My ancestors immigrated from Offaly [Kings County], Ireland to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the early 1830's. Fed up with how they were being treated by the English, they dreamt of prosperity and a new start for their family. Harpers Ferry was extremely similar to the "homeland": the landscape, the rivers, and the limestone deposits. I am now the 7th generation that continues to live in the breathtakingly beautiful Harpers Ferry area, and it all started with them -- Patrick and Honora Welsh and their sons.
I'd like to think that Patrick and Honora would be proud of where their descendants are today. Not all stayed in the Harpers Ferry area, but the majority has. Because of their life altering decision, we have prospered, we have overcame hardships, and we have contributed to the communities in which we live. Even so, the "longing for the homeland"... it's still there.
Join me as I slowly uncover the real, raw, lost history of the Welsh family of Harpers Ferry. No ancestor forgotten; no story erased.
