British Buckeyes: The English, Scots and Welsh in Ohio 1700–1900 by William E. Van Vugt (review)

Book Reviews William E.Van Vugt. Britisb Buckeyes: Ube English,Scots andWeisb in Obio 17001900 . Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2006. 295 pp. ISBN 0873388437 cloth), $ 55.00. his motivation for writing Britilliam E. Van Vuot states that b isb Buckeyes is to document the history of British immigration to Ohio and to demonstrate the immigrants' important influence on the development of the state during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He uses biographies and primary sources,including letters and census data, k describe the lives and influence of British immigrants, focusing on their influence in four areas: agriculture; crafts and industry;religion and reform;and the professions, arts, and civil service. Van Vugt notes that British immigrants " had more in common with Ohioans than they had differences, and they offered valuable skills and services to Ohio's growing economy and budding industries ( 63). In the first three chapters,Van Vugt describes the migration patterns of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the earliest British immigrants to Ohio, and the communities they founded. These chapters provide important background for the later discussion of British immigrants ' contributions to the state. 1[ hroughout the book, Van Vugt intersperses interesting stories of immigrants such as Mad Ann Bailey, an Englishwoman who ifter settling in trontier Ohio became a Patriot scout during the Revolutionary War. In later life, she and her husband built a cabin on the banks of the Ohio River. Van Vugt also emphasizes how British settlers livine in the st: ite helped recruit new immigrants, especially through their letters to relatives back home. Nor does he ignore the differences between different British ethnic groups. Many Welsh, Guernsey, : ind Manx in)migrants were nonEnglish speakers and therefore tended to cluster together in settlements, whereas English and Scottish immigrants tended to mingle more with their American neighbors. In chapters four through seven, Van Vugt documents the contributions of OHIO VALLEY HISTORY 78 5£? glish Welsh in»1 13 17001900 rit W Iliam E. Van gt British immigrants to the development of Ohio industry and culture. Throughout these chapters he stresses the cultural and ethnic differences between the newcomers . The mining traditions of the Welsh, for example, enabled them to make important contributions to the development of Ohio' s mines, while English potters played an instrumental role in the development of the state's pottery industry. Van Vugt also emphasizes the importance of agriculture to 111 British immigrants. Many miners and engineers dreamed of becoming successful farmers in Ohio. In discussing immigrants' contributions to religion and reform, Van Vugt notes that the British clergy helped establish new congregations on the Ohio frontier. British immigrants also played a significant role in Ohio' s temperance and abolition movements, and during the Civil War they were among the very first Ohio volunteers" ( 201). Using primary sources and county histories,Van Vugt illuminates an important aspect of Ohio' s history,but his book left this reader wanting more information ,especially concerning the interaction between British immigrants and their American neighbors. Researchers will find his appendix on Ohio county histories useful, although some of the tables are difficult to read. Van Vugt succeeds in his quest to give voice to British immigrants who have not been fully credited for the important role they played in early Ohio history. Lisa A. McGurk University of Cincinnati Eliza W. Farnham, with an introduction by John Hallwas. Life in Prairie Land. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003. 312 pp. ISBN 0252060393 paper), $ 19.95. arnhams memoirand travelbookconcerning Illinois in the late18305 is a pleasant read,offering amusing anecdotes about frontier life and appealing descriptions of nature. Occasionally,Farnhams style is as polished and compelling as the fiction published in the antebellum era, such as in her transcendentalist meditations on springtime on the prairie ( 12934 ), or her story about a young mother facing an alldestroying prairie fire alone except for the family dog and her small children ( 17585 ). Farnham' s attention to detail will make her work useful to historians interested in material culture and everyday life. Particulars about home and riverboat inEliza W. Farnham 1vitrod· tiction ill) e by John Hallwris 71 2/ 1. . tattle FALL 2006 79 ...