The Welsh of Columbus, Ohio; a study in adaptation and assimilation

Front matter

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Class i -t jd

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 ' ' DyffrjTi 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 Fii-st 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

CONTENTS 9

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 02

Education 04

Literary and Improvement Societies 04

Morality and Temperance 06

Politics 07

Church Membership 07

Conclusion 1^^^4

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 110

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 1 34

CONTENTS

Graphic Representations

Figure 1. Showing the Sources of the Welsh in Columbus 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-goei-s 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 IMembers Received

into the Calvinistic Methodist Church of Columbus by Letters in 25 years.

B. Table V. Age-groups According to Sex in the CalvinivStic

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

BIBLIOGEAPHY 11

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"The Cradle of the Republic, Jamestown and the James River" by Lyon G. Tyler: First edition 1900; second edition 1906. Hermitage Press, Richmond, Va., publisher.

"New England's Memorial" by Nathaniel Morton, 5th Edition by John Davies. Crocker and Brewester, publishers, 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; published 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, Utiea, N. Y., publisher.

12 BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Y Dryeh" a Welsh weekly- paper for the Welsh in America

owned and published by J. T. Griffiths, Utiea, 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 Al Phobl" 1894, printed by the editor of the Drych,

Utica, N. Y.

"Hanes Cymry America" 1872, by Rev. R. D. Thomas (lor-

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 Methodistiaeth Cymry," Rev. John Hughes; published

by Hughes and Son, Wrexham, 1854.

"The Cambrian" — a magazine for Welsh- Americans, published by T. J. Griffiths, Utica, N. Y.

"Records of the Calvinistic Methodist Church, Columbus, O." The United States Census for 1910.

"The AVelsh 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.

" Di^vj'giadau Crefyddol Cymry," Parch Henry Hughes,

published at Sywddfa'r Genedl, Casrnarfon. "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.

docia."

Chapter I. The Cause Of Welsh Emigration

Welsh emigration grew naturally out of conditions prevailing 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 owners of estates and the actual tillers of the land.

In briefly tracing the steps which led ultimately to extreme 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 freeholders, 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 development 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. ^ 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."

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 corresponding 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 practically at the same time as the summoning of the Welsh members to Parliament had also an important effect on the enlarging 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. ^

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" Oh. IX p. 295 sq. on "History of Land Tenure in Wales;" see also "The Story of the Nations — Wales" p. 339 sq.

THE CAUSE OF WELSH EMIGRATION 15

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 associated with William Worth and his colleagues who after being ejected from the church went around preaching as itinerant preachers throughout the country. i But so far as the organized 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 perfunctory 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.^

The Religious Awakening, — With such conditions prevailing 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 consequence 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 Llandafif 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 •bout 25,225£. For details see "The Welsh People" p. 468-469.

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 constructive work was being carried on.^

The influence of this revival upon the social and economic progress of Wales was significant. It was a religious movement to be sure, but it was more than that. It produced a change in the mental and moral qualities of the people. Thii 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 pulpi^j orators of mighty power. It stimulated a demand for education, and it created a general dissatisfaction with the social and economic regime then existing.

With the awakening from the apathy produced by centuries 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.

THE CAUSE OF WELSH EMIGRATION 17

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 actual cultivators of the soil, speaking the Welsh language, living in the rural parts, and entertaining views of life and clinging to traditions belonging to an early stage of civilization. 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 ovm conscience appealed to the Welshman very strongly; and hither they came in large numbers.

There were Welsh in the Colonies which landed at Jamestown^ and Plymouth Rock,^ 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 Monmouth in Maine, Milford in Massachusetts, and Conway in New Hampshire, indicate that there were Welsh settlers in the various Colonies.^

The first Welsh colony of any considerable size and importance was that which came to America under William Penn in 1682. With the coming of Penn the Welsh entered Pennsylvania in very large numbers. Fisher in his "Making of Pennsylvania" informs as 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."

i 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.

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 Avay, having none of the usual county or township officers, their Quaker-meetings exercising the civil authority.^ That which determined emigration 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 generals 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.^

After the War for Independence Welsh migration revived with vigor. The record of Welshmen in the fight for independence 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 Avhich stimulated and nourished 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."

THE CAUSE OF WELSH EMIGEATION 19

same time publishing glowing advertisements of favorable conditions in the United States.^

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 Welshmen 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.

1 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

(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. ' ' ^

The first permanent Welsh settlers^ in Ohio were Ezekiel Hughes and Edward Bebb who came from Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire, North Wales. These two men were responsible 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 neighborhood in Llanbrynmair to emigrate to America. This company 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 thereafter reached the port of Philadelphia. These emigrants became 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 Ebensburg^ 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"

2 See "The History of the Welsh Settlement of Paddy's Run"; also "Hanes Cymry America" p. 113 sq.

3 See "Day's Historical Collections of Pennsylvania," chapter on "Cambria County."

the township Cambria, and later the County was given the same name.^ The Welsh of this colony are characterized as "a people remarkable for thrift, sobriety, and industry."

Hughes and Bebb did not join the other members of their company who settled in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, but after remaining with friends in the Dyffryn Mawr, (Great Valley), near Philadelphia for several months, they started in April 1796 for the then far West. They walked over the mountains to Red Stone, Old Fort, (now Brownsville) Pa. where they secured a flat-boat and floated down the Ohio River to Fort Washington, or Cincinnati.

After reaching Cincinnati they spent three weeks "in traversing the five lower ranges" but in their search they found only one tract of land w^hich they considered good for that part of the country. They described the land as being well watered and convenient being only half a mile from the road going from Cincinnati to Hamilton. They purchased 100 acres of land in section 34, Colerian Township, cleared a part of it for cultivation, and built a cabin on it. Their purpose was to remain there and to experiment with the land in that region until the land beyond the Great i\Iiami was surveyed by the government and placed on the market, believing that the soil on the east side of the Great Miami River was similar to that on the west side.

They remained on their farm east of the Great Miami from 1796 until 1801 w^hen the government surveyed the land on the west side of the river and placed it on the market. The two men made frequent excursions into the regions beyond the I\Iiami and made careful examination of the soil and of conditions in general. ''The land to be sold on the other side of the Miami," writes Hughes, "is rich as any in Kentucky, much better watered, and the title indisputable."

Ezekiel Hughes was the first to purchase land in this newly opened territory. He bought sections 15 and 16 in Whitewater To^vnship, Hamilton County, paying $2.05 per acre.

1 The Welsh of Cambria County first settled at Beulah, about two miles from Ebensburg but when Ebensburg was made the county seat of Cambria County, tiie Welsh gradually moved toward Ebensburg.

22 THE WEI^H OF COLUMBUS, OHIO

This tract lies between the Miami and Whitewater rivers, just where the Whitewater empties into the Miami. At the same time Edward Bebb purchased half a section on the Dry- Fork of Whitewater in what is now Morgan Township, Butler County, which was the first land bought in Butler County. Two other men, Morgan and William Gwilym, from Cavenaman, South Wales, joined Hughes and Bebb on the east side of the Great Miami in 1798, and "squatted" on Blue Rock Creek. In 1802 William Gwilym followed his friends to Paddy's Run and began to clear the forest. Morgan Gwilym returned to Red Stone where he had previously worked, stayed there a while and then invested his earnings in a two-horse wagon and some iron castings and returned to Paddy's Run. Edward Bebb. after buying his land, started for Wales seeking the sweetheart of his former days with the intention of bringing her to the cabin in the woods. He walked all the distance from Paddy's Run to Ebensburg intending to stay there a short time on his return trip to Wales. While at Ebensburg, much to his surprise, he met the lady for whom he was making the trip. Her maiden name was Margret Roberts. But when Bebb met her in Ebensburg her name was Mrs. Margret Owens. After Bebb left Wales for America Miss Roberts married a man by the name of Owens. To Mr. and Mrs. Owens one child was born. The family left Wales for America but on the voyage Owens and the child died and were buried at sea, and Mrs. Owens was left to make her way in the new country alone. After landing in New York she determined to go to Ebensburg where she had relatives who had left Llanbrynmair in the ship Maria in 1795, It was at the home of one of the friends that Edward Bebb found her on his arrival at Ebensburg. Bebb remained there a few weeks, then returned to his home, on the Dry Fork, accompanied by his bride. There in their cabin on December 8th. 1802 was born William Bebb, the first white child born in Butler County, who later became the 17th Governor of Ohio, and the first native born Governor of the Buckeye State.^

1 See "Historical Collections of Ohio" Vol. I. p. 349.

Ezekiel Hughes returned to Wales in 1803 and married a Miss Margret Bebb.^ The two returned to their home in Hamilton County in 1804. These trips on the part of Bebb and Hughes, together with correspondence and glaring advertisement, created a great interest on the part of the Welsh of Llanbrynmair and presently a large number of Welsh immigrants poured into Paddy's Run. From 1803 to 1820 there was a constant stream of Welsh people coming into the community and a Welsh colony w-as the result.

Just as Hughes and Bebb were pioneers in Paddy's Run so is Paddy's Run pioneer and parent of Welsh settlements in Ohio.2 Out of Paddy's Run grew, either directly or indirectly, four important Welsh settlements in the State, viz. : the Welsh Hills colony in Licking County, settled in 1801 ; the Jackson and Gallia settlements in Jackson and Gallia Counties, settled in 1818; the Gomer settlement established in Gomer, Allen County, in 1833 ; and the Venedocia settlement in Vanwert County established in 1848.

The Welsh Hills Settlement

Theopholis Rees and Thomas Phillips were members of the colony which first settled in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, in 1796. The influence of Hughes and Bebb may be seen in the desire of their friends to venture farther west.

In 1801 Theopholis Rees began to investigate the advantages of the country beyond the Ohio River.^ In August

1 Margret Bebb, so far as we have been able to ascertain, was not a relative of the other Bebbs mentioned in this chapter.

2 Paddy's Run sounds incongruous as the name of a Welsh community. There is a story handed down by tradition that in the first surveying party which came to this region there was an Irishman, and that the Irishman was drowned in this creek. From that time to the present day the creek has been known as Paddy's Run; and the community takes its name from the creek which runs through the valley. At one time during the '80s an effort was made to change the name from Paddy's Run to Glendower (Welsh, Glyndwr). The change was actually and officially made by the government, but so great was the opposition to it that the name was soon changed back to Paddy's Run. The station is now called Shandon but the community is known as Paddy's Run.

3 See "The Cambrian" for August 1907, article by Wm. Harvey Jones, p. 344 sq. Mr. Jones in this article states that Rees came to America with Thomas Phillips and others landing in New York May 14, 1795. Chidlaw definitely states that Rees was in the company of fifty who came with Hughes and Bebb and landed in Philadelphia in the Spring of 1795. Jones has made a careful study of Welsh Settlements in Ohio in recent years. Chidlaw, on the other hand, was the son-in-law of Ezekiel Hughes and wrote 20 years before Jones. Chidlaw quotes from the Diary of Ezekiel Hughes in his article (see The Cambrian for May, 1888). Whether Rees was in this particular company which Hughes and Bebb brought with them or not we do not know, but that the large majority of the Ebensburg colony were from the colony that Hughes and Bebb brought over is certain. So the influence of these men' in their westward venture was felt in the Ebensburg colony, and the most venturesome of them were, by the success of their friends in Paddy's Run. inspired to seek like opportunities beyond the Ohio.