Between 1840 and 1890, many Welsh looked to Wisconsin for relief where they could purchase inexpensive, productive land. With large Welsh landowners controlling most of the arable land in Wales and Corn Laws, which prohibited importation of cheap food, domestic food prices increased dramatically and left the typical tenant-farming family with fields full of grain but empty cupboards. Once in Wisconsin, the newcomers kept to themselves, maintained their native language and national traditions and worshipped together in close-knit communities.

This addition to the People of Wisconsin series weaves period letters from the Owen family and Private John Jones, who served in the Union army in the Civil War, into the narration. Welsh in Wisconsin also contains anecdotes from early immigrant life and photographs depicting Welsh churches in Wisconsin.

Phillips G. Davies (deceased), part Welsh himself, graduated from Marquette University in 1946 and held advanced degrees from Northwestern University. He taught in the English department at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa beginning in 1954. Although he published some articles on literary subjects, his later publications were translations of accounts about Welsh settlements, mostly in the Middle West. These appeared in the journals of several state historical societies.