In the summer of 1851 there came an opportunity to buy some land. Their American cousins, William Bebb and Evan Bebb Jones, were visiting the home country and were hoping to sell some land in Tennessee on behalf of E.D. Saxton, a well-known land and railroad promoter.
The American cousins convinced Samuel and Richard together with their nephews William Jones and John Robert Jones and a friend Gwilliam Williams of buying land in East Tennessee and forming a Welsh settlement there.
Together they purchased an intial100, 000 acres in East Tennessee and later purchased further tracts of land. An enticing prospectus was drawn up to sell this land at half an acre to their fellow countrymen with the aim of setting up a thriving Welsh community...
'...The above -named persons intend to settle upon these lands, clear farms, erect habitations, and build up their churches, academies, and schools; and they hope and expect to see soon, flourishing neighbourhoods of industrious, energetic, and honest families, cultivating peace, charity, and hospitality, loving the Bible and considering their later end. And they expect as a result of these advantages, natural, commercial, social, intellectual, and religious, that these lands will rapidly advance in value..'
Despite widespread advertising only thirty-two certificates of purchase were ever legalised. More did buy certificates for purchasing land but equally quickly changed their minds and asked for their money back.
In early 1856 William Bebb and Evan Bebb Jones travelled to Tennessee to decide on a location for this venture and settled on Nance's Creek in Scott County. Work on log cabins, financed by William Bebb, commenced in July 1856.
The original plan was for all the immigrants to set out for Tennessee in the spring of 1857; however Gwilliam Williams persuaded Richard to lead an advance party in 1856 to prepare the land for the main immigrants who would follow a year later under the leadership of Samuel. Richard, by now in his mid forties with a new wife and baby daughter aged about two years, somewhat reluctantly agreed. Richard, his wife Anne and daughter Margaret Fach together with others in the party sailed from Liverpool aboard the 'John Bright' on 3rd July 1856. The 'John Bright' was not as well organised as its advertising made out to be as Richard's letter written aboard the ship shows.
'...I must admit that I was disappointed at all the disorder after all the boasting and advertising about the John Bright. I expected that every emigrant and his baggage would fit in his place like a plat in a mortise but instead men, boxes and hogsheads were thrown down exactly as we use to throw potatoes into odd corners......I had brought new slippers and white stockings for walking on the deck, but on the deck of the John Bright there was hardly room for a man to turn let alone walk with barrels, Irishmen, ropes, cooking stoves, old masts, smoke, tar, pitch, grease, water, and dirt. Slippers and white stockings indeed!'
They arrived in New York on 4 August 1856 and were met by William Bebb; together they travelled to family in Ohio. In early September they finally reached Nance's Creek; their new home. Unfortunately the log cabins, started in July, were still incomplete and in need of considerable work to make them habitable. By late September they moved into their new homes after holding a little service and the settlement was christened Brynyfynnon.
Reports from Richard during that first winter of 1856/57 were discouraging. One problem soon emerged; the legality (or rather the lack) of their title deeds coupled with land falling short of the 100.000 acres, boundaries were not defined and the land not being in a continuous tract as well as a dispute with a neighbour over ownership of land. Richard warned Samuel of these problems but Saxon's agent in London assured him that all was well.
In following spring of 1857, Samuel together with the main party of emigrants sailed on the 'Circassion' on 6th May 1857 and Samuel arrived at Brynyfynnon in June. Many of the other newcomers soon realised the doubts about the legality of the land titles and decided to move on to family and friends in established communities such as in Ohio.
By the autumn of 1857, disillusionment had set in amongst the remaining settlers. The situation was not probably helped by Samuel leaving to go on an extensive lecturing tour two months after his arrival when there was much to be done in the new settlement. On November 11th their nephew, William Jones and his wife decide to go and live with relatives in Ohio; his brother, John Robert Jones, shortly followed suit. Two other key members, William Griffiths and Gwilliam Williams had also left.
By November 25th 1857, only the two brothers, Samuel and Richard together with Richard's wife Anne and daughter Margaret were left with their dream of a Welsh Utopia shattered.
A letter from Richard to Gwilliam Williams and William Jones, his nephew, shows his feeling at the time. Richard had been reluctant to come out as the advance party but Gwilliam Williams had urged him on. However once they were in Tennessee and realised the problems besetting the new community, Gwilliam Williams all too soon gave up and left them. Richard then contemplated leaving but with the arrival of his nephew, William Jones and his family, decided to carry on. However, the enthusiasm of his nephew waned and in November 1857 he decided to leave.
'...When the main one i.e. Mr. W. turned back, it seemed hopeless to get on with everything and my intention was as soon as the second lot got here in the Spring to give it all up and leave without delay. Well this Mr. Jones came and he liked the place very much and he and his wife were quite determined to settle here, whatever happened and so instead of carrying out my intention of leaving we started to prepare a new field. Well, Mr. and Mrs. Jones came and we and they got on with it each on our own farm until my brother went to New York but that very day, when we came back from seeing my brother off, Mr. J. said that he would not stay here any longer- I believe somehow that it was that morning that he made his mind up and had he said so before my brother had gone it would have made a great difference to me, because his deciding to settle here and then to go away- and not tell us until after my brother's departure deprived us of one more year of our short lives.'
Later letters written by Samuel indicated that his brother was still uncertain. Letters from their family in Wales also urged them to consider leaving and to join their relatives already settled in Ohio. The whole affair put a strain on the Roberts' family relations both in the States and back in Wales.
The next problem to beset the Roberts' brothers, apart from the legality of their title deeds, was that many of original purchasers of land had became convinced of the impractically of the settlement scheme and requested that their investments were returned.
Samuel was reluctant to do so and indeed unable to meet their demands. This caused much adverse publicity and in time opinion turned against him.
Samuel was spending much of his time away on his extensive clerical and literary tours; these did have the benefit of raising funds. Much of the day-to-day work fell on Richard's shoulders. They tried to attract further settlers and some relatives of Anne Roberts joined them."
Article written by Fiona Richards
