A Letter Home: Carbondale to Aberdare

Glamorgan Archives holds a number of items relating to local people who emigrated to the USA.  Amongst these is a letter from Daniel and Jane Scurry of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, to their relative Phillip Rees of Aberdare, written on 6^th February 1847 (ref.: D403/1).

Daniel Scurry was a Welsh emigrant to the state of Pennsylvania in the United States of America.  Welsh people first began settling in Pennsylvania during the late 17th century. The development of the coal and iron industries around Scranton and Wilkes Barre from the late 18th century – and particularly during the mid and late 19th century attracted large numbers of skilled Welsh workers, many of whom originated in the valleys of Carmarthenshire, Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire, with similar industrial backgrounds. Anthracite exploitation in the Carbondale area began in 1812 and the first substantial mine opened in 1831.

Virtually nothing is known of Daniel Scurry and his surname has not been noted in Aberdare or any of the surrounding parishes about the time the letter was written. He was evidently one of the large number of Welsh emigrants who began arriving in Pennsylvania in the late 18th and 19^th centuries.  Many of these Welsh emigrants were also Welsh-speakers and religious nonconformists and established Welsh cultural institutions and chapels in their new homeland. Daniel Scurry was a Welsh speaker, and his letter is written in Welsh.  The Welsh language, however, declined in the USA during the 19th century as the first generation emigrants and their descendants were assimilated into the wider English-speaking community.

Daniel’s wife Jane was a sister of Phillip Rees of the Welsh Harp Inn, Commercial Street, Aberdare. Both Phillip Rees and his wife Sarah are recorded in the 1851 census there. Rees is described as a publican, born in Aberdare, age 58, and Sarah as born in Tintern, co. Monmouth, age 60. Rees is recorded in the first surviving ratebook at the inn in 1844 but there is no mention of him in the 1841 census. At the time of the 1851 census they had two daughters, Mary age 24 and Elizabeth age 27, both unmarried and born in Aberdare. Their joint gravestone at St John’s churchyard records Philip’s death 11 July 1860, age 67, and Sarah’s death 10 February 1861, age 70.

Daniel’s letter relates to personal and family matters and to the political situation in the United States of America.  He writes of both personal and family sickness, telling firstly how a ton of coal fell on his foot and broke several bones.  There were fears it would have to be amputated, and Daniel mentions how he has spent 6 weeks in bed, but is now walking with sticks, although despite this the doctors say it may be a year at least before he can work again.  He tells Philip Rees that he has 7 children living, but writes of the loss of his youngest son Thomas to cholera the previous year, aged only 1 year 2 months.

Daniel describes Pennsylvania as a thriving state, with work plentiful and wages good.  He writes of the war between the US and Mexico, and his hopes for peace.  Daniel also mentions his sympathy with those in Britain and Ireland suffering due to famine.

The letter is available for consultation in the searchroom at Glamorgan Archives.  More details on our opening hours and the services we offer can be found on our website http://www.glamarchives.gov.uk.