Gram's Gift

By Joyce Mosley

Gram’s Gift tells the story of an African-American family with African, European, and Native American roots. Gram decided it was time for her grandchildren to know the contributions made by their ancestors. So, she gathers her grandchildren together for a family history lesson. Her lesson begins with Cyrus Bustill, born enslaved, purchased his freedom, operated a successful bakery business and provided bread to George Washington’s troops camped at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. He was a businessman, an educator, and a leader in the Black community. His children and grandchildren continued Cyrus’ legacy of leadership as they were agents in the Underground Railroad, soldiers in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) during the Civil War, and advocates fighting for the right to vote for all.

Gram’s Gift to her grandchildren is their family history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728362816

Joyce Mosley

Joyce Mosley assumed the role of family historian over thirty years ago. She has documented her African-American family history to European settlers and Cyrus Bustill, born enslaved, purchased his freedom, operated a bakery in New Jersey, and provided bread for George Washington's troops in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Joyce has presented her family research at genealogy conferences, and regional meetings including the African-America Historical and Genealogical Society and the African- American Genealogy Group, Joyce is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the Colonial Daughters of the 17th Century, the Society of Founding Families of New Jersey, The Society of Founding Families of Pennsylvania, African-American Genealogy Group, and the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage. In 2019, Joyce’s family research was featured in a PBS episode of “Movers and Makers” https://video.whyy.org/video/outbound-y8big3/.

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© 2020 Joyce Mosley. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-7283-6280-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6281-6 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6282-3 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020909549

Published by AuthorHouse 07/21/2020

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GRAM’S GIFT

For over sixty-five years, my mother’s side of the family, the Millers, have gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first weekend in July to attend our family reunion. Besides Christmas, this is my favorite time of the year because I get to hang out with my out-of-state cousins. My aunts and their families always camp out at my house for the long weekend. All us kids look forward to spending this time together. Gram always arrives Thursday morning so she and Mom can spend the day cooking family dishes passed down from generation to generation, like Mexican chili with canned corn. Each evening, we sit around the dinner table, sharing family jokes, eating, and listening to Gram’s stories. Gram writes children’s books, so she has the very best stories. But this year was different.

After dinner, Gram stood up and said, I want all you children to follow me into the living room. It is time you learned about our family history. You should know the contributions made by your ancestors. Our family has lived on this land since before the Revolutionary War and before America was a nation. We have a long and distinguished history, and I want you to know what an awesome family you were born into.

So, my sisters, my brother, and all my cousins followed Gram into the living room to begin our family history lesson. Gram sat in the high-backed chair and got comfortable, while all of us kids sat on the floor in front of her chair, waiting to hear Gram’s history lesson.

Cyrus