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The Welsh Connection in Montour County
Miners & Iron Workers
Larry Mordan, at left, spoke at our October, 2002 meeting about the
Welsh miners who emigrated to Montour County to work in the iron mines.
Dressed in the typical garb of the miners, he demonstrated some of the equipment
and supplies used by these skilled men, and talked about the lives they led,
their families and their faith. He returned for our February, 2003 meeting to talk
about the Iron Workers and Puddlers.
Susquehanna
Valley Welsh Society
If you'd like to meet with others who share Welsh heritage or
just a love of the Welsh culture and tradition, consider attending a meeting of
the Susquehanna Valley Welsh Society. They meet on the 3rd. Wednesday of
each month except July in the Bloomsburg YMCA at 7:00 PM.
Some Welsh Tombstones at St. Paul
(Straub's) Lutheran Church, Valley Twp.
In conjunction with the 2004 Iron Heritage Festival, Larry
Mordan and Herman Jones, both Welsh descendants, gave a presentation about the
community of Welsh miners in Valley Township near Straub's church. One can
find many Welsh names on the tombstones in the cemetery. For photos
of the tombstones and Larry's presentation
click on the link.
Sisterhood Relationship Between Danville and Merthyr Tydfil
Fiona Powell, our local Welsh and Joseph Parry researcher, returned from
her 2002 trip to England and Wales full of information and enthusiasm about beginning
a "twinning" relationship between Danville and the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil.
Apparently, Merthyr Tydfil was the iron town in South Wales and many
people emigrated to Danville to work in the familiar iron industry. It was also
the birth place of Joseph Parry. (More about Joseph below).
The twinning would result in mutual exchange of information and sharing
and possible visits between the communities, much like the relationship between nearby Berwick, PA
and its sister town in England. It would be of tremendous value to genealogists
with Welsh roots. Fiona began speaking with folks in our community and invited
MCGS to participate. She shared further details and updates with us at the
September meeting. There was considerable enthusiasm expressed from the MCGS
membership and Fiona was encouraged to proceed with this project. She presented the twinning proposal to the
Danville Borough Council in December and at the January meeting the council
unanimously voted to sign a declaration of intent.
April, 2003 update: It's official! Fiona traveled to Wales and
presented the proclamation from the Danville Borough Council to the citizens of
Merthyr Tydfil. We are now officially a sister city to Merthyr. Below is a transcript of the proclamation that Fiona carried to
Wales.
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Proclamation Between Danville,
Pennsylvania and Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan
We, the representatives of the Citizens of
Danville, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in recognition of the unique
relationship we enjoy with Merthyr Tydfil, in the County of Glamorgan,
Wales, declare our intention to honor the relationship by twinning Danville
with Merthyr Tydfil.
We Declare our desire to promote mutual
understanding between our two communities.
We Declare our desire to encourage the
citizens of both communities to become aware of each other, so that they may
experience the different cultural traditions and aspirations of our two
communities.
We Declare our desire to encourage the
citizens of Danville to learn and understand more of the history and
cultural life of Merthyr Tydfil.
We Declare our desire to welcome the citizens
of Merthyr Tydfil to our community and to encourage them to learn more of
our culture and traditions.
In Honor of our shared history in the
development of the Iron Industry.
In Honor of the many citizens of Merthyr
Tydfil who, in the 19th Century, immigrated to Pennsylvania and became
citizens of Danville.
And especially, in this centenary year of his
death, in honor of Dr. Joseph Parry, Welsh-American Composer, who having
been born in Merthyr Tydfil and calling himself "Bachgen Bach of Ferthyr,"
became in his youth a citizen of Danville and was also known as "Pencerdd
America."
We the undersigned Representatives of
Danville, do on this First Day of March in the year 2003 declare Danville in
the County of Montour, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of
America to be the sister of Merthyr Tydfil, in the County of Glamorgan,
Wales. |
Joseph Parry (1841-1903)
Among the Welsh immigrants to Danville was Joseph Parry, the great Welsh
composer, who came to Danville with his family in 1854 at the age of 13.
His musical career is said to have begun when, as a boy, he was employed in the
Rough and Ready Iron Works and indulged in singing with his friends, John Abel Jones,
John Price and Thomas Davis. Although he eventually attended the Royal
Academy of Music and returned to Wales to teach music, he returned to Danville
from time to time and he "never neglected to honor (it) with every opportunity".
His obituary in the Montour American, Thursday, February 19, 1903 said,
"His remarkable career possesses a special interest to the people of Danville,
for it was here that he lived and moved among the common people - here that his
genius was discovered and where he received his first start on his upward
career." Here is a link to the article on the
Welsh American website
that will keep us updated on what is being planned to celebrate the 100th
anniversary of his death in 2003.
Joseph's father, Daniel, is buried in the Christ Episcopal
Graveyard, Danville. Since this photograph was taken, flowers have been
planted.
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