USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > The Welsh of Columbus, Ohio; a study in adaptation and assimilation > Part 7
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WELSH SOCIAL STATISTICS
Furthermore, the relative numbers of nationalities into which the Welsh have intermarried as represented in tables IX. and X. cannot be regarded as exact, or absolutely accu- rate. For this reason we do not reduce them to percentages for comparison. The number of Germans, Irish, etc., are accurate as here stated. But the column marked "American" cannot be claimed as accurate for the reason that it is difficult to state what an American is, or who is an American. For example, a person whose ancestors came from Germany, or whose father and mother were both born in Ireland, may call himself an American, and properly so. The rule followed here has been to state the nationalities as German or Ameri- can, and so on, just as they were given in the record-cards. While the column marked "American" may contain the names of other distinct nationalities, the fact that the Welsh have freely intermarried with other nationalities is substan- tiated throughout, and that they are rapidly becoming assim- ilated into the great American people is proved without a possible question of doubt. Were it possible to add here the classification of children who are only half Welsh, and con- tinue this to those who are one-fourth and one-eighth part Welsh, we would readily see how the Welsh, as such, are van- ishing and losing their identity, through amalgamation, into what we may call the American people.
FAMILIES, DWELLINGS AND RESIDENT DISTRICTS
Our statistics from the general canvass of the city on this subject do not give information sufficiently accurate to draw conclusions from them. So, for our knowledge on this phase of our inquiry, we are compelled to satisfy ourselves with the statistics of the Calvinistic Methodist Church and society alone, the total of which is 672.
In this group there are 190 families. The average size of a family is 3.8. They run as follows: Families consisting of one member, 9; families consisting of two members, 46; fam- ilies consisting of three members, 43; families consisting of four members, 35; families consisting of five members, 19;
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
families consisting of six members, 19; families consisting of seven members, 10; families consisting of eight members, 7; families consisting of nine members, 2. There are no families of more than nine members. There are 40 widows and 17 widowers in this group.
These are days of small families among the Welsh of Co- lumbus. Mr. L. D. Davies, in his pamphlet on the Welsh of Columbus previous to 1860, refers to large families, and we observed in a foregoing chapter that the early Welsh of Jack- son and Gallia, and other settlements in early days, also had large families. While Mr. Davies makes no point of enumer- ating the families and their respective sizes, he refers to some as being very large and incidentally mentions the number of children in some of the families. He refers to one family which came to Columbus in that period and which later moved to Brown Township, as having 15 children, all of whom were living at home at the same time. Another family of eleven children is mentioned, and two families having ten children in each, three families having eight children and three having seven children. In January 1910, there were 26 married couples in the Calvinistic Methodist Church and society with no children; 40 families with but one child, while only two families had as many as seven children.
To discuss the causes for this condition with any degree of satisfaction is not easy. But doubtless there are at least two contributing causes, and perhaps more. (i) Economic con- siderations have their influence; inability to support large families affects this problem. Then (ii) closely linked with the economic consideration is the social reason, viz. the desire to properly rear children born to the home, and consequently the desire to have a limited family to whom good advantages may be given.
Regarding dwellings and residence districts it may be said that the Welsh generally speaking live in comfortable homes. The large majority of them belong to the skilled labor class, and live well; they occupy houses having from six to eight
91
WELSH SOCIAL STATISTICS
rooms. The dwellings of the Welsh, to be sure, represent the two extremes, and they reside in parts of the city representing the extremes of wealth and poverty. The streets and localities where they are found are somewhat indicative of their social welfare. Some of the Welsh own very fine homes on Broad Street, while others live in dingy huts in the poorer sections of the city such as west of North High Street on either side of the railroad tracks. The writer has visited a poor widow, who supported herself by washing, living in a one room cottage with just a kitchen attached to it in the rear. For this cot- tage she paid $3.00 per month rent. She was is poor health, suffering from asthma and had to rely on charity for aid when she was ill and unable to earn a living. Such cases are rare among the Welsh, and very seldom do we find a Welsh person dependent on charity. The average Welsh home is comfortable and well equipped with good furniture, well located on re- spectable and improved streets, and its inhabitants enjoy a wholesome and comfortable living.
In the Calvinistic Methodist Church and society over 50 percent of the families own their homes. While not all are free from incumbrance, many of them own property besides their homes. And while less than 50 percent are renters, even some of those who rent are property holders and a large number of single persons are property owners in the city. Many are in business for themselves, and some may be classed as "well-to-do."
The Welsh of Columbus are thrifty and live well, but with it all they practice a wholesome economy. They are saving without being stingy. They are home-lovers and make much of home life. Their hospitality is phenomenal. Their child- ren are well trained in diligence, and have a good knowledge of the practical things of life. Seldom will one find a girl brought up in a Welsh home who is not familiar with all the details of practical housekeeping. Nor do they neglect the cultural phase of life in the home. They have good books. Very little trashy literature will be found in the average
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
Welsh home. They make much of music. As a rule the home where there are children has a piano, and Welsh children are taught to sing as well as to play on musical instruments.
OCCUPATION GROUPS AND BUSINESS RELATIONS
The following statistics are based on the returns from the Regularly Classified group in the general canvass and from the statistics of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church and society. Three classifications are made according to occupa- tion groups, with an additional group of occupations unclassi- fied.
The three general Occupation Groups classified are: (i) Professional and Official Group. (ii) Those having to do with Commerce and Transportation. (iii) Those who are connected with Manufacture and Mechanical Industry. (iv) The fourth group is that of occupations unclassified. The total of Welsh persons who gave their occupations is 966, and they are distributed as to occupation groups as follows: The largest occupation group is the Commercial and Transporta- tion Group. It numbers 409, or 41.5 percent of the entire working force of Welsh people here considered. Of the Com- mercial and Transportation Group, the commercial clerks, bookkeepers, stenographers, salesmen, both city and traveling, constitute 65.6 percent of the group, or 27.2 percent of the en- tire working force of the Welsh people in Columbus according to our canvass. A little less than one-third of the Commercial clerks are in the Calvinistic Methodist Church and society. About one-third of the entire clerkship force are females. Railroaders constitute 8.7 percent of this occupation group, and they are 3.6 percent of the entire working force of the Welsh people.
The next largest occupation group is that of persons con- nected with Manufacturing and Mechanical Industry. In this group there are 323 persons, or a little more than one-third of the entire working force here considered. 244 of these are from the general canvass, and 79 are in the Calvinistic Metho- dist Church and society. The largest class in this occupation
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WELSH SOCIAL STATISTICS
group are the carpenters and joiners of whom there are 63, or 20.1 percent of the group, and 6.7 percent of the entire working force of the Welsh people canvassed. The next largest class in this occupation group are the painters and decorators of whom there are 29; then come the machinists, 24 in number; blacksmiths, 11; factory women, 10; and the remainder are scattered among 52 different occupations hav- ing less than ten in each.
The third of the occupation groups is that of Professional and Official occupations. In this group there are 101, or 10.5 percent of the whole working force of the Welsh people can- vassed. Of this group, 22 are in the Calvinistic Methodist Church and society. The remaining 79 are from the general canvass of the city. 47, or almost one-half of this occupation group, are teachers and instructors in the city schools, High schools, the Ohio State University, or teachers of music. About one-fifth of this group are doctors; 16 of whom are Physicians; 3 are Doctors of Dental Surgery; and one is a Veterinary Surgeon. The remainder of this group are scat- tering with less than five in a given profession or office.
The fourth group, which is not classified, has in it 141 persons, or 14.6 percent of the whole working force. 76 of these are laborers, 36 are domestics, 11 are janitors, 8 are saloonkeepers and bartenders, and the remaining 6 are em- ployed with some form of personal service.
From the above classification according to occupation it is clear that a large percent of the Welsh are skilled laborers and clerks of one form or another, and that one in every ten is in some profession or is occupied in some official capacity. Relatively few are laborers.
Business Relations .- The Welsh tend to cling together in business. Welsh contractors employ Welshmen as a rule. Welsh stone masons go together. The Welsh form partner- ships in such businesses as grocery stores, etc. This form of association is carried on quite extensively among the Welsh. Welsh families favor a Welsh physician as a rule. And they
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
patronize stores and places of business kept by men of their own nationality, and even favor stores and business houses where Welsh clerks are employed.
EDUCATION
The children of the Welsh people of Columbus attend the city schools, the grade schools, high schools, and some enter the Ohio State University, or some college. Exact statistics on this subject for the entire Welsh population of Columbus we could not obtain with sufficient accuracy to draw definite conclusions. But for the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church and society they are as given in table XI.
TABLE XI. EDUCATION
Number of persons who have had college education. 14
Number of persons in college at present .. 6
Number of persons who have had professional education. 7
Number of persons of High School education. 57
Number of persons now attending High Schools 25
Number of persons now in Common Schools 95
Number of illiterates
3
Number under five years of age. 52
Number of those not classified here 413
Total 672
Of the 413 not classified in the table above, practically all have had a common school education or its equivalent, and a large number of them have had a commercial course besides.
LITERARY AND IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES
The old time interest in literary societies and singing schools, once so intense among the Welsh of Columbus, is now lagging. From 25 to 50 years ago the literary society was a great function, and it aroused great interest and a spirit of rivalry in competition. It was carried on almost exclusively in the Welsh language. Today societies and organizations of a distinctly Welsh character are practically extinct in Colum- bus. Some cities in America, where the Welsh population is
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WELSH SOCIAL STATISTICS
larger than in Columbus and in other cities where the Welsh population is much smaller, flourishing Welsh organizations are maintained such as the Cymrodorion Society, the Ivorite Society, the Saint David's Society,1 etc .; but not one of these societies of a distinctly Welsh character are found among the Welsh of Columbus today. While there are none of the Welsh societies in Columbus almost all of the Welshmen belong to one or another of the fraternal societies or labor organizations in the city.
The old time literary society has been supplanted by a Ladies' Literary Club, which was organized under the auspices of the. Calvinistic Methodist Church in 1909. Its object was group study in which the young women came together in read- ing circles to study some author or some religious course such as a Missionary field or country. One meeting in the month is of a public nature to which all women are invited.
The Young Men's Brotherhood was organized in 1908 un- der the auspices of the same church. It is broad in its scope, its object being "to advance the moral, social, and intellectual welfare of its members," its membership is not confined to the church. A Debating Club was also organized about this time among young boys of a High School age, its membership being elective and confined to twelve in number. Among the middle aged men there exists a Class in Theology which meets weekly for the discussion of theological questions. The membership of this class is also elective and limited to twelve in number. The church choir of the Calvinistic Methodist Church amounts to a musical society. It is regularly organized with officers and directors. The choir consists of about 60 voices, and they meet regularly every week for rehearsals. For the past two Christmas seasons this choir has given Handel's Messiah with credit and distinction.1
The two Welsh churches have their respective Ladies' Aid Societies, and from their accumulations every year they con-
1 A Saint David's Society was organized in Columbus on March 3rd 1913 when about 250 Welshmen met at a dinner to celebrate Saint David's Day.
1 The Messiah has now been given for four successive seasons, 1909 to 1912, with increasing success.
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
tribute to various benevolences in Columbus, such as the Child- ren's Aid Society, the Associated Charities, City Missions, etc. They also have a Missionary Branch through which they con- tribute to missions, both Home and Foreign. Among the women there is a local branch of the Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union, known as the "Cambrian W. C. T. U." which holds regular monthly meetings. The Welsh of Columbus also have an auxiliary to the American Bible Society. This was organized in 1853. The first year after its organization this auxiliary society contributed over $144.00 to the American Bible Society. The Columbus auxiliary society has grown and flourished ever since its organization. It has many Life Members of the American Bible Society and some Life Di- rectors.
MORALITY AND TEMPERANCE
Very seldom do we hear of a Welshman being arrested for any cause whatever. Only four or five times in the period of three years and a half that the writer lived in Columbus was the Welsh pride shocked by the announcement that one of their nationality had been arrested. The writer has never heard of a Welsh child appearing in the Juvenile Court of the city, and the report of that court for June 1911 shows that there were none during the year preceding. A Welshman sentenced to the workhouse is seldom heard of, and a Welsh pauper is a rare being.
On the question of temperance the Welsh society of Colum- bus has improved a great deal in the last quarter of a century. In the days of the steel rail mill there were many indulgent Welshmen in Columbus. Some of them could be classed as low and given to very excessive drinking. In this respect the Welsh have advanced greatly. Welsh habitual drunkards are few in number. The number of those who dring intoxi- cants is becoming smaller year by year. The Calvinistic Methodist Church for many years has made total abstinence a requisite for admission to church membership.
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WELSH SOCIAL STATISTICS
POLITICS
In politics the Welsh of Columbus are almost all Republi- cans though there are exceptions; a few are Democrats and still others are Prohibitionists. Since the rise of the Anti- saloon movement many of the Welsh who were Prohibitionists have joined its ranks rather than cling to the Prohibition par- ty; that is, those of them who are staunch supporters of tem- perance. Party lines are not so closely adhered to by the Welsh of today as they were in former days; and a Welshman on a ticket, no matter which party, will command the majority of Welsh votes.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
There is scarcely a religious denomination in the city of Columbus without at least one Welshman in the roll of its members. Twenty-two religious bodies have a total of 1,118 Welsh people enrolled in them and of this 1,118, 512 are mem- bers of the Calvinistic Methodist Church, and 75 are in the Welsh Congregational Church. This is not the total member- ship of the Welsh Congregational Church. These are children in the homes, children whose record was given in question 15 and its subdivisions on the record-card whose classification is not complete and consequently they are not counted here but a record of them is given in the "Incomplete Classification" group.1 The children, however, are few in number in the Welsh Congregational Church, the most of them are grown up children in the homes. This church has but very few members under 18 or 20 years of age, and at least one-half of its membership are foreign born Welsh.
We have as the result of our canvass 606 persons who are members of churches other than the Welsh Calvinistic Metho- dist Church in Columbus. And these 606, it must be remem- bered, are adults regularly classified. Were we able to give
1 The 75 mentioned here and elsewhere in this work do not represent the total membership of the Welsh Congregational Church. 75 is the number of adults regularly classified on our record-cards. Where there were sons and daughters in the families they have been recorded in the "Incomplete Classi- fication" group of which there are 423 children of Welsh parents. The total membership of the Welsh Congregational Church is somewhat over 100, perhaps 120.
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
the church statistics for the children under 21 years of age (as we have done for the Calvinistic Methodist Church) the report would show a much larger number of Welsh persons in the English churches of Columbus.
Barring the two Welsh churches for the moment, we have 531 Welsh people who are members of churches other than Welsh in the city. Of this 531 the Methodist Episcopal church has the largest number, viz. 181, or 34 percent of all the Welsh church members in churches not Welsh in the city, and 16.2 percent of the entire number of church members among the Welsh people of the city. The next in point of numbers is the Presbyterian church with 106 Welsh people, or 20 percent of those not members of the Welsh churches, and 9.7 percent of the whole number of Welsh church mem- bers. The next is the Congregational Church with 14.9 per- cent of Welsh outside of Welsh churches, or a little over 7 percent of the whole number of church members who are Welsh. The next in size is the Welsh Congregational Church with 75 members regularly classified, which is a little less than 13 percent of those in Welsh churches, and 6.7 percent of the entire church membership here considered.1 The Baptist Church has 41 Welsh people, or 7.7 percent of those not in Welsh churches, and 3.6 percent of the whole number of Welsh church members. The Church of Christ has 36 Welshmen on its roll, or 6.8 percent of those in churches not Welsh in the city, and 3.2 percent of the entire church membership of Welsh people. The Episcopal Church has 30 Welsh people in its roll of membership which is 5.4 of Welsh church mem- bers outside of the Welsh churches, or 2.8 percent of the entire Welsh church membership here considered. The remaining denominations and religious bodies have less than 15 members in each as may be seen by consulting table XII.
1 If we had a complete classified list of the members of the Welsh Con- gregational Church it would have about 20 percent of all members in Welsh churches instead of 13 as here mentioned. American readers may wonder why we give a separate account of the Welsh Congregational Church here, i. e. why not include it in the column "Congregational" along with all other Congrega- tional churches of the city. The reason is that the Welsh Congregational Church is a body separate and distinct from the English Congregational church. It has its own State Convention or Association just as the Calvinistic Methodist (or Welsh Presbyterian) church is a distinct organization from the Presbyterian body.
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WELSH SOCIAL STATISTICS
TABLE XII. THE NUMBER OF WELSH IN THE VARIOUS CHURCHES
Calvinistic Methodist Church 512
Methodist Episcopal Church
181
Presbyterian Church
106
Congregational Church
79
Welsh Congregational Church
75
Baptist Church
41
Church of Christ
36
Episcopal Church
30
United Brethren
14
United Presbyterian Church
10
Catholic Church
8
Lutheran Church
5
Seventh Day Adventists
3
Universalist Church
3
Church of God.
3
Salvation Army
3
Latter Day Saints
2
Christian Science Church.
2
Spiritualists
2
Church of the Nazarene
1
Reformed Church
1
Young Men's Christian Association
1
Total-1,118 of whom 512 are in the Calvinistic Methodist Church, and 75 of whom are in the Welsh Congregational Church.
As we have intimated above, if our returns from the gen- eral canvass were more complete, a much larger percent of the Welsh of Columbus would be in churches other than Welsh churches in the city. In our group designated "Incomplete Classification," which dealt with question 15 and its subdi- visions on the record-card, we have, 806 children from mixed marriages, and 423 children of Welsh parents, not considered at all in the table on Church Affiliations given above. Were
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THE WELSH OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
these groups, the total of which is 1,229, classified as to church affiliations there would be revealed the fact that several hun- dred more Welsh people were in churches other than the Welsh churches of Columbus, which have not been recorded at all in this writing on church relationship for the reason that our statistics gave us no aid on this question.
Tables XIII., XIV. and XV. in the appendix,1 give respect- ively, (i) The total number of church members. (ii) The total of those not church members but who attend. (iii) The total who do not attend church. These are given according to their status as foreign or native born, etc. In these tables the Cal- vinistic Methodist Church and society is omitted, the effort here being to learn the religious status of the Welsh outside of the Calvinistic Methodist Church in Columbus. These tables are made up from the regularly classified records of our general canvass. By "church members" here we mean persons who are directly indentified with some church or other as members. By "those who are not church members but who attend" we mean persons who are not directly indentified with any particular church as members, but who attend with more or less regularity and who gave the name of the church which they attended. By "non-church goers" we mean (i) persons who definitely stated that they attended no church whatever; and (ii) those who, when asked about their church attend- ance, gave such answers as: "seldom," "everywhere," "all churches," "once in a while," or "nowhere in particular," in reply, and who in no instance gave the name of the church which they attended even "once in a while." The total of these three tables is 1,273 and concerning them the following facts are revealed :
The first group, Table XIII., gives the total of church members outside of the Calvinistic Methodist Church. This group consists of 606 church members, or 47.6 percent of the entire 1,273 persons here considered. The second group, Table XIV., gives the total of church attendants who are not
1 See Appendix E.
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WELSH SOCIAL STATISTICS
members. This group consists of 328 persons, or 25.7 of the entire 1,273 in these tables. The third group, Table XV., gives the total of non-church-goers and it consists of 339 per- sons, or 26.7 percent of the entire number considered in these tables.1
Reckoned with respect to their grouping as foreign and native born in these three tables the percentages are as follows :
Of the 1,273 persons classified in tables XIII., XIV., and XV. collectively 269, or 21.1 percent, are foreign born; 415, or 32.6 percent, are native born of foreign parents; 178, or 14 percent, are persons having one parent foreign and the other native; 411, or 32.3 percent, are native born of native parents.
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