A Welsh Social Network - Rhwydwaith Cymdeithasol Cymreig
john c. oswald's Page
Gifts Received
john c. oswald has not received any gifts yet
Profile Information
- Relationship Status:
- Married
- About Me:
- I traced my Welsh heritage through my paternal grandmother Annie Powell Oswald. I entered "Dan Powell" her father, in the webcrawler search engine and came up with prominent Welshmen in North eastern Pennsylvania. It gave me a good start and I have much more to learn.
About
LEFT COAST EISTEDDFOD 2010 / EISTEDDFOD YR ARFORDIR CHWITH 2009
|
To make a donation for the Left Coast Eisteddfod 2010 please use the Paypal button above. Please email us at:- americymru@gmail if you wish to enquire about sponsorship opportunities. |
Blog Posts
Christmas Musical Bonus - Hear 'Nos Galan' ( Deck the Halls ) Played on the Crwth
Posted by Ceri Shaw on December 25, 2009 at 6:30pm
Any Welsh Copper Smelter Workers in Your Family Tree?
Posted by mona everett on November 29, 2009 at 9:30am — 1 Comment
An Interview With Rhys Hughes - Part 1
Posted by Ceri Shaw on January 31, 2009 at 10:30am
Badge
© 2009 Created by Ceri Shaw on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
Comment Wall (4 comments)
You need to be a member of Americymru to add comments!
Join this Ning Network
wendy
Thanks for your comments. I have two "Uncle Dan Powells" in my family tree: Daniel Lewis Powell and Daniel Luther Powell.
My great-great grandfather was a collier too. He lived and worked in the Tredegar and Ebbw Vale areas. Then in 1868 he decided to immigrate to America to work in the coal fields of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. His son, my great grandfather William Powell, was just 12 years old when they crossed the Atlantic on a creaky, leaky, wooden cargo sailing vessel. My great grandfather often described that voyage in minute detail. He never forgot watching the agile Welsh and Cornish mariners as they plied their ancient trade on the rigging and sails overhead. He often recounted the "creaking" and "rolling" of the ship as they slept below decks at night.
My great great grandmother, Ann, however, was not very impressed with America. She didn't like the climate or the culture so she persuaded her husband, Walter Powell, to move back to Wales within months of arriving in America. She said, "I don't want to die or be buried in this place or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world other than Wales!"
Several years later, her son, my great grandfather William, after getting married and having one child, decided to immigrate to America on his own. His memories of America, as a twelve year old, weren't as negative as his mother's. But made the crossing alone and after two years, when he had saved his money and had become a naturalized citizen (in Scranton, PA), he sent for his wife and daughter who were now automatically naturalized according to U.S. Immigration Laws of the time. My great grandmother Maria Lewis Powell and her daughter, Sarah Jane, got off a modern passenger ship in New York as U.S. citizens and not as immigrants, and were thus spared going through the demeaning process that other immigrants were forced to endure at Clinton Castle in New York's Battery Park (the predecessor to Ellis Island).
William and Maria had eight more children here in the U.S. and wound up following the expansion of coal fields westward until eventually they settled in Ray County, Missouri. When the youngest of their children were old enough to "make do" my great grandmother made two trips back to Wales to visit her extended family. Once in 1908 and once 1911-1912 (she was there on the last visit for almost a year). She made the 1908 crossing on the RMS Mauretania sister ship of the Lusitania. On the second trip home (in which she stayed a year) her two adult sons (who were gainfully employed as colliers) decided they would give her a "welcome home treat" which she would never forget! They booked her 1912 return passage to America on the White Star Line's jewel and crowning accomplishment: The RMS Titanic.
Croeso!