farm in Bristol. During the autumn came Rowland Evans and family, and bought land a few miles north, also J. II. Rob-
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erts, who went back to Wisconsin. Evans and family spent the winter north in the town of Forestville.
In May, 1866, came II. H. Morris and R. W. Hughes ; Wil- liam R. Jones also came about the same time with his family. Late this year came Ilugh Edwards, R. T. Williams and their families, and J. D. Williams, in November, to his farm on the state line. Many bought land this year, intending to come in the following spring.
On Christmas day was held a great Welsh literary meeting, in the Foreston school building-a Welsh Eisteddfod on a small scale. The evening meeting was held in English. Some may remember Henry Van Leuven's oration on "Progressive Knowl- edge," and R. T. Williams' address on "The Original History of the Celtic Race," and those who had recently left their old homes and were still feeling that this was a new country, very much enjoyed a song sung by Rev. J. A. Jones and family, "Pining for Home and the Old Fireside."
This Christmas evening, by Rev. J. A. Jones, in his own house, was solemnized, we believe. the first marriage in this Welsh settlement. Jane, daughter of W. P. Davies, was married to R. W. Hughes. We have indeed heard a story, that Jack Williams was married here in very early times. There is much of the humorous about Jack, and some people like to tell stories, and it may be get up good stories, about him. This story runs that he was married at a very carly day by Justice Sales Green; that he had not the wherewith to remunerate Green for his services, and that the justice had to wait on Jack for payment until fall. But this, we believe, must be a fabrication. Our impression is that Jack was married in Wisconsin ; that he was married by a preacher, and that the preacher was paid for his services, there and then, in the current coin of the country.
CHAPTER II.
COMING IN GREAT NUMBERS-PROSPERITY-AADVERSITY-ACCI- DENTS.
We have dwelt at some length on the history of these years. 1856 1866 ; and that for several reasons. The pioneers of every country deserve honor. These settlers. for the first ten years, were few in numbers ; we can count them, as it were, and get acquainted with them as they come in. This becomes impossible
Rev. Daniel T. Rowlands and Wife.
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H. H. MORRIS.
JOHN W. WILLIAMS.
R. W. WILLIAMS. JOHN PRICE.
EVAN H. JONES.
OWEN E. THOMAS.
Group of Welsh Settlers of Lime Springs, la.
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W. J. Lewis.
David J. Davies.
D. K. Jones.
Owen E. Williams.
EARLY WELSH SETTLERS OF LIME SPRINGS, IOWA.
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after 1866. Every man is known in a small village, not so in a great city. But the chief reason is this : Not many who took prominent part in these early times are now to be found. It may be well to record these events before the survivors are gone to the silent land.
We shall touch but lightly, and in a different way, upon the years 1866 1895. Early in 1867, the Welsh families began to come in great numbers. Each of the months, March, April and May, of that year, probably saw as many families coming in, as were to be found in the whole settlement in October of the pre- vious year ; and they kept coming in goodly numbers till 1870, or later. And these were years of prosperity. The land was constantly rising in value. This always inspires the land owner It gives him hope and courage. The wheat crop was good. and the price high. We remember very distinctly that in the au- tumn wheat was $1.50 per bushel. A farmer would go to Lime Springs in the fall of that year, with a good load of wheat-fifty bushels, the product of two or three acres -- and return with $75 in his pocket. Indeed, we have recently noticed a newspaper item, that the highest price ever paid for wheat in a great mar- ket was $3.00, in Chicago, about this period of which we are writing. Yet there were some drawbacks. Machinery was ex- pensive. Hired help was high. Taxes were high. Interest was high, 10 per cent or more. Many of the Welsh farmers had homes or barns to build, and coming in on a prosperous wave, many mortgaged their land to get hold of more. But good times are often dangerous times. It is when the day is pleasant and the sea calm that the fisherman ventures out too far ; and pros- perous times do not last forever. The seven years of plenty in the land of Egypt were followed by seven years of famine. A few years after the times we have described, with the farmers around Lime Springs, the tide began to turn, and the water to flow back, and many a vessel-to carry out the figure-was left on the strand high and dry. Many a farm had to go for the mortgage, and many a farmer-prosperous a few years before- had to leave in spite of all he could do, for other regions, to be- gin life over again, and that in some cases with but very little capital. This unfavorable period continued for four or five years, beginning with 1878. At this time the wheat crop failed, and as wheat was the farmers' main support, the failure of the wheat crop was keenly felt by all. It was about this time that a change was made, from wheat raising to dairying and stock raising, and this is the line of farming followed ever since. The
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farmers who were able to weather this storm, lived and pros- pered, and are nearly all today in comfortable circumstances, as their good houses and capacious barns testify.
ACCIDENTS.
It may not appear out of place to give some space, and this place is probably the most appropriate, to a few unpleasant and indeed sad occurrences, in the history of the Lime Springs set- tlement. Calamities and disasters, though not pleasant to nar- rate or dwell upon, at the time produce profound impressions in the community where they happen, and are long remembered by the inhabitants. The Johnstown flood will not be forgotten in Pennsylvania. The Pomeroy cyclone will be remembered by many families in Iowa for long years to come. Some things took place in the Welsh community of Lime Springs that made great impressions at the time, and are vividly remembered to this day.
The first that we shall mention occurred early in 1867, at the milldam in Foreston. Two brothers, and another man, had gone one day to Preston to inquire about land. Returning to Foreston that evening, they found that the water had risen, that the team could not cross over the dam. One brother took the team a mile north to John D. Williams', where he remained over night. The other unfortunate brother, in crossing the millpond, was carried by the current, boat, boatman and all, over the dam and thrown, of course, into the boiling waters below. His body was found six weeks later a mile down the river. The boatman reached the shore and was taken up thoroughly chilled and ex- hausted. The writer has a very vivid recollection of this event ; for next morning, when the other brother was about ready to start with the team toward Foreston, two men were seen coming across the field in the garb of hunters. They called John D. Williams aside and informed him of the sad accident. J. D. Williams accompanied the brother to Foreston, taking the writer along (who was very unwilling to go on such a journey ) and quietly broke to him the sad news on the way.
Some years after this J. D. Williams, J. Ap. Jones, of Cambria, Wis,, and two other men had the dreadful experience of finding the boat sinking under them in the middle of the pond by the breaking of a plank in the bottom. Williams, though not a "swimmer," swam this time and successfully reached the dam on the upper side. The others were carried down by the strong current, and swept through the dam, which at this time was partly broken. The two younger men, however, being
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thoroughly alive to the situation, and "grasping at a straw." caught hold of a piece of timber in the end of the dam as they were rushed through, and held on until rescued. Jones, who was older, more corpulent and much more unwieldly, was carried . along by the current to the waters below, but fortunately found his feet touching terra firma, as he was floating over a little islet some yards below the dam. Thus no lives were lost, but the danger was great, and the experience, though the narration was amusing to others after the event, was not to be forgotten by those who were immediately concerned.
Some years after this again four persons, father, son, dangh- ter and nephew, were crossing one Sunday morning to church. Not crossing " far enough up," the boat was carried down by the current, but providentially, as they were going over the - dam, the front end of the boat struck on a large stone on the lower side and lodged there, with the hind end upon the dam, and the four persons inside. Word went to the Foreston school building, where services were held in those days, and the shore was soon lined by an anxious crowd. The question was how to reach the boat, or how to get the people out of the dangerous place they were in. And this must be done quickly for the river was rising, and the boat, in all probability, would soon be dis- placed and thrown into the boiling waters below. Some en- deavored to wade part way across the dam, bracing themselves against the current by the use of pitchforks ; others attempted to ride on horses near enough to throw a rope. After manocuv- ering about in this way for some time, they succeeded in throw- ing them a rope, which the son tied around his sister and cousin, who were then put out and quickly drawn ashore by the crowd. This was done again to the father, and finally the son ; and the moment his foot left the boat, down it went into the boiling waters.
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