USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > The Welsh of Columbus, Ohio; a study in adaptation and assimilation > Part 5
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1 January 1st 1910.
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
resident membership is a little over 100, and nearly half of this number are foreign born. This church has but few mem- bers under 21 years of age.
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
The early Welsh were clannish and lived close together about their church. At first they lived south of Broad Street. This may be seen from th location of their churches. The Welsh Baptist Church organized in 1824 held its first meetings on Mound Street, between High and Front Streets, and the church built in 1835 was on the corner of Rich and Third Streets. The Union Church held meetings at first, (1837), in an alley north of Broad Street between High and Front Streets; then for a few years on the corner of Fourth and Oak Streets and finally they erected a church edifice on Town Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets.
As the city grew the new comers began to settle farther away from the business portion of the town toward the north and north-east into the region north of Long and east of High Street, as far as Cleveland Avenue. Thus it was that when the Calvinistic Methodists broke away from the Union Church they worshipped in the homes of Herbert and Reynolds on the corner of East Long and Fourth Streets, and later built a church in the same neighborhood. So numerous were the Welsh in the vicinity of East Long and Fifth streets1 that the neighborhood was known as "Welshburg;" and the neighbor- hood about the corner of Chestnut and Third streets was call- ed "Jonesborough."
Many of the so-called "mill men" who came to Columbus in the '70s lived in the vicinity of Welshburg and Jonesbor- ough while a large number of them lived near the Steel Rail Mill in the Goodale Street district formerly known as "Fly- town." Some of the people who came to the Goodale Street district in the days of the Steel Rail Mill and who bought property for themselves at that time still live there, but these now are few in number.
1 See "Some Facts with Reference to the Welsh of Columbus &c." pp. 16 and 48.
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THE WELSH OF OHIO IN COLUMBUS
The Welsh from local communities in Ohio had not started to come to Columbus in any considerable numbers until after 1860. When they did come they began to settle in the imme- diate vicinity of the Welsh Church. The Welsh community at this time began to assume larger proportions, reaching out farther east and north-east, its boundaries in a general way being on the South, East Broad Street; on the West, North High Street; on the North, East Naghten and Buckingham streets, and on the East as far as Lexington Avenue. The fifth ward at one time teemed with Welsh people.
LITERARY AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
The literary meetings were occasions of great interest to the Welsh of Columbus in the early days. The literary meet- ing was a great event in a literary and social way. Here the young and old alike would compete in music, poetry, recita- tions and sight reading. Great interest was aroused by these meetings, competition was often very keen and there was a great spirit of rivalry and this sometimes resulted in bitter feelings in the community.
Singing schools are now a thing of the past, but these were at one time very popular in Welsh society, and to them very largely is due the credit for good Welsh congregational sing- ing. But the singing schools and the church choir practice were not always appreciated by those in authority in the church. At one time the choir of the Calvinistic Methodist Church had to provide its own kerosene oil for rehearsals.
EISTEDDFOD
The Eisteddfod is to the state or nation what the literary meeting is to the local community. It is a literary meeting on a large scale. It is broader in its scope than a literary meeting. It is State or Nation-wide in its scope. To the Eisteddfod, competing choirs come from all parts of the coun- try. Welsh men of letters from a large radius send their literary productions to the Eisteddfod. Columbus once had an Eisteddfod association ; this was in the '70s, and Anthony Howells, Ohio's State Treasurer, was treasurer of the Eistedd-
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
fod Association. Great Eisteddfods were held but owing to the panic of 1875-1876 the Association was dissolved though successful Eisteddfods have been held since that time.1
DONATIONS
Compensation to the minister for his service was at first meagre, but the annual donation to the minister was an event of great interest. Mrs. Kinney, the daughter of David Price, has in her possession what was known as the "Donation Book." The Donation Book is a relic of that early day. The book was owned by Mrs. Kinney's father who, while he was not identified with the church, took great pleasure in securing the annual donation for the Welsh preacher. This little book contains the names of subscribers and the amount subscribed by them for several different years in the '60s. Sometimes the donations amounted to more than $200.00.
AMUSEMENTS
The pioneer Welsh were very conservative and amusements generally were condemned. Card playing, theatre going, dancing, and similar social pleasures, were not tolerated by the church. Formal parties among the young people were not allowed. But the young gathered together for good times nevertheless. And in their gatherings they played such games as kissing games in kissing parties which would be frowned upon in Welsh society today. The Welsh are very conservative in all things. They are slow to adopt anything new. It was under a storm of opposition that the small organ was introduced into the church service. In matters of dress the older Welsh were very modest. Perhaps no church in Columbus had a congregation more modest and sombre in its wearing apparel than the Welsh congregation in former years.
THE WELSH PROMINENT IN COLUMBUS
The early Welsh of Columbus were prominent in the pub- lic affairs of the city from the very beginning. They served as County Commissioners, Infirmary Directors, City Council-
1 Recently a new Eisteddfod Association. known as "The Columbus Ohio Eisteddfod Association" has been formed.
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THE WELSH OF OHIO IN COLUMBUS
men, etc. A man bearing the Welsh name of George Williams was County Commissioner in 1820. On the City Fire Depart- ment in 1850-1851 there were eight Welshmen. In the or- ganization of Capital University in 1850 the name of William M. Reynolds, preacher and professor, appears, as well as Thomas Roberts, one of the directors. The Rev. Edward D. Morris, D. D., LL. D. was pastor of the first Presbyterian church in the '50s. After that he was professor in Lane The- ological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 30 years. Dr. Mor- ris now resides in Columbus. Perhaps the best known Welsh- man who ever lived in Columbus is William Dean Howells, "America's leading writer of fiction," who came to Columbus at the age of 14 years. Here he earned his first money, as compositor on the Ohio State Journal, with a salary of $4.00 per week.1
CONCLUSION
Three important influences which stimulated immigration to Columbus stand out clearly in the foregoing pages: (i) The underlying cause was ecomonic; then, (ii) The influ- ence of religious leaders and (iii) the controlling place of the church in Welsh society is very evident. Hardships and op- pression in the fatherland resulting from the tyranny of land- lords and stewards made life a drudgery for the poor Welsh tenant farmer. Migration to America was their door of hope. In the Jackson and Gallia settlements the poverty of the land forced the young from the settlement to seek employment elsewhere. The development of industries in Columbus and the great demand for workmen together with increased trans- portation facilities made Columbus both attractive and ac- cessible.
The influence of religious leaders is also an important con- sideration as is the controlling place of the church in Welsh society. Just as Williams controlled in the Jackson and Gallia settlement, so did the preacher exert a great influence in attracting the Welsh to Columbus. Samuel Roberts was creating a dissatisfaction in Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire.
1 See "Historical Collections of Ohio" Vol. I., p. 327.
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
Chidlaw went to that very community and told of the great advantages in America, and, especially in Ohio, for his old home was in Radnor. Then came Evans and Harris from the Jackson and Gallia Presbytery as pastors to Columbus, and the trend of migration on the part of the young of the settlement changed from Cincinnati to Columbus. We do not claim for the religious leaders entire control in the matter of this change from Cincinnati to Columbus as may be seen from the discus- sion, but that they exerted a great influence no one will doubt. Welsh parents felt safe to have their children in the care of these men of the church.
The controlling place of the church may be seen in the fact that the Welsh lived in a group about their church. The first thing a Welshman asks when anticipating a change from one place to another is, What are the religious advantages ? and religious advantages to him means the existence of a Welsh church. When for any reason a church moved a few squares from its original meeting place, such as from Town Street to the corner of East Long and Fifth Streets, we find all the new comers to Columbus settling in the immediate vicinity of the church location. It should be noted also that the early church controlled not only the location of the Welsh, but it also gov- erned their social life for a long period.
The Welsh church in Columbus today has lost, to a very great extent, its controlling place both in directing the resi- dence of its adherents and in its social control of Welsh society. A more complete discussion of this will be given in a subsequent chapter.
CHAPTER IV.
WELSH POPULATION STATISTICS General Statement
The population of Columbus at present is 181,511. Further details of the last census for cities have not been issued by the Bureau of the Census up to the time of this writing. What the Census Report of 1910 may reveal is not known, but, judging from the Census Reports of the past, nothing of any great value for the detailed study of such a small group as the Welsh of Columbus can be looked for. Below is a table of what the census reports have given concerning the Welsh of Columbus from the beginning up to the present time.
TABLE III. The U. S. Census Report on the Welsh Population of Columbus, Ohio.
1900
1890
1880
1870
Born in Wales.
595
607
559
415
Both parents born in Wales. . 1,400
1,273
Father born in Wales and mother born in U. S ..
427
252
Mother born in Wales and father born in U. S .. 232 141
Father born in Wales and mother in
some other foreign country. .
84 68
Mother born in Wales and father in
some other foreign country ..... 86 65
The above table taken from the Census Report shows that previous to 1870 no report was given by the United States Census Bureau regarding the Welsh population of Columbus. In 1870 the number of persons born in Wales was 415; in 1880 the number was 559. When we come to the report for 1890 we are given some additional information, and likewise
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
for 1900. The additional items are: (i) the number of native born Welsh whose parents were born in Wales, (ii) the number having one parent born in Wales and the other in the United States, (iii) the number having one parent born in Wales and the other in some other foreign country. The total Welsh (either full blood or part Welsh) in Columbus in 1890 according to this report was 2,406; and in 1900 the number was 2,824. There was a slight decrease in the number of foreign born Welsh, viz. from 607 in 1890 to 595 in 1900. While there was a slight increase in the number of native born of foreign parents, viz. from 1,273 in 1890 to 1,400 in 1900. The other items show a corresponding slight increase.
From this report it is impossible to know just how many were of pure Welsh blood, except those born in Wales and those whose parents were born in Wales. For, when we come to those, one of whose parents was born in Wales and the other in the United States, it is impossible to know whether the one born in the United States was of Welsh blood or of some other nationality. Likewise in the case of those whose parents were born one in Wales and the other in some other foreign coun- try, we are not told what foreign country, so we are given no clue as to the trend of intermarriage between the Welsh in this country and the people of other nationalities.
It is evident, therefore, that it would be impossible to se- cure any definite and satisfactory results with reference to the Welsh of Columbus from the scanty reports given out con- cerning them by the Bureau of the Census. The Census Re- ports do well perhaps when dealing with the large masses, but for details regarding a small and limited group, such as we are now considering, they are very unsatisfactory, being too general in their scope.
THE GATHERING OF DATA FOR THE PRESENT WORK
During the writer's stay of about three and one-half years in Columbus an effort was made under the auspices of the Calvinistic Methodist (or Welsh Presbyterian) Church, and
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WELSH POPULATION STATISTICS
under the direct supervision of the writer, to obtain more specific knowledge with regard to the Welsh of the city. To this end a canvass of the city was made. The primary object of the canvass was not sociological, but for the purpose of the church, the idea being to learn the real sphere and function of the Welsh church in its relation to the Welsh population of Columbus. Had the object been sociological primarily, more data bearing directly on this work would be available. But from the data accumulated by the church and for the church purpose many interesting facts of a sociological nature have been gleaned. The canvass was begun the first of January 1910 and completed in May of the same year. The work was done by one person and his knowledge of the Welsh people of Columbus doubtless surpasses that of any other citizen. He has lived in Columbus since the close of the Civil War. Shortly after coming to Columbus in 1865 he became established in business as a grocer. This gave him a wide ac- quaintance in the city. Moreover he has been an officer in the Calvinistic Methodist Church for over 25 years and his interest in the church is vital. Such in brief are the qualifications of the man who made the canvass.
It was deemed unnecessary to make a house to house can- vass of the whole city. The method employed was to take the Directory of the City of Columbus and to go through it col- umn by column with care, making notes of Welsh names and addresses and of any other names which savored of Welsh. After thus selecting the names, the canvasser was advised by the clerk in the City Directory's office of the way that office arranged and classified its material for systematic work. The canvasser followed the direction in every detail of instruction, and with good results.1
The canvasser was provided with record-cards for his work. The record-card was arranged in such a way as to make records for single males or single females, or for hus- band and wife and for children in the family where there
1 It took five weeks for the canvasser to collect materials and classify them for the canvass before the field work was actually begun.
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
were children. The record-card contained the following ques- tions: (i) Name ? (2) Address? (3) Occupation? (4) Age ? (5) Foreign or native born? (6) Rural or Urban ? (7) Foreign or native parents? (8) Speak or read Welsh ? (9) Old home? (10) Number of years lived in Columbus? (11) Member of church? Where? (12) Attend church? Where ? (13) Educational advantages? (14) Economic and social condition ? (15) For families of children (a) Sons ? Names ? (b) Daughters? Names? (c) Ages of each ? (d) Members of church ? (e) Of Sunday School? (f) Attend Grade School? (g) High School? (h) College? (i) Do children speak Welsh ? (j) Where do children attend church ?
From the returns of these record-cards much information, vital and interesting, was obtained, and from this information most of the statistics in this and the following chapters have been compiled and arranged. This has been supplemented by work of a similar kind, but of a more detailed nature, which the writer himself did in his own church and society. Inquiry and personal interviews with many elderly and lead- ing Welsh citizens of Columbus was also a source of important information.
LIMITATIONS OF THE WORK
A complete and perfect knowledge of the Welsh of Colum- bus on the basis of this canvass is not claimed. This was not possible in such a canvass, nor could it have been possible had a systematic house to house canvass of the entire city been made. For the canvasser made what he termed "back-calls" at some addresses as many as four or five times and found no one at home. Another difficulty was found in trying to locate Welsh females who had married males of other nationalities. Here the City Directory was helpless, the name giving no clue. But even with such persons the canvasser's wide acquaintance with the Welsh and his knowledge of the city in general were a great aid in this work, and he learned of many through con- stant inquiry wherever he went in the city. It is needless to say that the canvasser made scores and hundreds of calls on
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WELSH POPULATION STATISTICS
families and individuals who were not Welsh. This was especially true of certain streets in the colored districts where the negroes had such names as Davis, Jones, Williams, and other names common among Welsh people. These names on his list, the canvasser disposed of as he went along.
While we are glad to make every allowance possible re- garding the limitations of the work, it may be fairly claimed that this canvass is more accurate and gives more information concerning the Welsh of Columbus than anything else pro- duced up to the present time. We know of no similar work done among the Welsh of any city or community in the United States. The canvass reveals an abundance of details regard- ing the Welsh of Columbus which cannot be obtained from any other source. The Census Bureau cannot attempt such details.
CLASSIFIED GROUPS
The total number of Welsh people in Columbus enumerated in this canvass is 3,174. The Census Report for 1900 gives 2,824, and for 1890 it gives 2,406.1 There are three degrees of classification made herein, viz. 1. The Calvinistic Methodist Church and society, which has been studied with more detail than was possible in the general canvass of the city. This group numbers 672. II. Those who were regularly and carefully written up on the record-cards by the canvasser. This includes every adult whose record was written up in the first 14 questions of the record-card. This group is styled Regularly Classified and it numbers 1,273. III. The third group is that of children whose classification begins with ques- tion 15 on the record-card. This group we designate as In- complete Classification. The total of this group is 1,229.
These then are the groups:
I. The Calvinistic Methodist Church and society 672
II. The Regularly Classified. 1,273
III. The Incomplete Classification 1,229
The total of these groups is. . 3,174
1 These figures show that there was a gain from 1890 to 1900 of 418, and from 1900 to 1910, according to our canvass, a gain of 350 over the Census Report of 1900.
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
GENERAL SURVEY OF THE WELSH POPULATION OF COLUMBUS
According to our canvass there are 3,174 Welsh people in the city of Columbus. This includes the children of mixed marriages as well as those who are full blood Welsh. From the canvass made, a fair estimate of the entire Welsh popula- tion would be about 3,600.
The Welsh not a Foreign Group .- The study of the Welsh of Columbus of today is not that of a certain number of foreigners of the same nationality grouped together in one section of the city with their manner of life, their habits and institutions, unchanged as yet through contact with American life and spirit, such as a study of an Italian or Hungarian group in some of our large cities might be. Such a study of the Welsh in Columbus would be very interesting were it pos- sible. And such a study might have been possible in the Welsh society of Columbus, 50 or 60 years ago, in the days of "Welshburg" and "Jonesborough."
But the study of the Welsh of Columbus at present is quite a different problem. It is the study of a people who have been influenced by American life and institutions ; influ- enced by social intercourse for several decades; influenced through business and economic relations; influenced through intermarriage with other nationalities; influenced linquisti- cally through commercial intercourse and especially, for the children, through the public schools. Many of the Welsh of Columbus are of the third and fourth generation of Welsh people in America, and some perhaps older. Many of these, while of pure Welsh blood, have no strong national prejudices to overcome. They have never learned the Welsh language, and their parents do not speak it, and language plays an im- portant part in Welsh nationality. When a Welshman loses his native tongue, it is difficult to distinguish him from any other normal American citizen. Church and religion are also thought to be elements in the make-up of the Welshman, and of this we shall have occasion to speak later.
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WELSH POPULATION STATISTICS
DISTRIBUTION OF THE WELSH OVER COLUMBUS
Previous to 1850 the Welsh of Columbus lived south of Broad Street. Later they moved north and north-eastward to the vicinity of East Long and Fifth Streets. There they lived in a compact group in the immediate vicinity of the church. Today they are scattered, more or less, all over the city. To be sure, many of the older families who bought property and settled in the locality of Welshburg still remain there. Others who came in the '70s and '80s and bought property on Cleveland Avenue, East Spring Street, and Kel- logg Avenue still retain their homes on these streets; but the children of these families, who have married in recent years, have located in other parts of the city. It is claimed that of the members of the Calvinistic Church scarcely a family lived more than five or six squares away from the church as re- cently as 12 to 15 years ago. Today many of them are found in the remote parts of the city. Some of them live in the extreme West Side beyond the State Hospital; others in the North End beyond the Ohio State University, but the great majority of those who have located in other parts of the city in recent years have gone east and southeastward. There is not at present a single Welsh family among the members of the Calvinistic Methodist Church that lives south of Broad Street and west of Parsons Avenue. The new comers from Jackson and Gallia and elsewhere, previous to 12 or 15 years ago sought homes in the Welsh community in the immediate vicinity of the church, but they do so no longer. The new comer of today goes either east or north to find a home.
The reasons for leaving the vicinity of the church are: (i) Street car facilities are improved so that people can get to church and to business with comparative ease from distant parts of the city. (ii) Homes and rents in the new and modern houses are cheaper in these districts which are farther from the business center of the city. (iii) Foreigners, such as Italians, are forging from High Street into the old vicinity inhabited almost exclusively by the Welsh in former days.
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
The Welsh will continue to leave this old vicinity more and more in the future. The general trend of the great majority of them is toward the east and southeastern part of Columbus.
Columbus, for convenience in speaking of it, is divided into ends and sides. Viz. the East Side and West Side, and the South End and the North End. High Street divides the city into east and west and Broad Street divids it into north and south. People are generally spoken of as living on the East Side or West Side, or in the North End or South End. For the sake of convenience in tracing the distribution of the Welsh over Columbus the writer has followed these general divisions and has made some smaller subdivisions. The di- visions are as follows :
The South End .- The South End as described here em- braces that part of Columbus which is south of Broad Street, west of Parsons Avenue, east of the Scioto River, due south to the city limits.
The North End .- The North End embraces all the region north of the Big Four tracks entering Union Station, to the north, east, and west city limits.
The West Side .- The West Side embraces that portion of the city which is west of the Scioto River and south of Broad Street, south and west to the city limits; also the portion west of North High Street, north of Broad Street and south of the Big Four tracks entering Union Station, west to the city limits.
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