Who were they? Why did they leave? How did they travel — and where did they settle?
During the 1840s and 1850s, more than 5,000 emigrants left Wales to build “Zion” in America. Many came from Gwynedd, Meirionydd and Montgomeryshire; many spoke only Welsh.
This archive gathers their stories — the farms and parishes they left, the ships they boarded at Liverpool, the rivers and railways they followed, and the settlements they built in Utah and Idaho. Every person, family, place and ship is a page of its own, and every page leads somewhere else.
About the project →Five decades, one migration
Explore the full timeline →Henry Royle and Frederick Cooke establish a congregation at Overton, Flintshire.
Baptisms begin in the Afon Teigl; conversions spread through Merionethshire.
The Hartley sails; the first purpose-built chapel in the British Isles opens at Llanelli.
Thomas Williams of Carno crosses on the William Tapscott.
Hugh Evans sails on the John J. Boyd with 702 Latter-day Saints.
John Roberts returns to Wales as a missionary.
Begin where they began.
Six historic counties of Mid and North Wales anchor the archive. Choose a county, then a parish, and meet the people who left it.
Pioneer stories
All people →
A farmer’s son who mined coal in Tredegar, crossed on the William Tapscott in 1860, and settled his family in Taylorsville, Utah.
Mississippi steamboat captain, missionary and editor of Prophwyd y Jubili — the figure who links Wales, publishing and emigration.
A Baptist minister’s daughter who gave up her place at Peover Hall for her faith, was widowed three times, escaped Nauvoo, and reached the valley in 1850.
Two roads to Zion
Nearly every journey began at Liverpool. The early companies sailed for New Orleans and worked up the Mississippi and Missouri by steamboat; later companies landed at New York and crossed by rail through Albany, Niagara, Detroit, Chicago and Quincy. Ox-cart, handcart and wagon companies finished the road.
The road of the 1849 Hartley company — and where the Eames and Owens families paid the river’s price.
Follow the Hartley →The Civil War-era road of the John J. Boyd company: steam, rail and finally the wagon road to the valley.
Follow the John J. Boyd →The ships
All ships and companies →Carried the Peters, Eames and Owens families of Merionethshire — the archive’s richest voyage.
Thomas Williams of Carno crossed aboard her; his wife Harriet and children followed on the Manchester.
Sailed with 702 Latter-day Saints aboard, Hugh Evans of Newmarket among them.
Find a surname
Welsh surnames are shared by many unrelated families — the archive distinguishes people by parish, family and voyage, so a search for Jones leads somewhere useful.