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Diana Wafe
I can’t remember a time that I haven’t known I was Welsh, and now I have the privilege of being the 3rd generation in my family to be on the board of the Welsh Society of Central Ohio.
My grandfather, Neal Dow Edwards, was the first family member to join the society. He was on the board beginning in the 1940’s and continued to serve until his death in 1960. We believe he was part of the original group that started the Welsh Society of Central Ohio in 1948.
His great-grandparents came to this country in the mid-1830's from a farm called Brynele in Cardiganshire and settled in Oak Hill, Ohio, where Neal was born and raised.
He grew up speaking Welsh in his parents’ home, but was never able to travel to Wales.
My father, Myron Cherry, was the next member of the family to join. He married my mother, Nancy Lee Edwards, in 1959 and joined the board at about that time. He is both a past President and past Vice President of the board, and serves on the board to this day.
I joined the board in March, 2007. I’ve been going to the Gymanfa Ganu in Columbus for as long as I can remember and have been helping at the Te Bach after WSCO’s Gymanfa for many years. My mother and grandmother both used to help at the Te Bach and my sister, Laura, and I have carried on that tradition.
My father and I have never been to Wales, but we hope to go someday. The trip will be even more special if I’m able to go with him.
Carolyn Abels
All those who attended the St. David’s Day celebration at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Radnor on Saturday, March 3, 2007, had many reasons to be thankful for their Welsh heritage, but perhaps one of the most important reasons was that the speaker for the afternoon was WSCO’s own Laura Thomas, who has strong connections to the town of Radnor.
Her presentation was informative and compelling as she traced her roots from Radnor to Wales. Her great-great-great grandfather, Benjamin Herbert, and his wife, Margaret, came from Llandefalle, Wales, to Radnor in 1818. Early Radnor church services, including the roots of the Congregational and Baptist church congregations, were held in log cabins such as Benjamin and Margaret Herbert’s cabin where people gathered for worship. In fact, Benjamin built the “old stone house” which, unfortunately, is no longer standing, a few miles south of Radnor on the current State Route 203. This house was patterned on his own house in Breconshire, Wales. These early ancestors of Laura’s are buried in the old part of Radnor Cemetery alongside the other early immigrants from Wales,
where some stones have Welsh inscriptions and note places of birth in Wales.
While on a trip to Cardiff, Laura had the opportunity to visit her ancestors’ home. During her presentation, her use of the slides taken of her journey helped the audience to follow her path from Cardiff to Abergavenny, up the Vale of Ewyas past Llanthony Abbey and Capel-y-Ffin, across the Gospel Pass to Hay-on-Wye. She visited the cemetery plot at St. Gwendoline’s Church at Llyswen and saw the graves of her grandparents of five generations ago. It was especially meaningful for her to visit Benjamin Herbert’s farm, Tir Gwalter, in Llandefalle and see that it was still a working sheep farm.
Her lecture and pictures helped everyone present appreciate the journeys so many of our ancestors made to places like Radnor and other towns in Ohio which still bear evidence of their Welsh connections, from church windows that display Welsh family names to a love of music and poetry. It was fitting that her program concluded with the playing of a folksong from Breconshire and the repeating of the Lord’s Prayer in Welsh.
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Radnor Historic Museum
4425 State Route 203
Radnor, Ohio
The four rooms of the old Town Hall, built in 1891, display pictures and artifacts (all of which were owned and used by residents of the Radnor area) depicting the home, work, school, social, and religious life in this small rural community from its founding in 1803 through the first half of the twentieth century.
The museum is open to the public first and third Sundays
of each month, April through October (except Easter) from 1:30 to 4:30 pm and on Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. Other days and times are available by appointment. Admission is free and it is handicapped accessible.
Additional details available by calling: 740-595-3398, 740-595-3319, or 740-595-3329.
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Ancestors in Radnor?
Read about The Wales-Ohio Project on page 9