William Drew Robeson I (July 27, 1844 – May 17, 1918) was the father of
Paul RobesonPaul LeRoy Bustill Robeson was an internationally renowned American basso profundo concert singer, scholar, actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator and lawyer who was also noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism...
and the minister of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in
PrincetonPrinceton, New Jersey is located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Princeton University has been sited in the town since 1756. Although Princeton is a "college town", there are other important institutions in the area, including the Institute for Advanced Study, Educational Testing...
, New Jersey from 1880 to 1901.
William was born in 1844 to Benjamin Robeson (1820-c1889) and Sabra (1825-c1885) who were enslaved on the Robeson plantation near Cross Road Township,
Martin County, North CarolinaMartin County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 25,593. Its county seat is Williamston.- History :...
. Cross Road Township is near
Raleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh is the capital city of the state of North Carolina, the seat of Wake County and the second largest city in North Carolina. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S...
. He was a descendant of the
Igbo peopleIgbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern and south Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
.
William Drew Robeson I (July 27, 1844 – May 17, 1918) was the father of
Paul RobesonPaul LeRoy Bustill Robeson was an internationally renowned American basso profundo concert singer, scholar, actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator and lawyer who was also noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism...
and the minister of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in
PrincetonPrinceton, New Jersey is located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Princeton University has been sited in the town since 1756. Although Princeton is a "college town", there are other important institutions in the area, including the Institute for Advanced Study, Educational Testing...
, New Jersey from 1880 to 1901.
Birth and escape from slavery
William was born in 1844 to Benjamin Robeson (1820-c1889) and Sabra (1825-c1885) who were enslaved on the Robeson plantation near Cross Road Township,
Martin County, North CarolinaMartin County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 25,593. Its county seat is Williamston.- History :...
. Cross Road Township is near
Raleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh is the capital city of the state of North Carolina, the seat of Wake County and the second largest city in North Carolina. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S...
. He was a descendant of the
Igbo peopleIgbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern and south Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
. In 1860, when he was 15 years old, William escaped on the
Underground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century Black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists who aided the...
to
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
. He left North Carolina by crossing the Maryland border into
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
. It was in Pennsylvania that he served in the
Union ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
as a laborer. In 1876 he received a degree in theology from
Lincoln UniversityLincoln University is the United States' first degree-granting historically black university. It is located near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies in the City of Philadelphia. Lincoln University provides...
in Pennsylvania.
Marriage
While at Lincoln University he met
Maria Louisa BustillMaria Louisa Bustill Robeson was a Quaker schoolteacher; the mother of Paul Robeson; and the wife of the Reverend William Drew Robeson of Witherspoon Church in Princeton, New Jersey.-Birth:...
and they married in 1879. Maria was described as a mulatto in the 1880 Census. In 1880 they were living on Witherspoon Street in
Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton, New Jersey is located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Princeton University has been sited in the town since 1756. Although Princeton is a "college town", there are other important institutions in the area, including the Institute for Advanced Study, Educational Testing...
, and together they had the following children:
- Gertrude Lascet Robeson (1880) who died as an infant
- William Drew Robeson Jr. (November 8, 1881-?) who was a physician in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
- Benjamin Congleton Robeson (September 19, 1892 -1966) was a military chaplain with the 369th Infantry Regiment,formerly the 15th New York National Guard Regiment. The unit was also known as The Black Rattlers,in addition to several other nicknames. The 369th Infantry Regiment was known for being the first Negro Regiment during World War I
World War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. He married Frances Elizabeth Cline, and later served as Pastor of Mother AME Zion Church in HarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands.Harlem has been defined by a series...
- J.B. Reeve Robeson (1886-?) aka Reed Robeson, who was born in March 1886 and he moved to Detroit and may have worked at a hotel and died in poverty
- Marian Margaret Robeson (December 1, 1894-February
February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the shortest month and the only month with fewer than 30 days. The month has 29 days in leap years, when the year number is divisible by four...
1977) she married Dr. William Forsythe and moved to Philadelphia
- Paul LeRoy Robeson
Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson was an internationally renowned American basso profundo concert singer, scholar, actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator and lawyer who was also noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism...
(1898-1976) who was an orator, singer and actor.
Another child died at birth, but the name is not known.
Death of Maria
In 1904 his wife, Maria died in Princeton from burn injuries sustained when her clothes caught fire from a coal burning stove.
Princeton to Westfield
William was minister of the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey from 1880 until 1901. Reverend Robeson was ousted from the Princeton Pastorate after over twenty-years of service with no clear reasons given. Reverend Robeson's own congregation had been a contributing factor to his dismissal at Witherspoon Church.
Later testimony would reveal that he had aligned himself "on the wrong side of a church fight," having apparently refused to bow to pressure from the "white residents of Princeton" that he cease his tendency to "speak out against social injustice." Upon his dismissal, Reverend William Drew Robeson bypassed any need "to recriminate and rebuke." "As I review the past," he said, "and think upon many scenes, my heart is filled with love." In closing his last address to his Princeton congregation, he implored them, "Do not be discouraged, do not think your past work is in vain."
From 1907 to 1910, he took up residence in
Westfield, New JerseyWestfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 29,644.The old village area, now the downtown district, was settled in 1720 as part of the Elizabethtown Tract....
where he was reverend of the Downer Street Saint Luke African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The church itself was built in 1908 while William was reverend. His children attended the Washington School at Elm and Orchard streets, and his son Paul, as a 12-year-old, played in baseball games for the high school team. The Robeson's lived on the South side of Spring Street, where it intersects with Rahway Avenue. The street is now called Watterson Street and the home is no longer extant.
Westfield to Somerville
In 1910 William moved to
Somerville, New JerseySomerville is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 12,423. It is the county seat of Somerset County....
and took over the congregation at the Saint Thomas
African Methodist Episcopal Zion ChurchThe African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion Church, was officially formed in 1821, but operated for a number years before then. The church can be traced back to the John Street Methodist Church of New York City...
.
Timeline
- 1876 Degree in theology from Lincoln University
Lincoln University is the United States' first degree-granting historically black university. It is located near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies in the City of Philadelphia. Lincoln University provides...
in PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
- 1879 Marriage to Maria Louisa Bustill
- 1880 Begin tenure at Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton
- 1880 US Census
- 1900 US Census
- 1901 End tenure at Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton
- 1904 Death of Maria Louisa Bustill, his wife
- 1907 Move to Westfield, New Jersey
- 1910 Move to Somerville, New Jersey to Saint Thomas African Methodist Episcopal church
- 1918 Death and burial
External links