The Welsh in Iowa

Cherilyn A Walley

• Publisher: University of Wales Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780708322222
• eBook ISBN: 9781783165919
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

"The Welsh in Iowa" is the history of the little known Welsh immigrant communities in the American Midwestern state of Iowa. Dr. Walley's book identifies what made the Welsh unique as immigrants to North America, and as migrants and settlers in a land built on such groups. With research rooted in documentary evidence and supplemented with community and oral histories, "The Welsh in Iowa" preserves and examines Welsh culture as it was expressed in middle America by the farmers and coal miners who settled or passed through the prairie state as it grew to maturity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This work seeks to not only document the Welsh immigrants who lived in Iowa, but to study the Welsh as a distinct ethnic group in a state known for its ethnic heritage.

1

The Welsh

The Welsh of Iowa did not spontaneously appear on the prairie, shiny and new and distinct from their neighbours by simple dint of being. No, the Welsh of Iowa were the product of centuries of Welsh history and decades of American immigration. To understand the Welsh in Iowa, one must learn how the Welsh came to be, understand the place of religion in Welsh identity and acknowledge the factors that moved so many to choose America over Cymru.

Wales

The history of Wales is not just the story of a nation; it is the anvil on which Welsh identity was forged. The political, social and economic forces that shaped the country also tempered the inhabitants’ character until a distinct identity emerged. Descendants of the original Britons, the Welsh inhabited present-day Wales and the western parts of present-day England and southern Scotland from at least the sixth century BC. They spoke a derivative of the most ancient known form of British, which in turn evolved through the various stages of primitive Welsh into the present Welsh language, the purest survivor of the Celtic languages (being the closest to the original British). Through separation and adaptation, by the mid-sixth century BC, the Welsh were becoming recognized as a Celtic people distinct from the British inhabiting the rest of the island.¹

Throughout the ensuing five centuries, the Welsh lived as tribes, cultivated grains, husbanded animals and warred against one another. Such was the customary way of life throughout Britain at that time. In AD 43, the Roman emperor Claudius decided to extend his empire to encompass Britain. The Romans subdued south-east Britain fairly quickly, but found the western and north-western areas more difficult to conquer. Once the entire island of Britain had been brought into submission–after thirty years of war–the Romans settled into a three-century-long occupation with mixed results. In spite of now being part of the Roman Empire, for the most part, the Welsh continued to live as tribes and inhabit their hill forts and huts. The most lasting effects of Roman occupation were the adoption of Roman technology such as bronze cookware and dry stonework.²

Between the departure of the Romans and the arrival of the Saxons (in the fifth century AD), Welsh and British tribal chiefs ruled all of Britain south of the highlands of Scotland. One such Welsh chieftain, Cunedda, traveled south from lower Scotland to lead the tribes of Wales in repelling the Irish from the western coasts and from Cunedda’s sons sprang many future Welsh kings. In spite of growing acknowledgement of a collective Welsh identity – Welsh tribesmen referred to themselves as ‘Cymry’ – Wales remained a conglomeration of disunited kingdoms based on tribalism well into the ninth century.³

By the early seventh century, the English were pressing at Wales’s eastern edges and in the late eighth century the Welsh built Offa’s Dyke to mark the border between the two countries. In the ninth century, Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri the Great) inherited the thrones of Powys and Gwynedd, the two great kingdoms of north Wales, and began the process of uniting the Welsh under a single crown. He succeeded in fending off the Ireland-based Vikings at Anglesey, and resisted the English on the east. Rhodri Mawr continued to consolidate his power by marrying Angharad of Cardigan, which was allied with Carmarthen and jointly known as Seisyllwg. Rhodri Mawr died in AD 878, fighting the English. His grandson Hywel Dda ap Cadell (Hywel the Good), already inheritor of Seisyllwg, brought Pembroke (Dyfed) into the fold by marrying its princess, Elen. Finally, when Hywel’s cousin Idwal Foel died, Hywel came into possession of Gwynedd and Powys, bringing almost all of Wales under his control.⁴

Rhodri Mawr and Hywel Dda presided over two of the most pivotal transitions in Welsh history. Rhodri Mawr changed Wales from a group of separate tribal kingdoms into a single nation with a national identity. By establishing friendly relations with the English in the tenth century, Hywel Dda began the long legacy of English domination of Wales. In allying with the English, Hywel Dda helped ensure the survival of Britain as an independent entity, but sacrificed a degree of Welsh separatism in doing so. Many foresaw that loss as a result of the rapprochement and objected to making peace with the English, indicating an unwillingness in some to subject themselves to English influence. Welsh identity has always stood in opposition to English influence. Yet Hywel Dda also presided over the codification of Welsh law, which served to unite the Welsh as a people. Ironically, the same man who treated with the English is also regarded by Welsh patriots as a hero.⁵

The unity Rhodri Mawr brought to Wales disintegrated after Hywel Dda’s death in 950. Various kingdoms warred with one another until the eleventh century, when the Normans conquered England and began parcelling out Welsh lands to various lords. For example, in 1070 William the Conqueror gave Shrewsbury to Roger of Montgomery. From Shrewsbury, the Montgomery family increased their influence and eventually took possession of Pembroke. Henry I subsequently confiscated the Montgomery lands and established himself in Wales. His presence outraged the Welsh and upon his death in 1135, the Welsh drove the Normans back out of most of Wales, though not completely out of Pembroke. The kingdoms of north Wales spent the next century strengthening themselves against the English/Normans.⁶

Although their lands were under Norman occupation, the Welsh of southern and eastern Wales did not at that point lose their newly invented identity as Cymry, in large part because of the uniting nature of Welsh law. The Normans established communities after their own fashion, but allowed the Welsh themselves to continue living according to their own traditions. The spread of Christianity throughout Wales between the fifth and eighth centuries had an influence as well. Welsh identity once again became strengthened as Welsh Christians defined themselves in opposition to the Anglo-Saxon ‘heathens’ to the east. The Welsh were influenced by exposure to Norman culture, but they did not undergo a sudden change in lifestyle or immediately acculturate to the conquerors’ culture. Whether of north Wales or Norman-occupied Wales, the Welsh remained Welsh.⁷

Under the direction of Llywelyn the Great and his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Wales became a feudal state swearing fealty to England’s king in 1267. Though not a popular decision among the Welsh citizenry, the centralization of power served further to unify Wales as a single state. The Llywelyns’ experiment eventually failed, in part due to its continued unpopularity among the Welsh. Edward I’s 1277 war on the second Llywelyn spelled the end of Welsh rule, and the king solidified his own rule over Wales by building castles and installing English officials in key locations. Another uprising began in 1282, but by 1283 Edward had ended independent Welsh rule. The next decades were dedicated to centralizing rule and in 1301, Edward I named his son, Edward, ‘prince of Wales’, the first Englishman so named.⁸

Throughout the fourteenth century, the English ruled Wales both in person and by proxy, at times following a programme designed to erase all manifestations of ‘Welshness’. Domination by the old enemy naturally inspired resentment in the common Welsh, a sentiment only strengthened by local abuses of power and cruelty. The average Welsh person may have also resented the changes in their way of life that the English began to impose, such as new political realities and even a new money-based economy. The hardships brought on by the plague in 1349–50 and the effects of indebtedness and loss of land among the peasantry further fostered rebellious attitudes.⁹

The resentments, and even kernels of rebellion, found a champion in Owain Glyn Dŵr. In September 1400, Owain Glyn Dŵr was named leader of a group of Welsh rebels, dubbed by them prince of Wales and assured his status as a Welsh hero. Under his banner, the Welsh people rose up and very consciously tried to claim a new sense of nationality by evicting the English. Owain Glyn Dŵr was seemingly destined to lead the Welsh into a new era, being uniquely positioned as a member of the Welsh gentry, a member of the Tudor clan and direct descendant of the princes of both north and south Wales. The revolt reached its peak in 1405 and over the next decade support waned until by 1413 Glyn Dŵr had faded from the scene altogether. In spite of the failure of the revolt and the subsequent English oppression, Owain Glyn Dŵr’s reputation as the Welsh deliverer continued to grow. For decades and centuries after, the Welsh cherished the memory of the brief period of freedom he brought them and they longed for that day to be revisited.¹⁰

A free Welsh identity survived in the hearts of the people, but the land itself fell further under English control. The Welsh were relegated to the status of underclass in their own homeland, their civil rights stripped under the penal code. The Welsh were restricted as to what land they could own, were prohibited from holding office or serving on juries, could not testify against an Englishman and were banned from intermarrying with the English (lest the offspring be corrupted by Welsh blood). Such ordinances eased after the death of Henry IV, and under Henry V some Welshmen ‘rose’ to English citizenship, though most Welsh were puzzled by such aspirations. To be Sais, or English, was not a designation any self-respecting Welshman would desire.¹¹

It was Henry Tudor who simultaneously vindicated the Welsh people’s pride in their race and permanently linked their fate to England’s. Upon ascending to the throne of England in 1485 as Henry VII he publicly acknowledged his own Welsh heritage and brought some respectability to Wales in the English court. He became a great patron of Welsh individuals and the Welsh in general, giving them access to all the opportunities the kingdom could offer.¹²

Henry VIII, son of Henry VII, is credited with truly changing Wales. In 1536, at the suggestion of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII set about making Wales as much like England as possible. In 1536, he sponsored the Act of Parliament, or Act of Union, which brought Wales completely under England’s wing. To accomplish his plan, Henry VIII took such measures as instituting county courts and justices of the peace, as had been the status quo in England for some time. He took the huge step of calling for Wales to send representatives to Parliament. Also included in Henry VIII’s plan for transformation and bolstering of the crown’s authority were decrees requiring that English be the official administrative language of Wales and that all office-holders be fluent in English. Fortunately, the Welsh language itself was not assailed by the Welsh Acts, an omission that became important to the development of the modern Welsh state.¹³

By the mid-sixteenth century, Welsh identity was based on race, language, culture and heritage and had emerged at least in part as a result of centuries of struggle against foreign domination. With the Act of Union, Wales entered the modern era of its history. The ensuing events tempered an already separate Welsh identity, shaping it into the distinct Welsh identity of the nineteenth century.

The next stage in the development of the modern Welsh identity involved the Reformation. As the English throne fluctuated between Catholicism and Protestantism, the religious life of Wales remained remarkably stable. The majority of the Welsh remained loyal to the state-sponsored church, whatever form it took, and were largely unaffected by the technical shifts between Roman Catholicism and the Anglican Church. A few men who had studied theology abroad, whether at Oxford or on the ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Introduction
• 1 The Welsh
• 2 Iowa
• 3 The Welsh in Iowa
• 4 Demographic Profile
• 5 Welsh Coal Miners
• Conclusion
• Appendix A. Welsh Agricultural Communities
• Appendix B. Welsh Mining Communities
• Appendix C. Iowa Welsh Community Settlement Timeline
• Appendix D. Iowa Welsh Church Organization Timeline
• Bibliography