The Bustill family is a prominent American family of largely African,

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

and

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

Native American descent. The family has included artists, educators, journalists and activists, both against slavery and against

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

.Woodson, C.G.
The Bustill Family
" in
Negro History Bulletin," Vol. 11, No. 7
pp. 147-148, p. 167. Washington, D.C.: The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

History

Born in

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a City (New Jersey), city situated on the banks of the Delaware River in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the c ...

on February 2, 1732, Cyrus Bustill was a son of the Quaker lawyer Samuel Bustill and Parthenia, a woman of African descent who was held in bondage by him. When Samuel Bustill died in 1742, his legal widow, Grace Bustill, subsequently arranged for the sale of Cyrus Bustill to fellow Quaker Thomas Prior (or "Pryor") with the understanding that Prior would allow Cyrus to train and earn enough money as an apprentice baker in order to purchase his freedom. Cyrus would go on to either purchase his freedom or receive

manumission Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves by their owners. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that the most wi ...

at an indeterminate date, then become a businessman and landowner in his own right thereafter. At the time of his death in 1806, he was a leading member of the

African-American upper class The African-American upper class, sometimes referred to as the black upper class, the black upper middle class or black elite, is a social class that consists of African-American individuals who have high disposable incomes and high net wor ...

of Philadelphia. Cyrus and his wife, the

mixed race The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

Elizabeth Morey (1746-1827, of Native American and European descent), had eight children. One of them was the abolitionist and feminist advocate Grace Douglass. Other notable descendants of Cyrus and Elizabeth Morey Bustill include the performer and activist

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

, the artist David Bustill Bowser, the educator, abolitionist and writer Sarah Mapps Douglass, the journalist and activist

Gertrude Bustill Mossell Gertrude Emily Hicks Bustill Mossell (July 3, 1855 – January 21, 1948)

, and the artist and activist Robert Douglass Jr.

Family tree

* Samuel Bustill (d. 1742) m. Parthenia ** Cyrus Bustill (1732-1806) m. Elizabeth Morey (1746–1827) *** Grace Douglass (1782 – March 9, 1842) m. Robert Douglass **** Sarah Mapps Douglass (1806-1882) **** Elizabeth Douglass **** Robert Douglass Jr. (1809–1887) **** three other children *** David Bustill m. Elizabeth W. Hicks **** Charles Hicks Bustill (1816–1890) m. Emily Robinson *****

Gertrude Bustill Mossell Gertrude Emily Hicks Bustill Mossell (July 3, 1855 – January 21, 1948)

(1855–1948) m.

Nathan Francis Mossell Nathan Francis Mossell (July 27, 1856 – October 27, 1946) was an American physician who was the first African-American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1882. He did post-graduate training at hospitals in Phi ...

****** Florence Mossell ****** Mary Mossell Griffin (c. 1885 — after January 1963) m. Joshua R. Griffin Jr. *****

Maria Louisa Bustill Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson (November 8, 1853 – January 20, 1904) was a Quaker schoolteacher; the wife of the Reverend William Drew Robeson of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey and the mother of Paul Robeson ...

m. William Drew Robeson I ****** William Drew Jr. (born 1881) ****** Reeve (born c. 1887) ****** Ben (born c. 1893) ****** Marian (born c. 1895) ******

(1898–1976) m.

Eslanda Goode Eslanda "Essie" Cardozo Goode Robeson (December 15, 1895 – December 13, 1965) was an American anthropologist, author, actress, and civil rights activist. She was the wife and business manager of performer Paul Robeson. Biography Early ye ...

******* Paul Robeson Jr. (1927–2014) m. Marilyn Paula Greenberg ******** David (died 1998) ********

Susan Robeson Susan Robeson is an American author, producer and the granddaughter of Paul Robeson. Early life Robeson studied at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio as well as at New York University. Classes in communications, history and culture were p ...

**** Joseph Cassey Bustill (1822–1895) m. Sarah Humphreys (1829–?) ***** Anna Amelia Bustill (1862–?) m. James Humphery Smith ******Humphery J. Smith ******Virginia Bustill Smith (1893–1978) m. Joseph Walter Rhetta *******Carldon Walter Rhetta m. Wilhelmina Chapman *******James Curtis Rhetta m. Ruth A. Washington ********James Curtis Rhetta II m. Emma F. Johnson *********Mark Rhetta **********Zoey Rhetta *********James C. Rhetta III m. Yolanda Causey **********James C. RhettaIV **********Jacob C. Rhetta ******Curtis L. Smith ******George J. Smith ******John R. Smith ******Anna E. Smith *** Mary Bustill Miller m. John Miller **** Cyrus Bustill Miller *** Ruth *** Rachael Bustill Bowser (1780-1848) m. Jeremiah Bowser (1766–1856) **** David Bustill Bowser (1820–1900) m. Elizabeth Harriet Stevens Gray (June 13, 1831 – November 29, 1908) ***** Raphael Bowser ***** Ida Elizabeth Bowser Asbury (1870–1955) *** Leah *** Charles *** Cyrus, Jr.

References

{{reflist Robeson-Bustill family African-American families

History

Family tree

See also

References