About Joyce Mosley

Joyce assumed the role of family historian over thirty years ago.  Her family is among the first families to reside in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.    She can trace her family history to the 1600s and the first mayor of Philadelphia Humphrey Morrey, as well as Cyrus Bustill. Cyrus Bustill was born enslaved, purchased his freedom, and baked bread for George Washington’s troop at Valley Forge.  

Her family history in America begins before the Revolutionary War.  Joyce’s family members were active in the Underground Railroad, enlisted in the United States Colored Troops, and trained at Camp William Penn.  The Morrey/Bustill family is one of the founding families of Cheltenham Township, just outside Philadelphia.  They are also among the founding families of several African American churches in Philadelphia and the surrounding neighborhoods, including the historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, founded in 1792 as the first black Episcopal Church in the USA.

Joyce is a member of the Nation Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the Colonial Daughters of the 17th Century, The Society of Founding Families of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the African American Genealogy Group, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), the Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage and the historian for the the association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)-Heritage Philadelphia Branch. 

PBS featured Joyce on an episode of “Movers and Makers” https://www.pbs.org/video/outbound-y8big3/