As a child growing up in Coatesville, my mother shared stories about our ancestors who lived in the Welsh Mountains. She told of the Natives, escaped slaves, and disenfranchised whites who settled there.  When we visited the people there I feld a sense of awe at it’s beauty and sadness at the poverty of some residents. It seemed the further away I lived the more fascination there was for the Welsh Mountains. I researched and documented my family history over a period of twenty years, and wrote two books, Pieces of the Quilt: The Mosaic of An African American Family, and Notes and Documents of Free Persons of Color. I am currently working on my third book, Minqua: People of the Welsh Mountains, and on a Documentary of the same name.

As a Mixed-Raced descendant of the Welsh Mountains I hold a unique perspective on the people who lived there. Two of my ancestors, Henry Green and Uriah Martin, came out of the Mountains to fight in the Civil War. Several ancestors lived and worked on farms in the area to earn money. They were not just those people, they contributed to the history and culture of the area.

If there is anyone who would like to share their family stories please contact me at, ntawls@gmail.com.

The Minqua site link is: http://minqua.ning.com