Jefferson County, West Virginia
uncovering the people
Harpers Ferry
History
Has Forgotten.
The forgotten voices of Harpers Ferry.
The Irish of Harpers Ferry
The Laboring class
The Village Of Bakerton
This is their story.
Harpers Ferry history is far more layered than John Brown and the Civil War. The Welsh of Harpers Ferry chronicles the history of Harpers Ferry through the perspective of the forgotten Irish and the laboring class.
Our fully indexed and cross-referenced database contains over 2,100 transcriptions of documents, records, and manuscripts for family historians and scholarly researchers relating to eastern Jefferson County, West Virginia.
"I just wanted to thank you. I have found so much I didn't know about my family and the area on your site. You are doing invaluable work!"
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We believe that every person made a contribution to history. What stories will you discover?
People
Learn about the members of the Welsh/Walsh family of Harpers Ferry and related families.Â
Places
Harpers Ferry, Ireland, and the important places tied to them.
Evidence
A fully cross-referenced database of transcribed historical records and manuscripts.
Photographs
Browse our growing library of historical family, location, and event photographs.
Wanting to experience the rich, colorful history of Harpers Ferry & Bakerton for yourself?
We're busy crafting Quarryman's Rest, an immersive historical and heritage community and travel experience. Hop on our waitlist to learn more and get your chance to win big.
Much of Harpers Ferry’s history has been told through moments of great national consequence: battles, raids, and prominent families.
But what about the thousands of laboring families quietly building, living, and working behind the scenes?
Harpers Ferry’s historical narrative has long focused on singular events rather than sustained communities. As a result, the large and influential laboring population often appears anonymous or absent from the historical record altogether.
The Welsh of Harpers Ferry began with the intent to better understand one of these laboring families. Forgotten Irish laborers who achieved the American dream by their own sheer resilience, the Welsh family of Harpers Ferry and Bakerton left behind important missing pieces of the laboring-class experience in eastern Jefferson County.
Tracing their lives and impact requires piecing together historical context with written and oral record.
If the Welsh family legacy is of returning a voice to the Harpers Ferry Irish, it is a worthy one. The Welsh family's incredible story is not an exception, but is representative of an entire population whose labor sustained Harpers Ferry while their stories are erased from history.
Oh, Ireland! How we shall forever long for thee. -- Honora Walsh
For I stood alone by the Shannon water
and watched the day dying,
the blood-red sun lying,
o'er Lusmagh below.
And I knew with the depth of the curlews say crying,
my heart it was sighing,
some day I would go.Â
One day I would leave her,
my love-land of beauty...
