Welsh Immigration to Southern Ohio
The first Welsh settlers in Jackson County were known as the “1818 Welsh” and consisted of a group of six families from Southern Wales. The travelers stopped in Gallipolis overnight on their way to Paddy’s Run, Ohio, and were stranded when their small boats were swept away in the Ohio River. The families decided to stay and purchased land for farming in Jackson County.
Almost 20 years later, Reverend Edward Jones led a large Welsh migration into Jackson County, Ohio. Many of the new immigrants came from a 12-mile square radius in southern Wales and were experienced in charcoal iron manufacture. These families constituted 70% of the foreign born population of Jackson.
In 1854, a large number of these Welsh families banded together to build and operate three charcoal iron furnaces in the region. These furnaces would eventually merge into Jefferson Furnace and Globe Iron Company. With this investment, many Welsh families in Jackson County were transformed into the new middle class in Southern Ohio. By the late 1800’s Welsh-owned businesses dominated the Jackson downtown area.
An interesting BBC article about the migration can be found here.