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bus, Ohio
Adaptation and Agelılartar
Go 977.102 C72w 1195061
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
U
L
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 02279 7655
/ 9 / 3
The Welsh of Columbus, Ohio
1
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/welshofcolumbuso00will_0
The Welsh of Columbus, Ohio
A Study in
Adaptation and Assimilation
By REV. DANIEL JENKINS WILLIAMS, M. A., B. D.
"Y GWIR YN ERBYN Y BYD" Welsh Motto
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN 1913
-
..
Copyright 1913 by DANIEL JENKINS WILLIAMS
1195061
Dedicated to the Sacred Memory of HUGH AND ELIAS R.
TO THE READER
This monograph was begun by the author when he was pastor of the Welsh Presbyterian (Calvinistic Methodist) Church of Columbus, Ohio. The study was entered upon as an effort to ascertain the place and function of the Welsh church in the city of Columbus. After beginning the study the writer was called, in 1911, to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church of Oshkosh, Wisconsin; but the study has been pursued to its completion in the hope that the effort expended and the results obtained might be of some benefit to leaders in Welsh communities elsewhere.
Some readers may be satisfied that the conditions revealed herein concerning this particular group of Welsh people have no parallel in any other community. That opinion must be true. An exact duplicate of this, or of any other group, can be found nowhere in the world. But like groups surrounded by similar conditions may be found. And the degree of assimilation in which the Welsh group of Columbus is found at present, all other Welsh communities in America have either passed through, or are in at present, or still must pass through in the future. To the last class mentioned, viz. those approaching the condition disclosed in this work, such a study as this should prove especially helpful.
No one who reads these pages will be so alive to their limitations as the author, and he begs leniency on the part of his critics. Whatever be the nature of the comment, if the labor performed will encourage others to do their work in their communities the writer will feel amply repaid for his effort.
The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to many friends for assistance given in making this study possi- ble; among them a few names may be mentioned, viz. Mr. L. D. Davies who made the canvass of the Welsh of Columbus, Ohio; Mr. Marvin Williams of Ripon College who made the drawings; also Professors J. E. Hagerty and F. A. Me- Kenzie of the Faculty of Sociology and Economics in the Ohio State University for many helpful suggestions.
June 21, 1913.
7
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Page
Bibliography
11-12
Chapter I. The Cause of Welsh Emigration
The Norman-English Conquest of Wales. 13
The Assimilation of Welsh and English Law
13
Nonconformity in Wales
15
Religious Awakening in the Eighteenth Century
15
Result of the 18th Century Revival on the Social Life of Wales 16
General Dissatisfaction Results in Emigration
16
Traces of Early Welsh Migration. 17
The "Dyffryn Mawr" Colony in Pennsylvania.
18
After the War of Independence Welsh Emigration Revived 18
Chapter II. The Coming of the Welsh to Ohio (Immigration and Early Settlement)
The First Welsh Arrivals 20
The First Permanent Welsh Settlers 20
The Paddy's Run Settlement 22
The Welsh Hills Settlement 23
The "Jackson and Gallia" Settlement. 24
The Gomer Settlement 26
The Venedocia Settlement 27
The Radnor Settlement 27
Pioneer Life 28
Early Homes 29
The Family and the Home Training 30
Sabbath Observance 30
Religious Life 31
Growth
34
Decline 37
8
CONTENTS
Chapter III. The Welsh of Ohio in Columbus
Page
Location and Early History of Columbus 39
Location Advantageous to the Welsh 41
Periods of Welsh Migration 42
The First Period 42
Emigration to America Agitated in Wales 43
Welsh of the First Period Skilled Laborers 48
The Second Period 49
The "Mill Men" Come 49
Immigration from Local Settlements in Ohio
50
The Third Period
52
Organization and Change 55
Community Spirit
58
Literary and Social Functions
59
The Eisteddfod 59
Donations 60
Amusements 60
The Welsh Prominent in Columbus 60
Conclusion
61
Chapter IV. Welsh Population Statistics
General Statement 63
The Gathering of Data for the Present Work. 64
Limitations of the Work 66
Classified Groups 67
General Survey of the Welsh Population of Columbus 68
Distribution of the Welsh over the City
69
Population by Age Classes 74
Sex 75
Foreign and Native Born
76
Place of Birth 76
Conclusion 80
9
CONTENTS
Chapter V. Welsh Social Statistics
Page
General Statement 81
Marriage and Conjugal Relation 81
Intermarriage 82
Families, Dwellings and Resident Districts 89
Occupation Groups and Business Relations 92
Education
94
Literary and Improvement Societies 94
Morality and Temperance 96
Politics
97
Church Membership
97
Conclusion
104
Chapter VI. The Process of Change (The Vanishing Welsh)
Welsh Conservatism Giving Way to a Broader Outlook ... 105
Regard for Sunday and Holidays 107
The Linguistic Question 108
Characteristic Welsh Institutions Waning
116
Revivals Among the Welsh
117
The Problem of the Church
119
The Church and Its Ministry 124
Three Groups of Welsh Ministers Discussed.
125
The Welsh Church Approaching a Crisis 127
The Welsh Church in Columbus Adapting Itself. 132
Intermarriage Affects Church Membership
133
Concluding Remarks 134
10
CONTENTS
Graphic Representations
Figure 1. Showing the Sources of the Welsh in Colum- bus in 25 years. 54
Figure 2. Showing the relative number of foreign and native born Welsh. 77
Figure 3. Showing relative number of pure and mixed marriages 84
Figure 4. Showing marriages according to grouping of foreign and native born. 86
Figure 5. Showing relative number of church members, attendants, and non-church-goers. .. .102
Figure 6. Showing relative number of Welsh speakers and non-Welsh-speakers 114
Figure 7. Showing relative number of Welsh speakers according to classifications of native and foreign born .. 115
Figure 8. i. Showing relative number of baptisms, and, ii. those admitted into church membership in a given period. 131
Map
Outline Map of Columbus. 72
Appendix
A. Table II. showing Total Number of Members Received into the Calvinistic Methodist Church of Columbus by Letters in 25 years.
B. Table V. Age-groups According to Sex in the Calvinistic Methodist Church and Society.
C. Table VI. Statistics of Foreign and Native Born Welsh in Columbus.
D. Tables VIII., IX. and X. on Marriage and Intermarriages and the Nationalities with whom the Welsh have Intermarried.
E. Tables XIII., XIV. and XV. on Church Members, At- tendants, and Non-church-goers, Classified According to their Foreign and Native Born Groups.
F. List of Welsh Periodicals Published in America. Error
.144
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"The Cradle of the Republic, Jamestown and the James River" by Lyon G. Tyler: First edition 1900; sec- ond edition 1906. Hermitage Press, Richmond, Va., publisher.
"New England's Memorial" by Nathaniel Morton, 5th Edi- tion by John Davies. Crocker and Brewester, pub- lishers, Boston, 1826.
"The Making of Pennsylvania" by Sidney George Fisher, 1896. Lippincott, Philadelphia, publisher.
"Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania" by Sherman Day, 1843 edition.
"Historical Collections of Ohio," two Volumes by Henry Howe; C. J. Krehbiel & Co., publishers, Cincinnati, Ohio.
"Ohio Historical Society,"-Articles by William Harvey Jones.
"The History of Paddy's Run" by Rev. B. W. Chidlaw ; pub- lished by Hamilton Telegraph Co., Hamilton, Ohio, 1876.
"The Story of My Life" by Rev. B. W. Chidlaw, D. D., Cleves, Ohio.
"Some Facts with Reference to the Welsh of Columbus, Ohio from the Earliest Times Up to 1860" by L. D. Davies, Columbus, Ohio. 1910.
"Statistics and Sociology" by Richmond Mayo-Smith, 1902; The MacMillian Co., publishers.
"Y Cyfaill"-a Welsh monthly magazine of the Calvinistic Methodist denomination. Rev. Joseph Roberts, D. D., New York City, editor.
"Sefydliadau Jackson a Gallia" by Rev. William R. Evans, Gallia, O. J. T. Griffiths, Utica, N. Y., publisher.
12
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Y Drych" a Welsh weekly paper for the Welsh in America owned and published by J. T. Griffiths, Utica, N. Y. "The Cymry of '76"-an address delivered in 1855 before the Saint David's Benevolent Society, New York City by Alexander Jones, M. D.
"Cymry A'I Phobl" 1894, printed by the editor of the Drych, Utica, N. Y.
"Hanes Cymry America" 1872, by Rev. R. D. Thomas (Ior- werth Cwynedd) published by T. J. Griffiths, Utica, N. Y.
"Cofiant y Parch Robert Williams, Moriah, Ohio." published by T. J. Griffiths, Utica, N. Y., 1883.
"Hanes Methodistiæth Cymry," Rev. John Hughes ; published by Hughes and Son, Wrexham, 1854.
"The Cambrian"-a magazine for Welsh-Americans, publish- ed by T. J. Griffiths, Utica, N. Y.
"Records of the Calvinistic Methodist Church, Columbus, O." The United States Census for 1910.
"The Welsh People" by John Rhys and David Brynmor- Jones, the MacMillian Co. 1900.
"The Story of the Nations-Wales" by Owen M. Edwards, Putnam's Sons, 1902.
"Diwygiadau Crefyddol Cymry," Parch Henry Hughes, published at Sywddfa'r Genedl, Cærnarfon.
"Cofiant Y Tri Brawd," E. Pan Jones, Ph. D., H. Evans, Bala, publisher.
"Welshmen as Civil, Political and Moral Factors in the Formation of the United States Republic," by Rev. W. R. Evans.
" Adroddiad Pwryllgor Adeiladu Capel Newydd Salem, Vene- docia."
CHAPTER I.
THE CAUSE OF WELSH EMIGRATION
Welsh emigration grew naturally out of conditions pre- vailing in Wales. The conditions resulted from a series of events running over several centuries which culminated in a break between the landlord and the tenant, between the own- ers of estates and the actual tillers of the land.
In briefly tracing the steps which led ultimately to ex- treme dissatisfaction on the part of the Welsh with conditions in their native land we observe the following facts :
The forming of modern estates in Wales was a gradual process and was due to the breaking down of the ancient Welsh feudal system consequent to the Norman or Norman- English Conquest. Wales is a land of castles, but her castles are not Welsh-they are Norman. They were erected by the conquerors of Wales. The result of this gradual conquest was the formation of modern estates in Wales. The free- holders, who possessed tracts of land so large that they ceased to be farmers in the ordinary sense and who lived mainly on the rents paid them by the tillers of the soil, gradually became a distinct class and the natural outgrowth was the develop- ment of an aristocratic group.
The assimilation of Welsh and English law which was completed by the legislation of Henry VIII. tended to enlarge the powers of this aristocratic class very much, for, from that time, Welsh members were sent to Westminster regularly and this fact had an important bearing on the fortunes of the Welsh upper class.1 From the very nature of the situation it was members of the landowning families that were sent to Parliament for many generations. The result of this was that the aristocracy of Wales joined in the general political life of
1 See "The Story of the Nations-Wales" Ch. XX on the "Court of Wales."
14
THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
the whole kingdom, and it gave them a broader outlook on life and a keener sense of their own importance as well. They came into contact with people of their own class in England and this finally led to intermarriage between Welsh and English families. Their increasing association with the cor- responding class in England led also to a gradual assimilation in manners, speech, and general habits of life.
The dissolution of the monasteries which took place prac- tically at the same time as the summoning of the Welsh mem- bers to Parliament had also an important effect on the en- larging of Welsh estates, or, better say, of the estates in Wales, for it gave an opportunity to members of the Norman-English baronial families as well as to the Welsh princely families to add new tracts to their estates.
The rebellion of the 17th Century had a great effect in destroying the older Welsh estates and in forming new ones. By the time of James I., Wales as well as England was divided into estates similar in character to those of today.1
The Norman-English Conquest of Wales stopped the progress of Wales in every way. Not only had the Welsh lost their land but the continual condition of warfare reduced the masses of the people to a barren condition intellectually. The real Welsh aristocracy of the pre-Conquest period, the people who nourished and fostered the early literature of Wales, disappeared or became assimilated into the English upper class. The Reformation created little or no excitement in Wales. It was practically unnoticed by the great masses of the Principality. This is significant, for a strong religious appeal would naturally arouse the highly imaginative and emotional Celt. "The Welsh," says Professor Rhys, "were plunged into a deep sleep from which the Civil Wars and the religious excitement of the 17th Century were able only very partially to arouse them."
During the reign of Elizabeth a statute was passed pro-
1 See "The Welsh People" Ch. IX p. 295 sq. on "History of Land Tenure in Wales;" see also "The Story of the Nations-Wales" p. 339 sq.
15
THE CAUSE OF WELSH EMIGRATION
viding for the translation of the Bible into Welsh. This task was a service of inestimable value to religion in Wales.
Nonconformity in Wales as to its origin is generally asso- ciated with William Worth and his colleagues who after being ejected from the church went around preaching as itinerant preachers throughout the country.1 But so far as the or- ganized condition of the church was concerned it remained practically unchanged, with the possible exception of a few nonconformist organizations in South Wales, until the end of the 17th Century.
Religiously rural Wales was a desolate wilderness at the beginning of the 18th Century. The majority of the clergy of the Established Church contented themselves with a per- functory discharge of their duties. Services were seldom held; in some parishes only once or twice in a year, and in others no services in several years. The Church appointed to the Welsh bishoprics persons entirely ignorant of the Welsh language. Another evil was the "clerical absenteeism." Many of the clergy of Welsh parishes did not reside in their parishes.2 And still greater was the evil of the "system of pluralities" where men held several offices in the church and distributed many more among members of their families.3
The Religious Awakening,-With such conditions pre- vailing something must happen, and it did happen in Wales. The renaissance of Wales during the 18th Century came in the form of a religious revival which in its intensity and con- sequence was tremendous. The century from 1730 to 1830 witnessed a complete transformation of the Welsh people. "In 1730," Professor Rhys tells us, "the Welsh speaking people were probably as a whole the least religious and most intellectually backward in England and Wales. By 1830 they had become the most earnest and religious people in the whole kingdom."
1 See "The Welsh People" p. 462.
2 The Bishops of Llandaff were absentees from 1706 to 1820. See Welsh People p. 468.
3 Bishop Luxmore and four of his relatives, (sons and nephews) held collectively not less than 16 offices which brought to them from church sources about 25,225£. For details see "The Welsh People" p. 468-469.
16
THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
This change was produced by the Calvinistic Methodist revival. In some respects this revival resembled the revival which took place in England under Whitfield and Wesley. It had its beginning within the pale of the Established Church. Griffith Jones of Llanddowror was its originator but he was soon eclipsed by Daniel Rowlands of Llangeitho and Howell Harries of Treveca. These two men in spite of bitterest persecution and most violent opposition aroused Wales from its lethargy by their powerful preaching. The result was that by the middle of the 18th Century large and energetic nonconformist organizations had been created in Wales. A great and efficient clergy had arisen and a con- structive work was being carried on.1
The influence of this revival upon the social and economic progress of Wales was significant. It was a religious move- ment to be sure, but it was more than that. It produced a change in the mental and moral qualities of the people. The result of this awakening expressed itself in many ways. It helped to preserve the Welsh language which was rapidly vanishing in the Conquest period. It stimulated Welsh literature and it raised a force of Welsh writers and pulpit orators of mighty power. It stimulated a demand for edu- cation, and it created a general dissatisfaction with the social and economic regime then existing.
With the awakening from the apathy produced by cen- turies of conquest, internal wars, and lordship domination, there arose in the bosom of Wales the old time desire for liberty and independence. This cherished hope had been blighted for centuries, but the love of freedom which was dormant in the heart of the nation was rekindled and now asserted itself once more.
We have this condition existing in Wales during the 18th and 19th Centuries, the period of great emigration: The inhabitants were divided into two classes very unequal in number and intelligence, viz. (i) The landowning class
1 See "The Welsh People" p. 453 Ch. X on the Religious Movement in Wales. See also "The Story of the Nations-Wales" p. 386 sq.
17
THE CAUSE OF WELSH EMIGRATION
which was aristocratic in type, living in the towns, speaking for the most part the English language, and who were in direct touch with the same class in England. (ii) The ac- tual cultivators of the soil, speaking the Welsh language, liv- ing in the rural parts, and entertaining views of life and clinging to traditions belonging to an early stage of civiliza- tion. The landowners were English churchmen while their tenants were nonconformists, and the former had but little regard for the welfare of the later.
The foregoing may suffice as a rough outline of general conditions which may well account for Welsh migration to America when once the attention of the downtrodden people was called to the advantages on the American Continent. To know of a land where he might actually become possessor of a plot of ground and where he could worship according to the dictates of his own conscience appealed to the Welshman very strongly ; and hither they came in large numbers.
There were Welsh in the Colonies which landed at James- town1 and Plymouth Rock,2 and many refugees fled to New England in the succeeding decades. Welsh place names in New England such as the towns of Bangor, Milford and Mon- mouth in Maine, Milford in Massachusetts, and Conway in New Hampshire, indicate that there were Welsh settlers in the various Colonies.3
The first Welsh colony of any considerable size and im- portance was that which came to America under William Penn in 1682. With the coming of Penn the Welsh entered Penn- sylvania in very large numbers. Fisher in his "Making of Pennsylvania" informs us that "For the first fifteen or twenty years after the founding of Pennsylvania in 1682 the Welsh were the most numerous class of immigrants, and they have left many traces of themselves for many miles around Philadelphia in the names of places."
1 See "The Cradle of the Republic, James Town and the James River" p. 100 sq. where 20 or more Welsh names are given among those who landed at Jamestown in 1607.
2 See "New England's Memorial" p. 38 sq. where at least five names which are Welsh are mentioned among the men who signed the first political document at Cape Cod.
3 "Cymry A' i Phobl" p. 41 sq.
18
THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
The Welsh settled in "Y Dyffryn Mawr"-The Great Valley-near Philadelphia. They had negotiated with Penn for this tract, which consisted of 40,000 acres of land, before they left Wales. The Welsh of the Dyffrn Mawr colony were Quakers, and for the first eight or nine years they undertook to rule their colony in their own way, having none of the usual county or township officers, their Quaker-meetings exer- cising the civil authority.1 That which determined emigra- tion on the part of the Welsh who came to the Dyffrn Mawr was twofold in nature, (i) the tyranny of the nobles in Wales and, (ii) the persecution of the Quakers in the 17th Century. When the way was opened the Welsh immediately followed Penn to his Province in Pennsylvania. The venture of the first Welshmen who came to Pennsylvania was attended with great success and that stimulated others of their countrymen to follow them to America.
For a hundred years after the founding of this colony in the Dyffryn Mawr the Welsh continued to migrate and to settle in the different New England Colonies. The part which the Welsh took in the struggle for American Independence shows a general prevalence of Welsh in the Colonies. Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence there were Welshmen from several different Colonies. Among the gen- erals of the Revolutionary War there were fourteen men of Welsh blood, as were also many of the Colonels, Captains, Lieutenants, Naval Officers and Chaplains, to say nothing of the hundreds who filled the ranks.2
After the War for Independence Welsh migration revived with vigor. The record of Welshmen in the fight for inde- pendence aroused the pride and the love of liberty which the Welsh so much cherished, and thousands came to believe that their high aspirations could be realized only in America. The Press was also busy with articles which stimulated and nour- ished dissatisfaction with conditions in Wales, and was at the
1 See "The Making of Pennsylvania" p. 202 sq. See also "Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania" Chapters on Delaware, Cambria, Chester and Montgomery Counties.
2 See "The Cymry of '76"; see also "Welshmen as Civil, Political and Moral Factors in the Formation and Development of the United States Republic."
19
THE CAUSE OF WELSH EMIGRATION
same time publishing glowing advertisements of favorable conditions in the United States.1
The religious independent spirit was also growing. Shortly after 1730 Daniel Rowlands of Llangeitho and Howell Harris of Treveca stirred all Wales with their dissenting movement, and this turned the faces of thousands of Welsh- men toward America with a view to enjoying religious liberty.
It is our purpose in the chapters which follow to study some of the Welsh who migrated to Ohio toward the close of the 18th Century and during the early decades of the 19th Century, and to follow their fortunes to the point where they are being assimilated into the great American people.
Rev. Richard Price wrote a pamphlet on "Observations on Civil Liberty and the Justice and the Policy of the War with America" in 1776. 60,000 copies of this work was sold in a few months. This pamphlet aroused great interest on both sides of the Atlantic. So greatly was it admired in the United States that the American Congress in 1778, through Franklin, communicated to him their desire to consider him a fellow citizen, and asked his assistance in regulating their finances. In 1783, the same time as Washington, Mr. Price received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Yale University.
CHAPTER II.
THE COMING OF THE WELSH TO OHIO (Migration and Early Settlement)
The first Welshman to enter the territory now known as the State of Ohio was the Rev. David Jones who labored as a missionary among the Shawnee and Delaware Indians in 1772 and 1773. The second Welshman known to have traversed Ohio ground was General Anthony Wayne. General Wayne, with his army, came to Ohio in 1793 being commissioned by the government "to make an end of Indian troubles on the frontier." 1
The first permanent Welsh settlers2 in Ohio were Ezekiel Hughes and Edward Bebb who came from Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire, North Wales. These two men were re- sponsible for the first definite step westward on the part of Welsh emigrants. Hughes and Bebb were instrumental in persuading a company of fifty Welsh people in their neighbor- hood in Llanbrynmair to emigrate to America. This com- pany walked from Llanbrynmair to Bristol, England, where, on August 11th, 1795, they embarked on the ship Maria and sailed for America. After a perilous voyage of fourteen weeks they entered Delaware Bay and in a few days there- after reached the port of Philadelphia. These emigrants be- came the pioneer settlers of Ebensgburg, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, of Paddy's Run, Butler County, Ohio, and of the Welsh Hills in Licking County, Ohio.
In the autumn of 1796 twelve families settled in Ebens- burg3 including those of Theopholis Reese, Thomas Phillips, and James Nicholas. In the following Spring and Summer eleven other families came to the settlement. They named
1 See "The Cambrian for Nov. 3, 1881; also "The Cymry of '76"
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