The very important story of an interracial family that can be traced through multiple generations and into the 20th century.
The African-American Montier family traces its roots to the British-born Caucasian son of Philadelphia’s first mayor, Richard Morrey, who had a relationship with Cremona, a young woman who had been enslaved by the Morrey family, resulting in five mixed-race children. Before his death, Richard would pass to Cremona 200 acres of land, giving her an almost unique position in 18th-century Philadelphia. On this land a small Black town known as Guineatown would grow up, with an associated cemetery.
Cremona’s descendants and luminaries associated with the family include Cyrus Bustill, a black activist and baker who made bread for the Continental Army; David Bustill Bowser, a 19th-century activist who designed and created the colors for eleven African-American regiments at Camp William Penn; the great Paul Robeson, renowned scholar, lawyer, diplomat, athlete, singer, and actor; and William Pickens, Sr., a co-founder of the NAACP. The Montiers traces this unique family to the present day.
1. The Origins and Life of Cremona Morrey
2. The Powerful Slaveholding English, New York, and Philadelphia Quaker Backgrounds of Richard and Humphrey Morrey
3. A Forbidden Romance Develops during Racially Explosive Times
4. Richard Morrey: A Gentleman Player?
5. Richard and Cremona’s Visible, Child-Producing Relationship
6. Richard Passes to Cremona Nearly 200 Acres Before His Death
7. Was the Relationship True Love or Coerced?
8. Cremona, Jr. and Her Relationship with Husband John Montier during the Revolutionary War
9. The Development of Guineatown, Home to Descendant Cyrus Bustill and Other Early Residents
10. Early and Modern Descendants of the Family, including Paul Robeson and William Pickens, Sr., a Co-Founder of the NAACP and Philly’s Pioneering Black Lawyers
11. The Legacy of the Historic Interracial Relationship, including the Disappearance of 73 Guineatown Graves
Don “Ogbewii” Scott is a 1977 graduate of Cheyney University and 1990 graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and lives in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania. Scott has written two books about Camp William Penn, as well as many articles about the Montiers for publications like America’s Civil War Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, England’s National Archives Magazine, and more. He has contributed to major Black-history book projects for the Oxford University Press and Houghton Mifflin. His lectures have been televised statewide and he’s delivered live Black-history segments on WURD 900 AM, as well as appeared on television’s PBS-WHYY, WPVI-ABC and PCN.
