Welsh Come To Oak Hill Research Paper

The Welsh Come to Oak Hill and the Surrounding Areas In the early 1800’s, the Welsh began to immigrate to the United States from poverty stricken areas of Wales and came to the Ohio area because they viewed the abundance of land as a godsend and hoped to make a stable life for themselves on the frontier. The first Welsh migrants in Ohio traveled down the Ohio River from Pennsylvania.

In 1818, six families from Cilcennin, Wales arrived in Gallipolis, Ohio from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, really by accident. The Welsh immigrants were on their way to the frontier town of Paddy’s Run in Butler County, near Cincinnati, and stopped at Gallipolis because they were in need of provisions. After sending a scout to check out the area, they were met by the French inhabitants of the area. They were welcomed and invited to stay the night. During the night, a terrible storm came to the area and the Welsh awoke to find their flatboat gone. Here is where the mystery of the missing flatboat starts. Some say the storm caused the flatboat to become loose and be lost down the river. Others claim that human hands were involved, either by the travel-weary women who cut loose the rope, or by the French, who thought the Welsh would be good workers for them. No one knows for sure what happened, but the Welsh travelers never made it to their original destination of Paddy’s Run. Debating on what to do – whether to secure another flatboat to push on to

These Welsh men and women joined the earlier group of migrants that arrived in 1818. Together the earlier Welsh, along with the newer Welsh established several Welsh churches such as the Welsh Congregational Church, which was organized in the Oak Hill village. The one other Welsh Congregational Church was Bryn Hyfryd, which was located outside of Oak