The important story of an interracial family that can be traced through multiple generations and into the 21st 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.

Dr. Donald Scott, Sr. 

Don “Ogbewii” Scott Sr. is a historian, author, and journalist known for his in-depth research and writing on Black history, particularly focusing on Pennsylvania's African Americans. 

Scott’s work also explores his South Carolina Gullah-Geechee and Virginia ancestors and their migrations to Pennsylvania, as well as other notable Black families in the Commonwealth. Those families include the Montiers and Bustills, their ancestors and descendants, by way of his 2025 Brookline-Casemate publishing book, The Montiers: From Enslavement to Paul Robeson and Beyond.