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[This account seems to be as of November 1870]
2. WILLIAMSBURGH [SIC], Stellapolis P. O., near Marengo, Iowa Co., Iowa. This Welsh agricultural settlement is about 26 miles to the west of Old Man's Creek, and about 10 miles to the southwest of Marengo, the county seat of Iowa
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county. The town is located on the railroad, about 84 miles from Davenport and 30 miles from Iowa City. There is very good land for miles around the small settlement of Williamsburgh which is located on a low hill, along the banks of Old Man's Creek which is but a small stream here. Its source is only a few miles to the northwest. This place is surrounded by thousands of acres of good land which is still in the hands of the speculators and which can be bought for from $5 to $12 an acre for ready money. But most of the wooded land has already been taken. it is likely that hundreds of Welsh families will settle near there in the space of the next ten months. It certainly is very fruitful and fertile land; and when the railroad runs from the south to the north, through Williamsburg, this village will come to be a center of trade and an important town and the value of the land will double. Now is the time to immigrate and settle there. It has excellent land for growing hay, wheat, corn, etc. The groves of trees and the rolling prairies make the land remarkably beautiful. And after various kinds of trees are planted and cultivated, it will be even more beautiful.
[the following passage translated by Gwawr Jones, Bangor, Wales, 2002]
The first Welsh settlers in the place were: Evan D. Evans and his spouse, from Carno, Llanbrynmair; Richard Pugh, from Llanbrynmair, and his spouse, from Carno; William Evans, from Felin y 'Forge' [the mill of the forge], Meifod, and his spouse, from Pontrobert, Montgomeryshire, North Wales. They emigrated from Wales in 1840 and 1841, and were for some time in Cincinnati, Ohio; and in Autumn/October 1844 [The Welsh word 'Hydref' can mean either the month or the season] they left there for Iowa, and settled near to one another, under the groves of trees near 'The Indian Graves', within about a mile and a half to the place where Williamsburgh village stands today. They built log houses there, and lived in them for many years, and had very hard times there. After this they built good houses at the side of the road that leads to the village of Williamsburgh. Richard Pugh died in 1850, and Mr. Williams (Second husband to Mrs Pugh) July 9, 1860; and Wm.Evans on March 1, 1870; but Evan D. Evans, and the widows Mrs Wm. Evans, and Mrs Richard Williams (formerly Mrs Pugh), were alive and well on their fine small-holdings in November, 1870. When they first came there, they were truly religious people with the Independents; some of them died in peace; and those who still live,
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with their children, are still faithful members of the Independent Church in the place. In 1846, David and Jane Evans, from Carno, came there (parents of the two Evanses, and of Mrs Pugh, who later became Mrs Williams); they came there in the Spring, and they died in the Fall, on the same day, within a half an hour of each other; and they were buried on Evan D. Evans' land, near the trees. He was 60 years old, and she was 63 years old. In 1849, John Watkins of Carno came there; he is a brother-in-law of Evan D. Evans, and he still lives near him.
[translation by Davies, continues]
In September 1854 Lewis Williams, the oldest son of my old faithful friend Henry Williams of Rome, N. Y., and formerly of the Machynlleth, North Wales area, came to live there. At about the same time William Rowlands, a doctor, came; he later moved to Oskaloosa, and from there to Bartholomew, Drew Co., Arkansas. Hugh Evans and his wife, formerly of Penegoes, North Wales, came there in 1855; John Hughes (son of the Rev. Hugh Hughes (Congregational), from Palmyra, Ohio and formerly of Penllys, Montgomeryshire) North Wales and his family came there in September 1856. He is the postmaster there now. These were the first settlers. When they were first there neither roads nor bridges had yet been built; they traveled across the prairies for about 25 to 30 miles, along Old Man's Creek, to buy and sell in Iowa City and in Muscatine on the banks of the Mississippi. At times it took them eight days to go and return! Land was selling for $1.25 an acre, but the prices of everything they sold were very low.
At the end of the year 1870, this Welsh settlement had about 70 Welsh familes, numbering about 350 people in all. I give a list of their names, their origins, and the time when they came there:
NAMES FROM WHERE IN WALES, ETC. DATE
Evan D. Evans Carno, Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1844
Mrs. R. Williams Carno, Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1844
Mrs. William Evans Carno, Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1844
John Watkins Carno, Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1849
Lewis H. Williams Machynlleth
Montgomeryshire 1854
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John D. Evans Machynlleth
Montgomeryshire 1855
Hugh C. Evans Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1855
John Hughes Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1855
Rowland Davies Merioneth, North Wales 1856
John W. Jones Merioneth, North Wales 1856
Lewis Jones Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1856
Thomas Ellis Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1856
Benjamin Harris Monmouthshire, South Wales 1857
Edward Edwards Monmouthshire, South Wales 1857
William R. Jones Carmarthenshire,
South Wales 1858
William Jones Carmarthenshire,
South Wales 1858
David Jenkins Aberdar, North Wales 1858
Rev. Evan J. Evans Llanegryn, Merioneth 1858
William E. Evans Flintshire, North Wales 1859
John L. Hughes Anglesey, North Wales 1860
Robert L. Hughes Anglesey, North Wales 1860
Mrs. William
D. Jones Anglesey, North Wales 1860
John J. Jones Ffestiniog, Merioneth 1862
Thomas Evan Merthyr, South Wales 1863
Thomas Perkins Llangyfelach, Glamorgan 1863
Roger Jones Ruthin, Norht Wales 1863
David T. Jones Dowlais, South Wales 1864
Richard Richards Merthyr, South Wales 1864
Thomas Rogers Carmarthenshire,
South Wales 1864
John Jones Breconshire, South Wales 1864
Thomas A. Jones Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1864
John J. Jones Breconshire, South Wales 1864
David J. Jones Breconshire, South Wales 1864
John Davies Pembrokeshire, South Wales 1864
Mrs. Henry Davies Carmarthenshire,
South Wales 1865
Robert W. Roberts Ffestiniog, North Wales 1866
Thomas Hughes Treffynon, Flintshire 1866
Thomas M. Davies Carmarthenshire,
South Wales 1865
Morgan Thomas Carmarthenshire,
South Wales 1867
Lewis D. Jones Carmarthenshire,
South Wales 1867
William M. Davies Maldwyn, North Wales 1867
Nicholas Lewis Pontypridd, Glamorgan 1868
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David R. Evans Aberdar, South Wales 1868
John James Glamorgan, South Wales 1868
Thomas J. Jones Breconshire, South Wales 1868
Job S. Williams Cardiganshire, South Wales 1868
Robert Powell Caernarvonshire,
North Wales 1868
Edward H. Jones Oneida Co., N. Y. 1868
Edward Roberts Merioneth, North Wales 1868
John Roberts Merioneth, North Wales 1868
Edward Blythyn Flintshire, North Wales 1868
James Thomas Monmouthshire, South Wales 1868
Richard Thomas Llanidloes, North Wales 1868
Mr. Richard J.
Jones (Calvinistic
Methodist) Merioneth, North Wales 1868
Owen R. Jones Steuben, N. Y. 1868
David Roberts Ffestiniog, Merioneth 1869
William Williams Ffestiniog, Merioneth 1869
Richard Gittins Llanfihangel,
Montgomeryshire 1869
Rev. David Price Dinbych [Denbigh],
(Congregational) North Wales 1869
John O Hughes Anglesey, North Wales 1869
Thomas J. Davies Glamorgan, South Wales 1869
David Morgan Aberdar, South Wales 1869
Robert Thomas Aberdar, South Wales 1869
Robert C. Jones Caernarvonshire,
North Wales 1869
Henry Jones Caernarvonshire,
North Wales 1870
Moses Edwards Dinbych [Denbigh],
North Wales 1870
Richard W. Thomas Oneida Co., N. Y. 1870
David H. Jones Montgomeryshire,
North Wales 1870
John D. Evans Dinbych [Denbigh],
North Wales 1870
The Welsh Congregational Church in Williamsburgh, Iowa. The first settlers were Congregationalists. They moved their prayer meetings Sunday School from house to house for years, and it was about four years before they had a preacher. The Rev. David Knowles of Long Creek was the first to preach there. After that came the Rev. George Lewis, minister of the church at Old Man's Creek, and he preached for three weeks. On September 18, 1856 the Rev. Jonathan Thomas of Ohio came on a visit there. He is was [sic] who founded the Congregational church in the house of William Evans. (See the story in the Cenhadwr [Missionary]
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for January 1857). The Rev. Evan J. Evans ministered faithfully from September 1858 until May 1859 [probably 18691.], and he and his numerous family live very comfortably there yet. The Rev. David Price (Dewi Dinorwig)2 began to serve there in the summer of 1869. He is still there, both respected and hardworking. The chapel was built and the debt was paid in the time of Rev. Evan J. Evans. It is a small, beautiful, and convenient one and stands in the center of the village. It is a strong church and has a good Sunday School and a numerous congregation. The deacons are John Hughes, Lewis H. Williams and others. The church and the congregation are scattered, for there are few people in the village. It contains a good public schoolroom, two English-speaking churches, the Congregational and the Wesleyan, two stores and a post office. William Evans, a blacksmith, John Hughes, a plasterer, William M. Davies, a shoemaker, and Roger Jones, a Joiner, live there. They had neither a tailor nor a doctor at the end of the year 1870.
The Church of the Calvinistic Methodists in Williamsburgh, Iowa. A small number began to hold prayer meetings in the house of Mr. Roger Jones at the end of February 1868 when a preacher who belonged to their denomination, one Richard J. Jones, settled in their midst. There was occasional preaching in the Jones house and later in the school. The church was incorporated by the Rev. E. Salisbury and Mr. Richard Jones; and in the spring of 1869, the church was received into the Wisconsin Assembly, and this church and the churches in Welsh Prairie and Long Creek were made a separate division under the Assembly's control.
About the same time another preacher, Mr. James Thomas, came to live in the district; and from that time until the present, they preach there regularly every Sunday, and the sacraments are administered by the Rev. Ebenezer Salisbury. Sunday School 30, members 31, a small congregation. They have not chosen their officers yet, their places being filled by the two preachers. John O. Hughes, formerly of Remsen, N. Y., is the Treasurer, and Roger Jones, formerly of Racine, Wis., is the Secretary. They have already built a good small church, 30 by 30 feet, in the village; it is valued at $1,200.
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Notes:
Bracketed [] comments by the transcriber, Stephen D. Williams, except for "[Missionary]", by the author and those within the Gwawr Jones translation by Gwawr Jones.
1 The orginal Welsh language book also shows May 1859, but this seems to be a typographical error.
2 "Dewi Donrwig" is David Price's bardic name.
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