THIS town is thought to be the first overseas Swansea to be named after the Welsh community.
The most well-known of the namesakes, its origin is directly related to John Myles who preached at Ilston, Gower, a rural area bordering Swansea, Wales.
Born in Herefordshire in 1621, the Oxford graduate went to London in 1649 where he entered into the Baptist faith.
After replacing an Anglican clergyman as rector of Ilston, Myles organised the congregation into a properly regulated Baptist Church, the first of its kind in Wales. Such was his stature, Myles also effectively supervised four other such churches at Hay, Llantrisant, Carmarthen and Abergavenny from Ilston. Membership of the group soared to 261.
The rise of the Baptists, however, was dampened with the Restoration of the monarchy under King Charles II in 1660, which re-introduced the rites of the Church of England.
Myles had to leave the church for refusing to read the Book of Sports - a law dating from the time of James I - from the pulpit.
He moved his church to Trinity Well in the Ilston Valley. But, as far as the government was concerned, Myles's cards were indelibly marked for being a Dissenter.
In a bid to secure freedom in speech and religious thought, Myles and about 15 members of his congregation, left for New England in 1663, taking the Ilston church records with them.
They landed at Boston, Massachusetts, and crossed to Plymouth colony. Myles became the leader of a group with Baptist beliefs, and a church was established at Rehoboth in 1663.
Four years later other churches took legal action against Myles and some of his associates who were fined for setting up a public meeting without the approval of the General Court at Plymouth. They were advised to move to an area which would not encroach on another parish's finances.
The settlers petitioned for a town grant, and in October 1667 the court granted them land south of Rehoboth in an area of Sowams known as Wannamoiset. There they established a settlement which they called Swansea. Everyone was satisfied - the Baptists because the grant enabled them to draw closer to the Baptist settlements in Providence and Newport, the Rehoboth settlers because it got rid of the Baptists who drew on the parish resources, and the General Court because it gave Plymouth a frontier outpost to take the first shock of any invasion launched by the powerful Native American tribes from the west.
Swansea's house of worship became the first Baptist church in Massachusetts, and the fourth in what became the USA.
The settlement became a working town through the efforts of Captain Thomas Willet, an original Pilgrim, who had been the first English mayor of New York City.
Swansea became unique in its official acceptance of religious choice. Neighbours lived and worked together but went to separate churches, then unthinkable in neighbouring Boston.
After the death of his first wife, John Myles married Anne Humphrey, whose father was magistrate of the colony of Massachusetts, and later became the town's schoolmaster.
The Native Americans, exasperated as more and more colonists enclosed land which they had previously freely roamed, began attacking the English settlements in 1675.
Swansea was first in the wartime firing line.
The attackers prepared for their onslaught while people were at worship. Several Baptists who were on their way home from a meeting were killed and their heads stuck on posts. The church building and part of the town was burned. Myles's home became a garrison for colonial troops.
During the latter part of the war, which dragged on for two years, the Rev Myles moved to Boston. He set up a church there and was arrested for holding unauthorised meetings, but escaped with a reprimand.
With the uprising crushed - and its leader's severed head exhibited at Plymouth - Swansea was rebuilt and a new church erected. Myles agreed to return.
He died in 1683 and is buried at Barrington, Rhode Island, which was originally part of Swansea. The grave is one of the town's most revered historic relics.
Myles's son John, a Harvard scholar, became Swansea's first town clerk.
Mainly a farming area, Swansea made no mark in history again until the early 19th Century when it achieved a reputation as a shipbuilding centre.
There is no record of correspondence between Swansea, Massachusetts, and the Welsh Swansea until 1944 when the former sent $130 to the mayor of the latter after the Welsh town was bombed by the Luftwaffe. The letter of thanks from the mayor is preserved in the American town's museum.
The records of Ilston Church, taken over with the settlers, are now a treasured possession of the University of Providence, Rhode Island.
Many of today's residents work in the nearby cities of New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton and Providence - or even Boston which lies 50 miles away.
This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.
The most well-known of the namesakes, its origin is directly related to John Myles who preached at Ilston, Gower, a rural area bordering Swansea, Wales.
Born in Herefordshire in 1621, the Oxford graduate went to London in 1649 where he entered into the Baptist faith.
After replacing an Anglican clergyman as rector of Ilston, Myles organised the congregation into a properly regulated Baptist Church, the first of its kind in Wales. Such was his stature, Myles also effectively supervised four other such churches at Hay, Llantrisant, Carmarthen and Abergavenny from Ilston. Membership of the group soared to 261.
The rise of the Baptists, however, was dampened with the Restoration of the monarchy under King Charles II in 1660, which re-introduced the rites of the Church of England.
Myles had to leave the church for refusing to read the Book of Sports - a law dating from the time of James I - from the pulpit.
He moved his church to Trinity Well in the Ilston Valley. But, as far as the government was concerned, Myles's cards were indelibly marked for being a Dissenter.
In a bid to secure freedom in speech and religious thought, Myles and about 15 members of his congregation, left for New England in 1663, taking the Ilston church records with them.
They landed at Boston, Massachusetts, and crossed to Plymouth colony. Myles became the leader of a group with Baptist beliefs, and a church was established at Rehoboth in 1663.
Four years later other churches took legal action against Myles and some of his associates who were fined for setting up a public meeting without the approval of the General Court at Plymouth. They were advised to move to an area which would not encroach on another parish's finances.
The settlers petitioned for a town grant, and in October 1667 the court granted them land south of Rehoboth in an area of Sowams known as Wannamoiset. There they established a settlement which they called Swansea. Everyone was satisfied - the Baptists because the grant enabled them to draw closer to the Baptist settlements in Providence and Newport, the Rehoboth settlers because it got rid of the Baptists who drew on the parish resources, and the General Court because it gave Plymouth a frontier outpost to take the first shock of any invasion launched by the powerful Native American tribes from the west.
Swansea's house of worship became the first Baptist church in Massachusetts, and the fourth in what became the USA.
The settlement became a working town through the efforts of Captain Thomas Willet, an original Pilgrim, who had been the first English mayor of New York City.
Swansea became unique in its official acceptance of religious choice. Neighbours lived and worked together but went to separate churches, then unthinkable in neighbouring Boston.
After the death of his first wife, John Myles married Anne Humphrey, whose father was magistrate of the colony of Massachusetts, and later became the town's schoolmaster.
The Native Americans, exasperated as more and more colonists enclosed land which they had previously freely roamed, began attacking the English settlements in 1675.
Swansea was first in the wartime firing line.
The attackers prepared for their onslaught while people were at worship. Several Baptists who were on their way home from a meeting were killed and their heads stuck on posts. The church building and part of the town was burned. Myles's home became a garrison for colonial troops.
During the latter part of the war, which dragged on for two years, the Rev Myles moved to Boston. He set up a church there and was arrested for holding unauthorised meetings, but escaped with a reprimand.
With the uprising crushed - and its leader's severed head exhibited at Plymouth - Swansea was rebuilt and a new church erected. Myles agreed to return.
He died in 1683 and is buried at Barrington, Rhode Island, which was originally part of Swansea. The grave is one of the town's most revered historic relics.
Myles's son John, a Harvard scholar, became Swansea's first town clerk.
Mainly a farming area, Swansea made no mark in history again until the early 19th Century when it achieved a reputation as a shipbuilding centre.
There is no record of correspondence between Swansea, Massachusetts, and the Welsh Swansea until 1944 when the former sent $130 to the mayor of the latter after the Welsh town was bombed by the Luftwaffe. The letter of thanks from the mayor is preserved in the American town's museum.
The records of Ilston Church, taken over with the settlers, are now a treasured possession of the University of Providence, Rhode Island.
Many of today's residents work in the nearby cities of New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton and Providence - or even Boston which lies 50 miles away.
This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.
Above: The first Baptist church in Swansea.
Left: The fairytale style entrance to the town hall.
Left: The fairytale style entrance to the town hall.
