Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson (November 8, 1853 – January 20, 1904) was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

schoolteacher; the wife of the Reverend William Drew Robeson of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

and the mother of

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 ...

and his siblings.

Early life and education

Maria Louisa Bustill (sometimes called Louisa as a child) was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, of Igbo, Lenni-Lenape Native American, and Anglo-American descent. Her parents were Charles Hicks Bustill and Emily Robinson, prominent black

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

. In the 1870s, Louisa attended Lincoln University, a historically black university in Oxford, Pennsylvania. She was already a teacher when she met William Drew Robeson. Both she and her sister Gertrude married men who were Lincoln graduates, but her family thought Louisa had "married down" by choosing Robeson.

Marriage and family

Bustill's ancestors had been free since the mid-1700s, when her great-grandfather Cyrus Bustill was freed after several years of service to a new owner 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 ...

. He moved into Philadelphia where he built a business as a baker. Cyrus Bustill became one of the founders in Philadelphia of the Free African Society in 1787. Other family had genealogical records going back to the early days of the Pennsylvania colony.Sheila Tully Boyle, Andrew Bunie, ''Paul Robeson: The Years of Promise And Achievement''
University of Massachusetts Press, 2005, p. 10 Louisa Bustill met William Drew Robeson I (1845-1918) when he was a student at Lincoln University. She was already teaching at the Robert Vaux School for black children. Robeson had escaped slavery in North Carolina and come north with his brother Ezekiel at age 15, and worked for the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Louisa married Robeson in 1878, after he completed his undergraduate degree and one in theology. They had seven children together; two died in infancy and five lived to adulthood. Louisa taught school and worked as a tutor while her husband was the Presbyterian minister of the Witherspoon Church in

. The city had a relatively large black community, about 18% by the turn of the 20th century. It included both families who had long been free, like Louisa's, and others who had been born in slavery. The town had many Southern ties, and residential segregation was enforced. Both the Robesons emphasized education and advancement for their children. Their first daughter, Gertrude Lascet Robeson (1880-1880), died as an infant. It was an upwardly mobile family; all but one of their sons were highly successful as adults, with two having professional careers: Dr. William Drew Robeson, Jr., M.D. (1881-1925) was a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

; Marian M. Robeson (1894-1977) married Dr. William Forsythe, M.D. and they moved to

; Benjamin C. Robeson (1893-1963), was a minister at the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Harlem, New York City; John Bunyan Reeve Robeson (1886-1973) aka Reed Robeson, moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, where he worked as a laborer and may have worked at a hotel, then again moved to

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

where he died in poverty. The youngest surviving child, Paul LeRoy Robeson, better known as

(1898-1976), became an internationally known athlete, orator, singer and actor. He also became an activist for

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

. Another child died at birth, but the name is not known.

Death and burial

By 1904 Louisa was nearly blind from

cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or double vision, halos around ligh ...

. She was severely burned in a kitchen accident when an ember from the stove ignited her clothes. She died several days later with burns over 80% of her body. She was buried in Princeton Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bustill, Maria Louisa Robeson-Bustill family Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) alumni African-American Quakers American people of Igbo descent American people of English descent 1853 births 1904 deaths Deaths from fire in the United States Burials at Princeton Cemetery African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from New Jersey Educators from Philadelphia 19th-century American women educators American people of Lenape descent Accidental deaths in New Jersey Lenape people 19th-century American educators 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 19th-century Native American people 19th-century Native American women American Quakers