You are here-- VENEDOCIA HOME PAGE >HISTORY INDEX

Selected documents from the Venedocia village archive.

Old postcards of Venedocia.

--Salem Church in 1898.

-- Main Street looking North sometime after 1917. Cambrian Hall is the second building on the left.

--The front and back of a post card written in 1904 by Venedocia Presbyterian Church Pastor Rev. Danial Evans Jones to Venedocia physician Dr. John S. Jenkins.

The Venedocia history book project, sample chapter

Interview of Thomas Clarence (Si) Evans (27k pdf file), including a first person account of growing up in the village during the late 1890's and early 1900's. Here is the same file with added photos of Si Evans and other individuals mentioned in the text (831k pdf file, press "refresh" if the file doesn't appear to load properly the first time). A more complete version of the Si Evans interview, including items not related to Venedocia is here. And here is Source information for the Si Evans document.

If you have trouble viewing the large Si Evans file directly off of the web using a browser it is recommended that you first download the file and then view it directly off of your hard drive with Adobe Reader. To download the file RIGHT click the above "Here" link and select "Save link as."

The origin of the name "Venedocia" found within a poem describing village life in the late 1800's.

Photos of the Miami and Erie Canal Historical Marker in Delphos. Ohio's Governor Bebb, who helped found Venedocia is mentioned in the marker's text. In the 19th century all commerce into and out of Venedocia entered and left via the canal at the site of this marker.

Photos of the Venedocia historical marker. You can view the north side which describes the history and culture of Venedocia. You can also veiw the south side which maps the August 1794 route of General Anthony Wayne's army through Van Wert County on its way north to fight indians at the battle of fallen timbers.

A newspaper article about the Welsh history of the Jervis Bebb and Morris families that founded Venedocia in 1848.

A first person account of establishing the Venedocia settlement by immigrants from Wales, with a description of the "rapaceous beasts" to be found in the dense forest surrounding the settlement. This document is very interesting.

The history of Venedocia from the 1830's through 1974, including this quote about early life in York township: "Nothing could be heard except the howling of the wolves and the hooting of the owles."

History of Venedocia's Salem Church, a 150 year old congregation.

Inscriptions on all the stones in cemetaries important to Venedocia's history. Included are the Venedocia Cemetery and the Horeb Cemetery. Some grave markers in each of these cemetaries have Welsh text and/or indicate a Welsh birthplace.

An 1850 letter from Van Wert county to wales, written by the William Bebb who established the Venedocia Welsh settlement.

Quotes about Venedocia from the book "History of Van Wert County"

The history of Venedocia's Memorial Park from a Times Bulletin newspaper article

Venedocia's Rees family genealogical information

Thomas Jones' 1886 obituary