Remsen (village), New York

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Remsen, New York
settlement_type = Village
nickname = Remsen City
motto = "Set in rural Welsh tradition"

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pushpin_map_caption =Location within the state of New York
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = New York
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Oneida
government_footnotes =
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unit_pref = Imperial
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area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 1.0
area_land_km2 = 1.0
area_water_km2 = 0.0
area_total_sq_mi = 0.4
area_land_sq_mi = 0.4
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 531
population_density_km2 = 552.9
population_density_sq_mi = 1431.9

timezone = Eastern (EST)
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 361
elevation_ft = 1184
latd = 43 |latm = 19 |lats = 39 |latNS = N
longd = 75 |longm = 11 |longs = 12 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 13438
area_code = 315
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 36-61115
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0962375
website =
footnotes =

Remsen is a village in Oneida County, New York, USA. The population was 531 at the 2000 census.

The Village of Remsen is in the southwest part of the Town of Remsen.

The Remsen Barn Festival of the Arts (FOTA) is held in late September. The first Barn Festival was in 1980. Thousands of visitors attend this yearly event on Main street.

History

The community was first settled around 1796. The Village of Remsen was incorporated in 1845. The village possesses a historical church, Capel Cerrig, which is owned by the Remsen-Steuben Historical society, as well as a newly-restored Railroad Depot.

Geography

Remsen is located at coor dms|43|19|39|N|75|11|12|W|city (43.327589, -75.186734)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²).None of the area is covered with water.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 531 people, 202 households, and 136 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,431.9 people per square mile (554.1/km²). There were 229 housing units at an average density of 617.5/sq mi (239.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.18% White, 0.75% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.75% Asian, and 1.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.19% of the population.

There were 202 households out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no male present, and 32.2% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the village the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 12.2% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $29,485, and the median income for a family was $32,625. Males had a median income of $27,083 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income for the village was $12,625. About 17.5% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over.

The Welsh

Hailing from the nation of Wales within the United Kingdom, speaking a Celtic language and practicing a separate form of nonconformist faith, the Welsh were culturally distinct from other British immigrants to New York. Often arriving in New York City, many of these immigrants moved on to form ethnic communities further upstate.

Oneida County in Central New York witnessed the development of one of the largest and certainly the most influential Welsh community in the United States. Suffering from poor harvests in 1789 and 1802 and dreaming of land ownership, the initial settlement of five Welsh families soon attracted other agricultural migrants, settling Stueben, Utica and Remsen townships. Adapting their traditional agricultural methods, the Welsh became the first to introduce dairying into the region and Welsh butter became a valued commodity on the New York market. Drawing on the size of the local ethnic community and the printing industry of Utica, Oneida County became the cultural center of Welsh-American life by 1830. The Welsh-American publishing industry included 19 different publishers who published 240 Welsh language imprints, 4 denominational periodicals and the influential newspaper Y Drych (see Y Drych).

Although the mid to late nineteenth century saw the decline of rural immigration to central New York, a new industrial focus for Welsh migration developed in Washington County along the New York-Vermont border during this period. Centering on the New York town of Granville and the Vermont villages of Fair Haven and Poultney, the New York-Vermont slate valley became a magnet for large numbers of industrial workers from the slate mining villages of North Wales. Heavily recruited, these Welsh migrants supplied the necessary skill to open and exploit the valuable seams of the valley. The privileged and better paid position of the skilled Welsh created a clear and strained division of labor in this grueling and often dangerous industry, with newly arriving bands of Slovakian workers carrying out the unskilled labor of the quarries. Fluctuations in levels of Welsh immigration to the area tended to follow the relative fortune of the slate industries in Wales and America, the peak periods of immigration occurring during Welsh strikes and lockouts such as those of 1898 and 1902.

The Welsh language and the nonconformist ‘chapel’ were integral parts of Welsh-American culture. Religious worship was observed through the medium of Welsh and the chapel provided guidance on almost every aspect of the immigrant's lives. The three leading Welsh denominations – the Calvinistic Methodists (a distinctly Welsh sect), Baptists, and Congregationalists- established a firm presence within the Welsh-American communities of New York. Although congregations tended to remain small, chapel construction flourished. In 1860, over thirty weekly services in Welsh were conducted in Oneida County alone. Central to Welsh worship was the tradition of four-part congregational singing of Welsh hymns. Highlights of the year in any Welsh-American community would include all-day events such as the Gymanfa Ganu (hymn singing festival) and Gymanfa Pregethu (outdoor preaching festivals). These cultural institutions were only rivaled by the eisteddfod, a musical and literary competition in which poetry and choral singing in Welsh figured highly. In addition to the several eisteddfodau organized locally, Utica was the site of a grand eisteddfod that continued for over a century and commanded special excursion trains from Granville and other Welsh-American communities.

Although speaking a foreign tongue and being known for their clannishness, the Welsh were warmly received by most of their fellow Americans. Being British, literate and Protestant, integration of the Welsh into American life occurred fairly swiftly. After the First World War, there was a dramatic decline in the number of Welsh immigrants to the United States and the vitality of the Welsh language in the communities of New York began to wane. From the mid-nineteenth century, many Welsh farmers in central New York migrated to cities or further west to seek economic opportunities. A similar process occurred in the slate valley of Washington County with the declining fortunes of the slate industry after World War One. In the 1920s, the decline of Welsh speakers in the Welsh-American communities prompted the Calvinistic Methodists in America to join with the Presbyterian Church. Despite their successful integration and the gradual loss of the Welsh language, the continued survival of Welsh-American identity in central New York and the New York-Vermont Slate Valley is reflected in the existence of active "St. David" ethnic societies and the continuing tradition of holding local Gymanfa Ganu.

John S. Ellis, Green Mountain CollegeRobert Huw Griffiths, Ysgol Bro Myrddin, Carmarthen.