Tam Kernewek “ A bit of Cornish” Volume 28 Issue 2 Summer 2010 Remembering Our Cornish Heritage Cornish Heritage Making the Connection and The 16th Gathering of Cornish Cousins August 10-14. 2011 Connections to Mineral Point Mineral Point, Wisconsin The 2011 CAHS Gathering theme, REMEMBERING CORNISH HERITAGE –Making the connection- is very WE need to arouse awareness of our heritage, among all, relevant to the Cornish settlement of the Mineral Point no matter how fractional their link, as few of us can area. claim to be 100% Cornish. The Cornish, both as indi- Just a few minutes from Mineral Point are two viduals and as a population, participated in the activities other communities with strong Cornish roots, the city of and enterprises that built this continent. Cornish- Dodgeville and the village of Linden. These three towns American political figures, scientists, artists, and others shared common Cornish heritage values and family con- have made a difference in North America. We need to nections. This ―Cornish circuit‖ involved the welcoming recognize this, take pride in it, and make some noise for of new immigrants from Cornwall, sometimes financial and about the Cornish in North America. assistance to help a new Cousin Jack and Jenny get started and a sharing of culture that helped make the transition to The decline of mining in Cornwall spurred the emigra- a new and strange land a little easier. tion of our ancestors. What contributions did they make These three Cornish towns, close together in to technology, science, government, architecture, educa- Southwestern Wisconsin, also brought a custom from tion in this country as it developed? Cornwall- sibling rivalry. Mineral Point was the early center of mining and had the county seat. In the 1850‘s a The similar growth and decline in mining have occurred movement took place to transfer the center of local gov- over and over across our continent. Cornish Americans, ernment and at the start two other Iowa County towns were too, have experienced ―…the pumps shut down, the in the running—Dodgeville and Linden. It would soon be mine filled up…‖ – then what? For many, again, it was a two way race between Dodgeville and Mineral Point a migration. ―I‘m building cars now, for Mr. Ford…‖ with Dodgeville winning a bitter feud. Otherwise the ri- valry between the towns has been more of a good natured What about those who didn‘t move? source such as in the athletic arena. The Linden athletic teams, both high school and Common concerns….Common solutions? amateur teams, were known as the Cornish Miners. One summer baseball game in 1927 pitted Linden against Dodgeville in the Southwest Wisconsin baseball league; What are the connections? both teams were tied for first place when they met at Lin- den. The headline in the Dodgeville Chronicle read, The goals are to: ―Cornish Miners knock locals from top notch in league and now lead all other teams.‖ Cornish surnames abound -Raise awareness of the Cornish contributions to tech- in the details of the game. Curtis ―Koo-Koo‖ Faull went nology, education, art, music, science, (etc.) in North the distance for Linden while Dodgeville sent Pascoe, America Johns and Bishop to the mound. It was reported, ―The Cornish AmericanHeritage Society feature of the game was a near riot each inning between -Show relevance/relationship of events and activities in opposing players.‖ Later that same year the Dodgeville High School Continued next page Continued next page 20 Remembering con’t Mineral Point con’t Cornwall and North America football team‘s main game was with their rival Mineral Point, a sports rivalry that stretched all the way back to 1895. -Provide information about Cornish history and traditions The Dodgers were led by coach Trewyn and defeated the Pointers 12-6. Both Dodgeville touchdowns were scored by -Establish the significance of the Cornish language to Cornish Herby and Norman Harris, whose father emigrated from Corn- identity wall to Dodgeville. These three Cornish towns also served as jumping off -Explore ways to preserve our heritage in North America points for resident Cornish to areas we are all familiar with today due to past CAHS Gatherings. Some of the early Iowa -Demonstrate ways to do historical and family research County Cornish had stopped in Pennsylvania before coming here. Others living here were tempted by greener grass and -Provide information on how to save, organize and share the deeper mine shafts elsewhere. results of research The Iowa County Cornish of the 19th century were very familiar with Grass Valley, California; Calumet, Michi- -Explore means of publicizing our Cornish heritage in North gan; Butte, Montana, the Tennessee copper basin, the mines of America Nevada; Arizona; Colorado and others. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The locals either had family or friends who had re- located and got word back home about these places. It is likely that when Cornish gathered in North American mining areas Tom Ellis of Eagle Harbor, Michigan died on March they would discover connections with not only Cornwall but this 5, 2010. How fitting for this proud Cornishman‟s continent as well. They made good use of a networking system death to coincide with the day of St. Piran, patron of long before the technological aids of today. Cornish tin miners. It wasn‘t just miners who were tempted away to other Tom and his wife Jean (Medlyn) were tireless pockets of settlement. Merchants, trades people, farmers, black- workers in the reclamation of St. Anne‟s church smiths, also made use of their Cornish connections. A Mr. J. M. Gundry left Mineral Point to take over a building in Calumet and development there of the newspaper in Silverton, Colorado for example. Several Cornish Keweenaw Heritage Center. Many readers know stone masons left this area to help re-build Chicago after the Tom from his central role alongside Jean in organiz- great fire in the 19th century devastated the city. Many other ing two Gatherings of Cornish Cousins in Calumet, stories could also be used to document the networking connec- Michigan. tions the Cornish had. In addition to his wife, Tom is survived by I like to think we have come full circle with both our Cornish and North American connections. I just recently dis- five children; Timothy, Thomas, Amy, David and Keri covered that a Thomas relative on my mother‘s side left Dodge- (Illinois Cornish Society); five grandchildren; one ville, for Butte, Montana. On my father‘s side Fredrick and great-grandchild; a sister Vera Stanaway of Negau- Grace (Martin) Jewell left Redruth for Mineral Point in 1842 nee and several nieces and nephews. because Grace‘s nephew, whose surname was also Thomas, A „proper Cornish‟ Celebration of Tom‟s life wrote them and encouraged them to come here. will be held at the Keweenaw Heritage Center on It is a small Cornish world and the August 10-14 Sunday, May 30th. In lieu of other expressions of Gathering in Mineral Point will be a wonderful time to cele- brate our heritage and most certainly we will realize more con- sympathy, the family suggests memorials to the nections. KHC, c/o Calumet Township, 25880 Red Jacket Road, Calumet, MI 49913. ================================ *************************************************** Cornish Writer Dies in Blaze “To be Cornish is something special…” wrote Joan Rendell, much loved Cornish author, in the introduction to Cornwall Strange But True. A regular on local TV and radio, and a prolific writer featured often in the Western Morning News, Miss Rendell was killed by a fired which ripped through her bungalow near Warrington, Launceston, N. Cornwall recently. Joan Rendell, 89, was initiated as a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth in 1980, taking the name of Scryfer Weryn- Writer of Warrington – where she lived much of her life and served as clerk to the Warrington Parish Council for more than 60 years. 21 [From the President‘s desk] Happy Spring! As summer approaches, planning is underway for the 16th Gathering of Cornish Cousins. Please note the new dates. In order for the facilities of the Mineral Point School to be available, the date change was necessary. The modern building affords a centralized, handicapped accessible venue for day time activities ranging from classrooms for small group sessions including a computer lab, to a cafetorium which can be set up for keynote addresses and allows ample space for registration, society information displays, message boards, photo contest, all accessible via spacious corridors, and extensive parking. It is customary to hold the annual meeting of the CAHS Board of Directors between Gatherings at the proposed venue of the next one. This meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 10 AM. The delegates of all affiliated Cornish associations are invited and encouraged to attend. Those planning to at- tend, please notify Dick Baker and me. The agenda and additional details will be sent to them. We realize there are many circumstances which may prevent attendance, particularly this year. The input of as many as can possibly be with us is valued. Three submissions to the Steven R. Curnow competition were received. Three judges have evaluated these independently, and now it remains to arrive at a consensus and determine what awards will be made. Watch the www.cousinjack.org website for the results! Also in this issue you‘ll find the instructions for using the Members‘ Only area of the cousinjack website. A distinct advantage of this new benefit, I believe, is that our joining members may access archived issues of Tam Kernewek and become familiar with the activities of CAHS and the affiliated societies. Those members who aren‘t inclined to save and ‗catalog‘ issues of TK will have access to previously pub- lished Members‘ Interest columns, member addresses and address changes, website queries, and more.