Migrant Culture Maintenance: the Welsh Experience in Poultney, Rutland County, 1900-1940
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Migrant Culture Maintenance: The Welsh Experience in Poultney, Rutland County, 1900-1940 The Welsh comprised a highly visible ethno-linguistic community in Poultney, based on religion, language, culture, family ties, and participation in the area’s slate industry. BY Robert Llewellyn Tyler he old slate-quarrying town of Poultney is situated on the western border of Rutland County in Vermont. It was chartered by Benning Wentworth on September 21, 1761, and the town was organized on March 8, 1775.1 Poultney had few industries prior to 1800, and the town’s population grew slowly: numbering 1,121 in 1791; 1,950 in 1810; 1,909 in 1830; and 2,329 by 1850. In 1851, Daniel and S. E. Hooker opened the first slate quarry about three miles north of Poultney village and the industry grew rapidly, assisted by the arrival of the railroad in the same year. By 1860, Poultney could boast 16 slate companies employing some 450 workers and, in the words of contem- porary observers, by 1886 the prospects of the town were good: “Since 1875, it is said, the slate business of Poultney has more than doubled in volume, and has also greatly increased in profits. It is comparatively in its infancy yet, however, and if properly developed, will be a source of great wealth to the town.”2 The town drew migrants from across the Atlantic, initially from the countries of the United Kingdom and later from central, southern, and . Robert Llewellyn Tyler is a visiting professor at the University of Wales, New- port. He is the author of The Welsh in an Australian Gold Town (2011) and is pres- ently researching Welsh communities in the U.S. Vermont History Vol. 83, No. 1 (Winter/Spring 2015): 19–42. © 2015 by the Vermont Historical Society. ISSN: 0042-4161; on-line ISSN: 1544-3043 20 . eastern Europe.3 Throughout, however, the largest number of foreign- born hailed from Wales.4 Indeed, in 1910 when the Poultney population was at its zenith, no national group other than the Welsh was recorded as having more than 100 foreign-born residents, with only three of these groups—Irish, Italians, and Austrians—having over 50.5 At their numer- ical peak in that year, the total Welsh-born of 479 when added to 382 U.S.-born children with both parents Welsh, totalled 861 individuals and made up 23.6 percent of the town’s population. TABLE 1 Welsh in Poultney 1880 1900 1910 1920 1930 Welsh-born 151 411 479 258 225 Welsh stock 118 298 382 265 241 Total Welsh 269 709 861 523 466 Total Population 2,717 3,108 3,644 2,868 3,215 Percentage Welsh 9.9% 22.8% 23.6% 18.2% 14.5% This study attempts to quantify the extent to which an identifiable Welsh community established and maintained itself in Poultney during the early decades of the twentieth century, the nature of that commu- nity, and the ways in which it changed. In doing so, I examine residential propinquity, economic specialization, the establishment of cultural and religious institutions, language retention, and levels of exogamy, thus providing a micro-level analysis of a Welsh community as it existed in a particular area during a specific period of time.6 The Welsh comprised a highly visible ethno-linguistic community in Poultney, and a consider- ation of the characteristics of that community and the factors governing its long-term viability provides information of interest regarding the history of Poultney and the experiences of the Welsh who found them- selves living and working in the town, and contributes to understanding Vermont’s immigration experience in general. Religion, Cultural Life, and Language Much Welsh cultural activity was associated with religion, and by the middle of the nineteenth century religiosity, specifically Protestant Nonconformity, was regarded by many as a national characteristic and had become central to the idea of Welsh identity itself.7 This image ac- companied the Welsh in their migrations overseas, and areas where they settled in any significant number were soon characterized by the con- 21 . struction of Nonconformist chapels, which were the most immediate indicators of a Welsh presence. In the United States, it is estimated that as many as 600 Welsh Nonconformist chapels were built in the nine- teenth century and, by 1872, the state of Pennsylvania alone had at least 102 that were served by 67 ministers and 39 lay preachers.8 In 1854, Y Drysorfa (The Treasury), the monthly periodical of the Calvin- istic Methodists in Wales, noted: Mae yn beth hynod a thra chysurus yn nodweddiad y Cymry, eu bod, i ba le bynag yr elont, os bydd rhyw nifer ohonynt gyda’u gi- lydd, yn sefydlu addoliad cymdeithasol yn yr iaith Cymraeg. Yn nhrefi mawrion Lloegr, yn y gweithfaoedd glo a hiarn yn Scotland, yn ngwahanol daleithiau America . rhaid i ymfudwyr o Gymru gael clywed yn eu hiaith eu hun am fawrion weithredoedd Duw yn iachawdwriaeth gras. 9 (It is a remarkable and comforting aspect of the Welsh character that no matter where they go, if there are any number of them to- gether they establish a social place of worship in the Welsh language. In the great cities of England, in the coal mines and iron works of Scotland, in the various states of America . the Welsh emigrant must hear of the great works of God in his own language.) The Welsh in Poultney followed this pattern and when they achieved sufficient numbers constructed a Welsh Presbyterian church in 1899 to cater to the spiritual needs of the emerging Welsh community. The church had its roots in the Calvinistic Methodist denomination before becoming a Presbyterian chapel, and for many years it was closely connected with Bethel Welsh Church, two miles away in South Poultney.10 The high level of religiosity among the Welsh was duly noted with approval by their American hosts, with the Poultney Journal commenting in 1881, “Where you find the Welsh, you find a church.”11 Moreover, the fact that the Welsh worshipped in a different language proved to be no obstacle to acceptance in the wider community. As Protes- tants they were spared what The Welsh church at Poultney. Courtesy of the Poultney Historical Society. 22 . Paul Searls described, writing of the positive welcome given to Swedes in Vermont compared to that received by the Irish and Québécois, as the “pervasive anti-Catholic bias of the era.”12 Indeed, much anti-Catho- lic feeling existed both within and outside Wales at this time, which usu- ally manifested itself against the Irish.13 Although religion held a central position, Welsh culture was not con- fined to the religious sphere. The weekly newspaper, Y Drych (The Mir- ror), which served the Welsh community in North America from 1851, reveals the depth of Welsh secular and religious activity in Poultney.14 The newspaper reported the activities of poets, musicians, and writers in the town and indicated that literary events and cymanfaoedd canu (sing- ing festivals) were held, as was the eisteddfod, the great Welsh festival based on prose, poetry, and musical and choral competition. The impor- tance of such events is illustrated by the account of the Eisteddfod Ifo- raidd Poultney (Poultney Ivorite Eisteddfod) that took place in Novem- ber 1899.15 The paper noted, “Y mae llanw y brwdfrydedd Cymreig yn uchel iawn drwy y dyffryn, a’r Eisteddfod yw ‘pwnc y dydd’ yn y chwareli” (“The tide of Welsh enthusiasm is very high throughout the valley and the Eisteddfod is the ‘subject of the day’ in the quarries.”)16 Such events were also reported in the local newspapers. An account from the Middlebury Register of February 1908 gives an idea of the na- ture of these competitions: The Welsh people in Poultney, Pawlet and vicinity are interested in an eisteddfod which will be held in Granville, N.Y., the afternoon and evening of March 28. There will be 27 contestants and 48 prizes. The judges will be: Musical, Robert O. Owens, Granville, N.Y.; poetry and essays, the Rev. John W. Morris, South Poultney; translation, the Rev. B. G. Newton, Granville, N.Y.; recitations, William W. Thomas, West Pawlet, and the Rev. B. G. Newton.17 The cultural expressions of the Welsh frequently drew praise from their American contemporaries, with the Poultney Journal in 1875 de- scribing them as “such good singers, musicians, thinkers, and speakers.”18 These intellectual abilities were linked to the respectable nature of the Welsh community in general and reinforced the image of the Welshman and his family as desirable immigrants. They did not, as far as can be es- tablished, acquire the bad reputation of the eastern Europeans and Ital- ians and were frequently praised for their positive characteristics.19 The Poultney Bulletin, describing another Welsh literary and musical event, wrote of “the uniform good behaviour of the audience.”20 This favorable view was in contrast to the image of other migrant groups who were fre- quently vilified in the pages of the local press for their rowdy and drunken behavior. The Welsh were also acceptable politically in an area 23 . Granville [N.Y.] Eisteddfod Tent, Labor Day [19]07. Photograph courtesy of the Slate Valley Museum, Granville, N.Y. where the Republican Party was dominant. In 1895, the Republican Governor of Vermont, Redfield Proctor, after describing the Welsh as “law-abiding citizens and earnest workers,” added that “they are usually on the right side in politics.”21 Welsh cultural life in the area was not the preserve of the affluent or highly educated but was patronized largely, if not overwhelmingly, by the working man and his family, and that working man was most likely to be found plying his trade at the slate quarry.