One group of people accounted for almost a third of the fatalities of the Dyffryn colliery disaster of May 1852: members of the Cwmbach branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Nineteen men and boys lost their lives. They left behind widows and children, who were also victims of the disaster. The four widows however sought new lives elsewhere as they emigrated to join the main body of the LDS church in the American West.