William Drew Robeson I: Difference between revisions
<ref name=bay>{{cite web |url=http://www.bayarearobeson.org/RobesonInDepth.htm |title=Paul Robeson |accessdate=2007-02-14 |quote=Louisa, in ill health and nearly blind, was set alight when a coal from |
William Drew Robeson, a former slave who had become a clergyman, and Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson, who died in a fire when Paul was 6. |
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{{Infobox Person | name =William Drew Robeson I | image =William_Drew_Robeson_(1845-1918).jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1844|7|27}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1918|5|17|1844|7|27}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | residence = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = | title = | salary = | networth = | height = | weight = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | religion = | spouse =[[Maria Louisa Bustill]] | partner = | children =[[Paul Robeson]] | parents =Benjamin Robeson (1820-c1889)<br>Sabra (1825-c1885) | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} |
{{Infobox Person | name =William Drew Robeson I | image =William_Drew_Robeson_(1845-1918).jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1844|7|27}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1918|5|17|1844|7|27}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | residence = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = | title = | salary = | networth = | height = | weight = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | religion = | spouse =[[Maria Louisa Bustill]] | partner = | children =[[Paul Robeson]] | parents =Benjamin Robeson (1820-c1889)<br>Sabra (1825-c1885) | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} |
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'''William Drew Robeson I''' ([[July 27]], [[1844]] – [[May 17]], [[1918]]) was the father of [[Paul Robeson]] and the minister of Witherspoon Street [[Presbyterian Church]] in [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]], New Jersey. <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Preacher’s son brought area a brush with film, song. |url=http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16156554&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6 |quote=William Drew Robeson served as pastor at the Church of the Covenant from 1878 to 1880 before moving to [[Princeton, New Jersey]], where he preached at the famed Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church ... |publisher=Citizen Voice |date= |accessdate=2008-04-21 }}</ref> <ref>{{cite book |last=Moss |first=Emerson I.|authorlink= |coauthors= |title=African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley |year=1992 |publisher= |quote= | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=My90AAAACAAJ&dq |isbn=0937537020 }}</ref> |
'''William Drew Robeson I''' ([[July 27]], [[1844]] – [[May 17]], [[1918]]) was the father of [[Paul Robeson]] and the minister of Witherspoon Street [[Presbyterian Church]] in [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]], New Jersey. <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Preacher’s son brought area a brush with film, song. |url=http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16156554&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6 |quote=William Drew Robeson served as pastor at the Church of the Covenant from 1878 to 1880 before moving to [[Princeton, New Jersey]], where he preached at the famed Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church ... |publisher=Citizen Voice |date= |accessdate=2008-04-21 }}</ref> <ref>{{cite book |last=Moss |first=Emerson I.|authorlink= |coauthors= |title=African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley |year=1992 |publisher= |quote= | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=My90AAAACAAJ&dq |isbn=0937537020 }}</ref> <ref name=nyt>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=His Father's Voice |url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/08/reviews/010408.08nasawt.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |quote=William Drew Robeson, a former slave who had become a clergyman, and Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson, who died in a fire when Paul was 6. |publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[April 8]], [[2001]] |accessdate=2008-04-21 }}</ref> |
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==Birth and escape from slavery== |
==Birth and escape from slavery== |
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Revision as of 18:41, 21 April 2008
William Drew Robeson I | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | July 27, 1844 |
| Died | May 17, 1918 (aged 73) |
| Spouse | Maria Louisa Bustill |
| Children | Paul Robeson |
| Parent(s) | Benjamin Robeson (1820-c1889) Sabra (1825-c1885) |
William Drew Robeson I (July 27, 1844 – May 17, 1918) was the father of Paul Robeson and the minister of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey. [1] [2] [3]
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 Carolina. [4] He was of Igbo Nigerian descent. Cross Road Township is near Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1860, when he was 15 years old, William escaped on the Underground Railroad to Philadelphia. [4] He left North Carolina by crossing the Maryland border into Pennsylvania. It was in Pennsylvania that he served in the Union Army as a laborer. In 1876 he received a degree in theology from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. [5]
Marriage
While at Lincoln University he met Maria Louisa Bustill 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 Jersey, and together they had the following children: Gertrude Lascet Robeson (1880) who died as an infant; William Drew Robeson II (1881-?) who was born in November of 1881, and was a physician in Washington, District of Columbia; Benjamin Congleton Robeson (1894-1966) who was born in September of 1894, and was a military chaplain in World War I, married Frances Elizabeth Cline, and later was a reverend at the Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Harlem; J.B. Reeve Robeson (1886-?) aka Reed Robeson, who was born in March of 1886 and he moved to Detroit and may have worked at a hotel and died in poverty; Marian Margaret Robeson (1894-1977) who was born on December 01, 1894, and she married Dr. William Forsythe and moved to Philadelphia; and Paul LeRoy Robeson (1898-1976) who was an orator, singer and actor. Another child died at birth, but the name is not known. [6] [7] [5]
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. [5] [8]
Princeton to Westfield
William was minister of the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey from 1880 until 1901. In 1901 his congregation dismissed him, and from 1907 to 1910, he took up residence in Westfield, New Jersey 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. [5]
Westfield to Somerville
In 1910 William moved to Somerville, New Jersey and took over the congregation at the Saint Thomas African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. [5]
Death and burial
He died on May 17 1918 and is buried in Princeton Cemetery with his wife.
Timeline
- 1876 Degree in theology from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania
- 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
References
- ^ "Preacher's son brought area a brush with film, song". Citizen Voice. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
William Drew Robeson served as pastor at the Church of the Covenant from 1878 to 1880 before moving to Princeton, New Jersey, where he preached at the famed Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church ...
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Moss, Emerson I. (1992). African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley. ISBN 0937537020.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "His Father's Voice". New York Times. April 8, 2001. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
William Drew Robeson, a former slave who had become a clergyman, and Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson, who died in a fire when Paul was 6.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "Profile". National Public Radio. May 8, 1999.
In 1860, when he was 15, William Drew Robeson escaped slavery in North Carolina. ...
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d e Robeson II, Paul. The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: An Artist’s Journey, 1898–1939 (PDF).
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ 1880 US Census for Princeton, New Jersey
- ^ 1900 US Census for Princeton, New Jersey
- ^ "Paul Robeson". Bay Area Robeson. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
Louisa, in ill health and nearly blind, was set alight when a coal from the stove fell on her long dress and she failed to notice. Mortally burned, she died several days later.
External links
