THE OWENS COUSINS
From Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Florida and North Dakota.
On a fine summer day in July this year, a group of 13 cousins, families and a friend left the USA for Anglesey to visit the island from where their Welsh ancestors had emigrated over a hundred and fifty years ago. Some of them had met each other before, others had not, but they had all communicated with each other and were spurred on by their erstwhile cousin Roberta who consolidated their efforts in tracking down as much as they could, of their Welsh ancestry. One or two of the Owens cousins live in North Dakota, another in Minnesota, one in Florida and others in Kentucky and Georgia. Spread around that vast country and yet brought together and united through a love of their Welsh ancestry and a dream of coming over to Wales for that unique experience of treading in their ancestors footsteps.
As a genealogy researcher and guide, I am forever enchanted by our Welsh American cousin’s love of Wales and everything Welsh. Their enthusiasm is truly infectious, and the Owens group were no less an example of this. Genealogy is a growing industry in Britain and the United States of America; people seem to want and need to know where they originated from. “Who were my people? Who am I?” - “Who do I look like? Who do I take after?” Friends of mine are often surprised when I say to them that genealogy and tracing your family history back as far as you can go, gives an individual in today’s world a real sense of belonging, - of being the latest and newest link in a large chain stretching back through time.. That journey back through time places our modern day lives in context. Realise and consider, if you will, that you, today, here and now, are a unique result of generations that have come and gone and before you. Disappearing into the mists of time are ancestors that we will never know about, but can be certain nevertheless that had they not survived their lives, we would not be here today. Family history is not about living in the past; it is about celebrating, and acknowledging the past, - recognising and learning from all that has gone before. Neither can the study of our family history be separated from local history, - both are intertwined.
I had been engaged in the months building up to the trip to carry out family history research for the Owens cousins in Anglesey. My home lies just a few miles from Llangefni, the island’s old market town, which houses the County Archive Office.
My contact with the group was via a cousin in Kentucky.
Roberta and her cousins had done some sterling research work of their own in America already, but often one reaches the stage where nothing but local knowledge and proximity to local resources will progress the work.
The Owens Family History
An obituary from 1948 for William M. Jones of Crystal Lake, Minnesota, USA informed the Owens cousins that William Jones lived with his Aunt, Mrs. Hannah nee Jones Owens, after he emigrated from Anglesey to Minnesota in 1888. William’s obituary also stated that he was born on April 28, 1866 in Rhosgoch to Margaret and Robert Jones.
One of William’s granddaughters had shared old family photographs with them, which helped them identify his family of origin. William’s parents, Robert and Margaret Jones, were the chapel keepers at Gorswlyd Chapel, Rhosybol and are buried there. Robert Jones of Ty Capel Gorslwyd died 21 June 1901, aged 74. Margaret Jones died 9 May 1909, aged 84. William’s siblings, Mary (1851-1933), Robert, Ann, John and William remained in Wales.
Margaret and Hannah were born to John Jones (Pentragwain) and Ann Thomas (Coedana). Their written family history in America stated that their great grandmother, Hannah, was the daughter of John Jones, leading them to search 1841 census records for sisters Hannah and Margaret in a household named Pentragwain headed by John and Ann Jones.
A great, great granddaughter of Hannah nee Jones Owens, with the help of her mother and father, had located Hannah Jones and Robert Owens record of marriage on 12 April 1852 in Bodedern. The record showed Hannah Jones, daughter of John Jones, labourer, to be a spinster residing at Gate Bodedern and Robert Owen, son of Robert Owen, stone mason, to be a bachelor residing in Llantrisant. Later, she also located the passenger list including Robert and Hannah nee Jones Owens, documenting their passage from Wales to America
Research in Wales
And this is where I came in. My visits to the Llangefni Archives and a number of field trips to Amlwch and the surrounding area, eventually brought forth progress. Knowing local farmers, historian and the odd knowledgeable Welsh character in the area is a resource never to be underestimated. The wealth of knowledge that these locals posses is unfathomable! In my quest for the family of John and Ann Jones I consulted local notaries such as Les “Stag”, Wil “ Betws” and a prominent local historian in the Amlwch area Mrs Margaret Hughes. “Stag” and “Betws” of course are not their surnames, but here in Wales we are fond of calling people by place names or even the name of their occupation! The by-product perhaps of having more than one John Jones, Will Hughes, William Williams etc in our communities!
By July I had prepared and rehearsed the Owens Tour Itinerary. On the day, we met and set off at 9am from Menai Bridge and travelled along the old A5 coaching road from London to Holyhead, through Penmynydd, where Owain Tudor, grandfather of Henry V111 is reputed to have been born, stopping for a look at the 14th century church of St Gredifael, which displays many relics of the Tudor era such as the Tudor Rose stained glass window and the Fleur-de-lis pew ends.
Onwards through the beautiful Anglesey countryside, being carefully driven along by our driver of the day, Gwyn Jones. Our mini-bus was comfortable and enabled us all to relax and enjoy the tour unhindered by the stress of driving.
Through LLangefni, we soon came to the beautiful Church of St Anna at Coedana. I had arranged for two lovely ladies to meet us here, namely Mrs Ponsonby the Church Organist and Mrs Ann Jones one of the Church Wardens. We were shown around the church and cemetery, and it was here that John and Ann Jones Pentregwian were married in 1810. After waving adieu to Coedana we travelled northwards through LLanerchymedd to Rhosybol. Here I had organised a visit to Gorslwyd Chapel. Mrs Jones the Secretary of the Chapel lives nearby and was there waiting for us. She brought the Chapel minute books for the cousins to pore over and allowed us to wander through the chapel at will and visit the cemetery where Robert and Margaret Jones are buried. Meeting us here on time, was a great local favourite of mine, Mr Les “Stag”. Les is one of those fighting fit octogenarians with vivid recollections of days gone by. Les was instrumental in providing part of this unique experience for the Owens cousins because his family and he actually lived at Pentregwian in Rhosybol,before it was demolished some years ago. On the site of the old John Jones Pentregwian homestead there is nothing of note to see nowadays, other than a boarded up 1960’s pub ready for demolition. But Les was able to show the cousins exactly where their ancestor’s home would have been, where their 4 acres stood, and gave them an interesting insight into life at Pentregwian in his youth.
We waved goodbye to Les and headed across the Copper Mountain to Amlwch Port, where we had a nice cup of tea and coffee whilst looking around the Amlwch Heritage Museum. Our next port of call was only 2 minutes away at St Eleth Church where I had arranged for one of the Church Wardens to meet us and open the church for us to have a look around. Mrs Margaret Hughes of Amlwch had been kind enough to draw a map for us of where John Jones Petregwian’s grave was situated, and it was with some excitement that one or two of the cousins undertook the quest to find the said gravestone, which of course they eventually did.
John Jones Pentregwian had been a copper miner al his life, and a visit to the area without visiting the world famous Parys Mountain would have been unthinkable. In order to get the best out of this part of the visit I engaged the help of a local historian and character namely , Wil “ Betws”. His wealth of knowledge of life on the Copper Mountain is legion, and he has been interviewed on various TV programmes about the industrial history of the area. Wil’s Great Grandfather was the last manager of the copper mine. Wil took us onto the Heritage Trail and we walked a very manageable distance to the point where we could overlook the huge cavernous Open Cast Mine. Of course there are a myriad number of labyrinth-like shafts under the ground that visitors can also enter by pre- arrangement.
By 1pm we were ready for sustenance and this was prepared for us at the 17th Century Farmhouse Inn called Lastra Farm in Amlwch and Will came along to further regale our group with tales from the mountain! Following an excellent lunch our group headed for the village of Bodedern where I had arranged a meeting with the Rev. Dafydd Wyn William. He not only lives in Bodedern, but is an acknowledged expert and author on the Presaddfed Estate in Bodedern, where Hannah Owens lived and worked when she married Robert Owen. It was shortly after this marriage that they both emigrated to America in 1852. They were married in the local Church of St Edern and the church warden Mrs Eleri Williams kindly opened the church for us and we were given an excellent and informative talk by Dafydd. He toured the cemetery with the cousins and showed them graves of historical interest.
Following a well deserved Welsh afternoon tea at Llynnon Mill a renovated and fully operational flour mill nearby, we reluctantly dragged ourselves away from the little gift shop and the mountain of scones, strawberry jam and fresh cream in the tea rooms.
Our last port of call for the day was Talwrn and Llanddyfnan Church. A prearranged meeting with Mike Hughes of the Talwrn Archaeology Society enabled the cousins to see the site where Rhyd Ddimau was once situated, a small collection of cottages where Robert Owens was living in 1841. Finally Llanddyfnan Church was the perfect end to the day, situated as it is in as beautiful a setting as you can get, with panoramic views towards Snowdonia, nestling within the green countryside of Anglesey. Our mini bus and Gwyn our driver carefully deposited us back in Menai Bridge at the end of a day visiting the Owens unique family history sites on Anglesey.
Added to the success of the day was the realisation for that here again I have made some new friends. E-mail and the internet allows us ease of contact over the Atlantic Ocean, keeps us close, enables us to talk, discuss things and say hello to each other within seconds. I often wonder what those Welsh emigrants would say today if they knew that their descendants were travelling the roads they walked upon, visiting the farms they worked on, sitting on church pews they sat on all those years ago? I think they would be pleased that the thread has never broken, that Wales lives on in the hearts and mind of their Welsh American descendants.
I hope that you found what you were looking for, if not please feel free to contact me.
Thank you for visiting my website, and I look forward to meeting you in person.
