Immigrating to Zion

Welsh emigrants

Welsh emigrants en route to Utah, circa 1850.

On February 26, 1849, nearly 300 Latter-day Saints, including Dan Jones, William and Mary Ann Henshaw, and William and Rachel Davies, left Liverpool for Utah. Thousands followed in the decades to come. Continued opposition from other denominations compelled many to leave their homeland shortly after their conversion. Between 1849 and 1900, more than 5,000 Welsh converts immigrated to Utah. Welsh settlements throughout Utah and Idaho brought strength, faith, leadership, and music to the Church in the Intermountain West.

Many of the Welsh immigrants and their children returned to Wales to serve missions. Many of their converts joined them in the American West. In Wales, however, the Church remained small. Only a few converts stayed in their homeland. In 1904, with fewer than 200 members in the entire country, the British Mission discontinued the regular assignment of missionaries to Wales.