Paddy's Run

Paddy's Run. . The foundation for the first Welsh settlement in Ohio was laid on June 29, 1801, when William and Morgan Gwilym purchased land in what is now Morgan Township at the Cincinnati Land Office. The Welsh, who settled in Pennsylvania beginning in the late eighteenth century, moved westward and settled here in 1802. This area was also the major terminus for the 1818 migration from Montgomeryshire and Cardiganshire in Wales. In 1803 a Congregational Church was organized and services were held in members' homes or outdoors. A brick Meetinghouse, complete with a Welsh death door leading to the cemetery, was constructed in 1824. The building now serves as the Community House. The present brick church was built in 1854. For many years, the library, formed in 1852, was housed in the New London Special School District building that stood on this site., A post office, established in 1831, was named for a nearby stream called Paddy's Run, the local name of New London having been rejected by the Postmaster General. Objecting to being called "Paddies" outside the community, younger residents lobbied for a name change. The community became Glendower in 1886 and again Paddy's Run in 1888 after citizens staged a boycott of the Post Office in 1887. As a compromise, the name was changed to Shandon in 1893. From this first Welsh settlement came Gomer and Venedocia in northwest Ohio and communities in northeastern Indiana. Welsh communities located in east Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin can trace their roots back to Paddy's Run. Paddy's Run was the birthplace of influential Ohioans including Murat Halstead, journalist and editor well-known as a war correspondent; Albert Shaw, editor of the Review of Reviews; Dr. Mark Francis, pioneer in the field of veterinary medicine; and Dr. Edward Francis, researcher with the U.S. Public Health Service.