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Not the sole provider by a long shot. Boys between 5 and 11 worked in the lead mine until they were too big to get in and out. At that point, tending sheep was the primary task. When not making shoes, he was also the village butcher. Cutting fleece for the wool mills was done after the weather warmed.

My great great grandmother urged my great grandfather to avoid "the evil shoe business". After a brief time tending sheep, he left for Liverpool. At age 18, he signed on as ship's company to earn his passage to the United States. He found his sweetheart from Aberystwyth living in Pittsburgh. To impress his future father-in-law, he signed up for the Union Army and was promptly in "boot camp" on a rail car enroute to the battle lines with the Confederates. He ended up captured and survived two years in a Confederate POW camp. In 1865, he returned to Pittsburgh and married my great grandmother. My grandfather and his twin brother were the youngest of the 19 children. They were born in 1887.

There is my connection to Wales. I've had to learn the language on my own as my great grandfather insisted that his children spoke English to ensure success in America.