William Drew Robeson I
| William Drew Robeson I | |
|---|---|
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|
| Born |
July 27, 1844 Martin County, North Carolina |
| Died | May 17, 1918 (aged 73) Somerville, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | 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 from 1880 to 1901. The Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church had been built for its black members by the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton.
He was born into slavery as William Drew Robeson in 1844 to Benjamin Robeson (1820-c1889) and Sabra (1825-c. 1885). They were enslaved on the Robersonplantation near Cross Road Township and Raleigh, Martin County, North Carolina. Cross Road Township is near Raleigh, North Carolina. He was a descendant of the Igbo people.
In 1860, when he was 15 years old, Robeson escaped slavery with his brother Ezekiel through the Underground Railroad and they made their way to Philadelphia in the free state of Pennsylvania.
During the American Civil War, Robeson served in the Union Army as a laborer, entering in 1861 at the age of 16 to join the effort to end slavery in the South.
Afterward, Robeson studied at Lincoln College (now a university), where he earned an A.B. in 1873 and Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1876.
While a student at Lincoln University he met Maria Louisa Bustill and they married in 1878. They had seven children: Gertrude (who died young), William Drew Jr., called "Bill"; John Bunyan Reeve called "Reed"; Benjamin; Marian; and Paul LeRoy Robeson (1898–1976), the youngest. Another child died at birth, but the name is not known.
In 1904 Louisa died in Princeton when Paul was six years old. Her clothes had caught fire from a coal-burning stove in a kitchen accident.
Robeson served as minister of the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey from 1880 until 1901. It was built for the black members of the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton (now known as Nassau Presbyterian Church).
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