Will Crucial Welsh-Americans Voters in Utah Put Mitt Romney in the Whitehouse as Vice-President in November 2008?

[Pictured above: A Mormon in the Whitehouse? Could Welsh-Americans voters in Utah put Mitt Romney there as Vice-President? Mitt Romney is a politician and member of the Mormon Church, which counts among its members many Welsh-descended voters.]

Welsh-Americans in Southeast Ohio have already been pivotal is handing Senator Hillary Clinton a decisive victory in battleground state Ohio, where many Welsh immigrants settled over the centuries.

Descendants of Welsh-American immigrants continue to have a significant impact on the values, morals, worldview and politics of the United States, which might not be appreciated back in contemporary Wales or Britain, for that matter.



Contemporary Welshmen living in Wales are mostly secular, unlike their ancestors from the past three centuries (1600-1900) who were devoutly religious 'chapel gwerin'.


[Pictured above: Still sexy Sixties teenage heart-throb Welsh-American and Mormon Church member Donny Osmond has returned to massive concert crowds in Wales where he returned last year to trace his ancestral roots Glamorgan/Merthyr Tydfil.]

Welsh-American Mormon Celebrity Donny Osmond traces Welsh roots

Various religious movements still thriving in America today started in Britain and have historic roots in Wales, but have now almost died out in the United Kingdom.

These movements include the 'New Thought / New Age', New England Transcendalists, Mormons, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, The Salvation Army, Unitarians, Quakers, Puritans, and many others.



Consequently, a lot of modern Welshmen born in Wales cannot understand the lives, outlook and history of their Welsh-American cousins.

As citizens of a secular society, most modern Welshmen do not share the intensely religious experience and culture of their Evangelical Christian or Mormon Welsh-American 'distant cousins'.



But Republican Presidential Candidate recently returned to Utah to campaign with an endorsement of his once hated rival, Mitt Romney.


[Pictured above: Candidate John McCain and Mitt Romney -- Romney is a politician and member of the Mormon Church, which counts among its members many Welsh-descended voters.]



Will Romney be McCain's running mate, and given the division in the Democratic party, could McCain/Romney win the Whitehouse in November 2008?

And we want to ask, will Utah's Welsh-Americans once again use their votes to choose the next president?



That is, what if Welsh-American Mormons vote in large numbers for a (purely speculative -- at this time) McCain/Romney ticket -- will the tiny country of Wales once again, through her American 'diaspora' change the current of world events?



Welsh-American Evangelical Christians have traditionally viewed the Mormons (Church of the Latter Saints, Reorganized Church of the Latter Saints, etc.) as cult members, not 'orthodox' Christians, because of their religious beliefs and doctrines based upon the teachings of founder Joseph Smith.



Some Evangelical leaders in American have endorsed Romney as a 'brother' while others have suspicions or have condemned him as a 'dangerous heretic'.


[Prominent Welsh-American Sen. Hillary Clinton greets Kerry Bowen at the Polk County Fall Dinner, Friday, Oct. 19, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Steve Pope)]

According to the Welsh Mormon website:

"The Church had great missionary success in Wales during the 1840's and 1850's, and many thousands of Welsh converts immigrated to America, heading West with Brigham Young as a part of the great Mormon Migration, which began in 1847."



"Today it is estimated that approximately twenty percent of the population of Utah is of Welsh descent."


[Pictured above: Early Mormon converts]




[Pictured above: Richard Woodruff Price is an Accredited Genealogist in English research (International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists) and specializes in the research problems of English-descended families, with special emphasis on Colonial Immigration and Norfolk families.]

Richard Price, President, Professional Genealogist

Since 1976, Price & Associates, Inc. has developed talented teams of professional genealogists in Salt Lake City to assist you in tracing your family history.



As a co-founder of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Company President Richard Price and his highly-trained professionals can help you find your roots throughout the World.



Web Site Documents Origins of 19-Century Welsh Mormon Immigrants
by Nathan W. Murphy, MA, AG®

"In the mid-19th century, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) led a very successful missionary effort in Wales."



"Dr. Ronald Dennis, Professor of Portuguese and Welsh at Brigham Young University (BYU), has launched a website documenting the families of each of the Welsh converts who emigrated to America."



"Since 20% of the current Utah population descends from this group of individuals, this website promises to become a popular Internet attraction."



"Dr. Dennis, himself a descendant of the famed LDS Welsh missionary Dan Jones (1810-1861), has an insatiable desire to accumulate quote, “everything Welsh Mormon.”

"Dennis’s collection, in conjunction with the Center for Family History and Genealogy at BYU, is now available online at

www.welshmormonhistory.org."

"The Welsh Mormon History website contains hundreds of superb photographs, transcribed journals, biographies, autobiographies, and other material produced by descendants, bringing this substantial group of LDS pioneers to life."



"Particularly interesting are the over 500 photographs depicting many of the original Welsh converts and also the Welsh homes and towns they left behind. Some of the sources he used to compile this information include: LDS Welsh Branch Membership Records, original journals and autobiographies, the 1880 US Federal Census, and the Mormon Immigration Index."





At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!
Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.



© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods







At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods

Welsh-American Hillary Clinton Raises Another $3 Million in 3 Days as Women Supporters Push Back and Tell Obama and Press to 'Stop Bullying Hillary!'

[Pictured above: Women are protesting the blatant bullying of Hillary Clinton by the press and the Obama

From the book 'A Woman in Charge':

"Hugh Rodham, the son of Welsh immigrants, was sullen, tight-fisted, contrarian, and given to exaggeration about his own accomplishments. Appearances of a sort were important to him: he always drove a new Lincoln or Cadillac. But he wouldn’t hesitate to spit tobacco juice through an open window. He chewed his cud habitually, voted a straight Republican ticket, and was infuriatingly slow to praise his children."





According to Jeralyn at

Talk Left:

"Update: 10:30 pm MT: She's over $3 million now. That's $85,000.00 in the past hour alone. Thanks in part go to TL readers who contributed (see comments below), you helped push her over the top."



"For the past three days, Hillary Clinton has been fundraising online with a goal of raising $3 million by midnight, the end of the fundraising quarter. Right now, she's at $2,915,000. $1 million a day for someone the media is counting as down and out isn't bad."

Long stalwarts for Clinton, women push back on calls for her to exit presidential race:

"Amid mounting calls from top Democrats for Clinton to step aside and clear the path for rival Barack Obama, strategists are warning of damage to the party's chances in November if women — who make up the majority of Democratic voters nationwide, but especially the older, white working-class women who have long formed the former first lady's base — sense a mostly male party establishment is unfairly muscling Clinton out of the race."

Bill Clinton - How Can America Regain Its Moral Standing?


"Women will indeed be upset if it appears people are trying to push Hillary Clinton out of the way," said Carol Fowler, the South Carolina Democratic Party chair who is backing Obama. "If you are going to ask her to withdraw, you'd better be making a strong case for it — both to the candidate and the public."



"My e-mail is bursting with women who are furious, and it's grown in the last week," said Ann Lewis, Clinton's director of women's outreach and a longtime Democratic activist."

"These women are the volunteer infrastructure of the Democratic Party who've been proud to support Democratic officials for what they believe and stand for," Lewis said. "They are very angry that people they've worked for so hard would be so dismissive of Hillary and, by extension, of them and what they value."



"Indeed, the gender gap in most of the primaries thus far has been stark."

"In California, Clinton bested Obama by a margin of 59 percent to 36 percent among women. She beat him by 54 percent to 45 percent among women in Ohio, an important general election battleground state."

www.HillaryClinton.com:

Hillary: "Huge Support" for Northern Ireland Peace Process


Previously reported: S.E. Ohio Welsh-Americans Play Pivotal Role in Hillary Clinton's Stunning Primary Comeback Last Night



[Pictured above: Famous Welsh-American Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton seems poised to become Democratic candidate for the position of the next American President, after a decisive primary election on 4 March 2008 in which Welsh-Americans in Southeastern Ohio might have been key.]

The area of Southeastern Ohio has been pivotal in the last several elections of George Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ronald Reagan, giving decisive victories in Ohio, a state that often turns the U.S. election in the favour of one candidate or another.

Hillary Clinton made a surprise come back last night, with important victories in TexaS, Ohio and Rhode Island.

The Obama camp and the mainstream media are downplaying this vistory already, demonstrating their blatant bias against the New York Senator (parodied on Saturday Night Live last week).



[Pictured above: Sen. Hillary Clinton greets Kerry Bowen at the Polk County Fall Dinner, Friday, Oct. 19, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Steve Pope)]

But election-watchers should note that the articles being published today are employing an argument about 'delegate math still holds Hillary back' saying that Clinton 'cannot catch up with Obama's delegate count' -- and these same articles conventiently ignore the pro-Clinton delegates in Florida & Michigan, states excluded from the Democratic Primary on technicalities.

Obama supporters are deluding themselves if they believe the entire states of Florida and Michigan will tolerate being left out or disenfranchised from so important an election, and predictions are that these Clinton delegates will eventually be seated at the August convention.

It might be too early to declare Clinton the winner, but Welshmen around the world can be proud to note that tiny Wales is still influencing the world's politics, through the Welsh-American diaspora.



But why was last night's victory in Ohio important to Welsh-American Hillary Clinton?

This ability of Ohio is so famous that an old saying developed: 'As goes Ohio, so goes the nation!'



Ohio, Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Ohio is bordered by Pennsylvania (NE) West Virginia (SE), Kentucky (S), Indiana (W) and Michigan and Lake Erie (N).

Ohio was the first and eastern-most state in the Midwest admitted to the Union under the Northwest Ordinance.

Ohio is an Iroquois word meaning "great water." The name refers to the Ohio River that forms its southern border.

Columbus is the capital and largest city. Cleveland is the center of the state's largest metropolitan area. Other major cities are Cincinnati, Toledo, and Akron.

But I have always told you to keep you eye on Ohio, because as they say, 'Ohio chooses presidents'.
Ohio: Crucial now and in fall campaign

Now we see Hillary Clinton, who has been declared dead by a mainstream media overwhelming biased for opponent Barrack Obama, being thrust back into the race, and the influence of the people in S.E. Ohio is again in the spotlight.

So just who are these people? You might be surprised to learn that a significant number of them are Welsh-Americans!



Can it be true? Is the tiny country of Wales via her scattered diaspora truly influencing the outcome of the mighty American presidential race?

This seems to be the case.

Southeast Ohio, along with many other parts of Ohio were settled by Welsh miners, farmers and businessmen who settled here in the nineteenth century onward.

Today Southeast Ohio is still a bastion of Welsh culture in the U.S., with the Madog Welsh Studies Center located in Rio Grande not far from the banks of the nearby Ohio River.

Senator Clinton is a proud Welsh-American who cherishes her Welsh heritage and has declared this in public many times.

Last week she campaigned at the Bob Evans Restaurant, where she was greeted by many Welsh-American supporters who might have just given her a seat in the White, come November.



[Pictured above: The Bob Evans Craft Barn features fine folk art and the work of more than 50 award-winning craftspeople. RV and primitive camping are also available. Call 800-994-FARM or (740) 245-5305 for more information. The farm is open April 1 to Dec. 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.]

Bob Evans, founder of the company, lived on the Bob Evans Farm in southeastern Ohio for nearly 20 years. He and his wife, Jewell, raised their six children in the large brick farmhouse known as the Homestead . The Homestead , now on the National Register of Historic Places, was once a stagecoach stop and an inn. Today, the Homestead serves as a company museum and historical center.

He began making sausage on his southeastern Ohio farm in Rio Grande, Ohio .

At first, he served samples of sausage to his guests in the Homestead kitchen. As more people came, the company opened a little sausage shop on the farm to better serve them. The Sausage Shop, which is now a Bob Evans Restaurant, was the company's first venture into the business.

Today you can visit the original Bob Evans Restaurant and experience the traditions of an all-American Welsh-descended farming community. Hay, corn, sorghum, wheat and tobacco are grown on this nearly 1,000-acre working farm.

Bob Evans Farm
791 Farmview Drive
Bidwell, Ohio 45614

The Madog Center, Bob Evans Restaurant, Welsh-American descendants in Ohio -- could these have just given the tiny country of Wales a voice (albeit indirect) in the future of the Free World?

It is anticipated by Welsh-American that if Hillary Clinton is elected president in November, this will inevitably put an international media spotlight on Wales, since great interest is always taken in researching the family trees of newly-elected U.S. leaders.
Hillary Clinton Cmapaigns at Bob Evans Restuarant in Rio Grande, Ohio





[Pictured above: Welsh-American Senator Hillary Clinton campaigned at the Bob Evans restaurant in Rio Grande, Ohio, and this might have been pivotal in her stunning comeback.]

So what do we know about this region with so many Welsh descendants?

"The Madog Center for Welsh Studies at the University of Rio Grande is an outgrowth of the North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History (NAASWCH).

"The first conference was held at Rio Grande in 1995 with the generous support from the National Welsh-American Foundation, the Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu Association, other Welsh donors, the Ohio Humanities Council, and the University of Rio Grande.

"Established by the University of Rio Grande Board of Trustees in June 1996, the Center moved to its permanent location in the Elizabeth F. Davis House on October 19th, 2002.

"Located in the midst of one of the largest Welsh-American settlements in North America, the Madog Center for Welsh Studies has established a Resource Center which helps to support its mission. In this endeavor, the Center is unique in the United States and Canada.

"The mission of the Madog Center for Welsh Studies at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College is to foster understanding and appreciation for Welsh heritage and contemporary Welsh culture.


Madog Center for Welsh Studies at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College



The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth has established a programme to study the history of the current Welsh-descended population of Southeastern Ohio:

"The National Library of Wales, located in Aberystwyth, recently launched a unique website documenting the experiences of the Welsh settlers to Ohio.

"Funded by a generous donation from Evan E. & Elizabeth Davis, the site is a valuable resource for all who are interested in Welsh-American history and culture.

"It serves also to celebrate and strengthen the bonds that exist between Wales and Ohio."


The National Library of Wales






Madog Center for Welsh Studies
Elizabeth F. Davis House
University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College
Rio Grande, OH 45674

Phone number: (740) 245-7186
E-Mail: welsh[at]rio[dot]edu

My obvious bias is for Clinton, but I would like to note that Welsh-Americans are famously contentious about politics, and I do not intend for anyone to think that I represent a majority of Welsh-Americans, some of whom support Obama or McCain or other fine candidates.

But if Clinton is elected, you can be sure that ALL Welsh-Americans will be proud to know that 'Madam President' is a Welshman!



At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!
Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods




At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods

Lights Out! Welsh Capital Cardiff Joins List of World Class Cities Leading Symbolic Fight Against Climate Change

[Pictured above: Welsh Assembly Building (Senedd)Photo at BBC.]

The BBC NEWS reports on the Welsh Capital City of Cardiff:

Lights were turned off at Welsh Assembly Government offices across the nation on Saturday night as part of a worldwide climate change campaign.

It went dark in main government buildings between 2000 and 2100 GMT on Saturday to support "Earth Hour".

The symbolic campaign was launched last year in Sydney, Australia, and 24 cities are taking part on Saturday.


[Pictured above: The Welsh Capital City of Cardiff joined other major world cities in the global 'Lights Out' event, including San Francisco, California, pictured above.]


Additionally from the newswires:

Cardiff to black out for an hour
26/3/2008

Cardiff Council is throwing its support behind a global initiative to turn off the lights for an hour on Saturday, March 29.

Earth Hour was conceived by WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund) to deliver a powerful message about the need for urgent action on global warming.

Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off lights for one hour and was pioneered last year by WWF-Australia in Sydney when 2.2 million people and 2,100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights.

This massive collective effort reduced Sydney's energy consumption by 10.2 per cent for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for a year.

Following Sydney's lead, cities around the world have already signed up to encourage residents and businesses to turn off their lights for an hour from 8pm to 9pm on March 29.

And Cardiff will be joining some of the world's major capital cities, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane, Tel Aviv, Bangkok and San Francisco, in calling on people to turn off non essential lights for an hour.


[Pictured above: Lights Out London.]

Lights out London

Councillor Mark Stephens, Executive member for Economic Development and Finance, said:

"Cardiff Council is happy to support WWF's Earth Hour initiative and is calling on all residents and businesses to show their backing for this initiative and turn off their lights for an hour on March 29.


[Pictured above: Councillor Mark Stephens.]

"Cardiff Council has consistently demonstrated its commitment to the environment and this follows on from our involvement with the Carbon Trust and our aim to reduce by 60 per cent the authority's carbon emissions from non domestic buildings and waste by 2018."

Councillor Simon Wakefield, Executive member for Environment and Transport, added: "The Council has a vision for the future of Cardiff which embraces Cardiff as a Green Capital.


[Pictured above: Councillor Simon Wakefield.]

We are very happy to be involved in WWF's Earth Hour initiative and hope that the messages it promotes will help make a difference globally. I urge everyone in the city to try and make a difference for this one hour."

Morgan Parry, Head of WWF Cymru said: "We are delighted to see Cardiff Council set an example to the rest of Wales by helping the capital become among one of the first British cities to get involved in turning off all non-essential lighting for Earth Hour.


[Pictured above: Morgan Parry.]

"Earth Hour will send a strong, symbolic signal that people all around the world are deeply concerned about climate change and expect their political leaders and businesses to take action before it's too late," says Morgan Parry.

"Climate change is a global challenge that requires global solutions and Earth Hour is making it clear to those in power that people across the world are ready to get involved."

Source: http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Environment&F=1&id=13696

The University of Glamorgan also led the way with participation iun the event, even though most building on both the Treforest and Cardiff ATRiuM campuses were mostly vacant, due to the long Easter Holidays:

Here's a directive sent to staff members:

Lights Out in 2008
March 27, 2008

Staff at the University are being encouraged to support

Lights out South Wales.

The initiative is designed to encourage iconic buildings, organisations and businesses as well as households, to switch off non-essential lights on Saturday 29th March at 8pm, to demonstrate support for a Global Switch Off.

This year, the event has gone global and many cities, including

Cardiff

are joining in. The Global switch off, Earth Hour, is a WWF initiative asking people to turn their lights off for one hour. It starts in Sydney and will follow the time zones around the world.

Clearly, the majority of us won’t be on the University’s campuses on Saturday, but to show support, we’d like to encourage you to switch off any lights or PC equipment before you leave on Friday evening.

Look out for the Environmental Update in the next issue of Bulletin, due out shortly.

BBC NEWS: Assembly goes dark for Earth Hour

At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods

New Welsh Social Network Launched -- Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant Hapus!

Luke Williams writes to say:

Hi,

I was wondering if any of you would be interested in a new Welsh social network.

http://www.Perthyn.com

is an exiting new social network like Myspace, facebook, Bebo and others but in the Welsh language.

It's a place for Welsh speakers around the world to meet, create profiles, share photos, share videos, chat etc.

It is the only Welsh social network in the world.

We have been going about 6 months now and have over 1000 members.

Most our members are based in Wales but we are trying to drive it to Welsh societies around the world.

If you could let your welsh friends know about the website it would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Luke Williams



At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

Write to us and tell us your questions. We might not know the exact answer, but think of this as a daily adventure – thousands of other online readers will ‘pick their brains’ to help you!

Be sure to visit the Welsh American Family Genealogy Online Bookstore! Just Click here.

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods

Crumbling Stone Chapels in Wales, Abandoned Wooden Churches in America, both a National Disgrace?

[Pictured above: The oldest standing religious building in Youngstown, Ohio, formerly the Welsh Congregational Church on Elm Street, now an Afro-American Congregation COGIC building. This prize example of American 'Queen Ann' period architecture was built by immigrants from Wales who worked in the Mahoning Valley mines and iron foundries.]

Crumbling Chapels in Wales, Abandoned Churches in America, both a National Disgrace?

Anyone lucky enough to rent a car on vacation in the states or to take a Sunday drive into the rural hinterlands of the U.S. can attest that in many little towns where white picket fences used to define the landscapes, boarded up churches have become pigeon nests and bat niches, nothing more.



The plight of U.S. architecture has been discussed, and you can get a historical perspective in this NY Times article 'PRESERVING AMERICA'S PAST' from 1987.

PRESERVING AMERICA'S PAST

A similar state of affairs can be found in Wales, where some chapels are preserved, but where many other chapel stand as rotting or neglected relics of the 300 Year long period of Welsh history sometimes referred to as the 'Welsh Chapel Gothic' period.

The Welsh National Gird for Learning gives an online Introduction to the Welsh Chapel phenomenon and history:

Welsh Chapels at the Welsh National Gird for Learning

The U.S. has had a two hundred year old discussion about subsidizing churches wrapped up in the 'Separation of Church & State' discourses, and it might be said that in order to err on the side of 'not supporting religion', historic religious building preservation has suffered in America.



This seemed to be reversed by the Bush administration under popular pressure from both conservative, liberals and progressive who were 'horrified' to find their Granny's church being bulldozed, etc.

'In a reversal of a longstanding policy, the Bush administration said yesterday that it would allow federal grants to be used to renovate churches and religious sites that are designated historic landmarks.'

Please see:

In Shift, U.S. to Offer Grants to Historic Churches

It's not that every American community doesn't have at least a few activists who want to preserve the old churches, many of which have been empty and without congregations for as many as 30 years. It's just that there are too many churches for the activists to save.


[Pictured above: Orthodox church on Steel Street near Briar Hill, in Youngstown, Ohio -- this church used to among key centers of thriving Ethnic Greek/Russian congregations whose population long ago fled to the distant suburbs and whose nearby homes have been demolished, bull-dozed for 'urban renewal' or were torched by crack-smoking gangs in the 1970-80s.]

But why aren't more folks up in arms about this in America? Well, it might have something to do with the transition of Americans in mass numbers from rural to urban/suburban communities, and from religious to secular lifestyles -- beginning in the 1920s and culminating in social and cultural changes in the tumultuous 1960s.

Once they leave behind their parents' ethnic enclaves and churches to take up life in the hopeless banality of U.S. suburban sameness, they forget about the 'old neighborhoods'.

As for the fate of the old churches, it's 'Out of sight, out of mind'.

This trajectory of social and cultural trends can be described as a negotiation with constructs of 'modernity' in American life.



On one hand, folks who are still 'true believers' might call it the moral decline of the land.

On the other hand, folks who have left behind the faith of their grandparents for rationalism, New Age eclecticism or secular humanism,etc. might see the exodus from religious buildings as progress.


[Pictured above: The former Youngstown, Ohio South Side Salvation Army Swedish Corps at 24 Warren Avenue, right off Market Street, not far from South High School. Until the 1960s Swedish language religious services and cultural events were held here. In the 1970s it was stripped of its hand-carved pine altars and pews, built by Sargeant Major Larson, and turned into a homeless shelter for victims of domestic violence. The church formerly located at the heart of a high density ethnic urban enclave is now surrounded by demolished fields of urban rubble.]

But the contemporary 'true believer' buys an SUV and abandons the decaying historic town centres for nameless 'big box' mega-church concrete monsters, forgetting Granny's chapel, while the secular American often doesn't know there's a rotting historic church hidden away in their neighborhood, not at least, until some entrepreneural gay couple buys the ruin at rock bottom price and then converts it to a chic loft townhouse for Urban Up-and-Coming newlyweds.



In Wales Cadw has its hands full, trying to shore up the enormous number of castles and ruins that predate the Welsh Chapel period, and so its understandable why chapels are not fully valued, given that the Welsh are surrounded by internationally-recognized Roman, Norman, Tudor, Vistorian and Edwardian gems that drain away limited funds for restoration and preservation.

Read about Welsh castles and Cadw here.

There seems to be a similar historic trajectory in Wales (as compared to America) where the Welsh went into a chapel-building frenzy at the height of the Great Revival in the years around 1903-1905, and then saw congregations turn their backs on church attendance and church building upkeep in droves in the years immediately following the Great Welsh Revivals.

Today it's not uncommon to see a Welsh chapel converted in a betting shop, a video store, a used carpet outlet, or simply boarded up and rotting away silently.



I don't mean to say that there aren't plenty of well-preserved churches to visit in American and in Wales, there are.

But I refer to the neglected monuments of our ancestors' faith and identity as a metaphor for how we as 'modern secular cultures' think about ourselves . . .

I want to ask my sophisticated secular 'self' if "within the construction of my modern ration identity there still exists a well-kept and honoured 'sanctuary' for the transcendent, the mystical, the romantic and the beautiful?"

"Or has the stress of being busy supplanted the 'temples' of my inner quiet? But I digress . . ."

Or more interestingly, "If I am embarrassed by some clunky and out-dated aspect of my real history and heritage, what does that say about ME?"

In the BIG self-determined country of America churches had cultural functions as they reinforced individual and SMALL group identities, often related to sect, creed, ethnicity, and continuity of cultural transferance to the young.



For example, on one side, some of my ancestors built Welsh Congregational chapels and held Welsh-speaking Sunday Schools from 1860 until 1960!

My father's Swiss Anabaptist ancestors arrived in Pennsylvania in 1730 and records show that the Bausser/Bowser Family descendants continued to build German-speaking churches right up through the American Civil War in 1860-1865. After that, usage of 'Pennsylvania Dutch' in the pulpit or at the supper table seemed to decline.

In Wales, the building of chapels might be argued as an act of nationalism, distinct from the established or disestablished Churches of England or Rome.



Indeed, the first act of Parliament where Wales was acknowledged as a separate entity since the Acts of Union was the Sunday Alcohol laws in the late 1880's, which were driven by a chapel-informed and motivated Nonconformist Protestant Christian Temperance movement, overwhelmingly popular in Wales.



So if Americans are neglecting their rotting inter-city and small town churches where their mostly immigrant grandparents once worshipped, are they reflecting an American displacement from cultural and ethnic heritage?



And if the Welsh are avoiding an informed processing of their 300 or so year long Welsh Chapel history (symbolized by 'selectively' letting the embarrassingly 'religious' among their national monuments crumble) are they doing this because they are now secular and can't be bothered, or is that they just don't see the connection between themselves and their ancestors' religious habits, or both?

I heard a Welsh tourism official describe a brilliant campaign that was designed to celebrate and promote the 2000 year heritage of Wales as a historically 'Christian' nation. This specifically Christian heritage in Wales(not contemporary British Muslim, not British Hindu, not even the Church of Scientology) is a historical fact, even though most modern Welshmen can't remember the last time (if ever) their shadows fell across a chapel threshold.

Apparently, according to the anecdotal telling of the former tourism official, the campaign was quashed for being 'insensitive' to the purposes of contemporary religious 'tolerance and pluralism' in a modern Wales of Hindus, Muslims, Shiism, and other many new and diverse beliefs or non-beliefs.



I've heard folks from within the enclaves of power in Wales tell me how they don't want to be associated with the 'traditional' 'Gymandfa Ganu' or 'Eistoddfod' image of Wales, because they intend to enforce an 'either/or' policy that allows only a historic OR a modern image of Wales to go out to the world, but never both, and if they have their way, ONLY a sanitized modern Welsh image will be exported abroad.

This reminds me of when I was a child delegate at an international summer camp (CISV) in 1970, I wore the silly Cowboy & Indian get-up that my international campmates expected of me as a representative of Yankee culture, and I gave away embarrassingly iconic Western pistols and Totem poles, even though I grew up, not in a frontier wagontrain prairie dog ghost-towns of Hollywood fame, but in an industrial urban city that had erased its Native American history (in all but place names) 150 years earlier.

My Indian mates were handing out sterotypical Taj Mahal and Ivory Elephants, as would be expected.

One of my Dutch playmates was giving away replicas of the airport terminal at Schipol, of which the Dutch were proud and wanted to portray as the icon of a 'new' Holland.

My Indian friend Sanjay captured the sentiment of the rest of us when he refused to trade his miniature Taj Mahal for a miniature Schipol terminal when he asked,

'But where are the Windmills?'

My point is, when I return to my father's hometown in Pennsylvania or Ohio, I expect my long-lost cousins to show me the quaint little Welsh or German congregation church with its steeple, right next to the stereotypical cover-bridge and Appalachian autumn leaves. I will be horrified if they take me to visit the local and new 'Office Depot' or 'Walmarts'!

That's also true when my Welsh relatives come over to visit me in Wales -- the first thing they want to see are castles, pubs, cathedrals, and CHAPELS!!!



But the question for Wales remains, will my great nieces when they are grown come over to their ancestral Wales and find any chapels left to visit?

I have friends from London who relocated to Wales in retirement becuae they liked the rural quaintness of their traditional chapel-centric new hometown in West Wales.

I am amazed how this German/Anglo gay couple transplanted from Canary Wharf seem to care more and know more about the local chapels and their upkeep and preservation (including the neglected local Anglican chapel and almost abandoned cemetary)than anyone I met when visiting the local pub.



Indeed, several people in the local pub couldn't even tell me how to find the old chapel that used to be the centre of life and national pride in that cartref.

In another article I'll contrast this neglect by Americans and Welshmen of their historic buildings to the popular movement in Italy where everyone now seems to need a restored apartment in the 'storico centro' of their ancestral town, and they're willing to pay millions of Euros to have it . . .



At Welsh American Family Genealogy, we believe there’s no better ‘Empty Nest’ activity than researching your Welsh family history and creating a legacy for future generations. You don’t have to be rich to leave behind an enduring heritage for your children and heirs.

What’s important is that you use the time wisely. If you would like to simulate your mind each day and stay young through constructive activities, than genealogy might be right for you!

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Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

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© 2008 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods