Rev. William Drew Robeson, 1845-1918
  and Maria Bustill Robeson, 1853-1904

William Drew Robeson, was born into slavery on the Robeson plantation in Cross Road Township, Martin County, North Carolina. In 1860, at fifteen years of age, William Drew made his escape, found his way north across the Maryland border through Pennsylvania, and served in the Union Army as a laborer (making at least two very dangerous journeys back to North Carolina to see his mother Sabra). With the close of the Civil War, William Drew Robeson managed to acquire a full education and obtained a degree in Sacred Theology from Lincoln University in Philadelphia, 1876. While studying there, he met Maria Louisa Bustill, a teacher from a family with an impressive legacy of productivity. In 1787, her (grand)father Cyrus helped to found The Free Africa Society, the first black self-help organization in America. Her family consisted of abolitionists, journalists, doctors and activists.

The Robeson’s were very active in the Black community. Reverend Robeson was a minister at Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church for 21 years from 1880 to 1901. The Cemetery lot was a gift to the family – so when Mrs. Robeson died “Daddy” Robeson picked out a plot that he could see when he sat on his porch on Witherspoon Street. He could also use the Witherspoon Cemetery Gate to visit their plot. Rev. Robeson was laid to rest with his wife, Maria Bustill Robeson, in 1918.

For many years the plot only had 4 corner stones – then one day a large stone arrived from NY, a gift from their son, the famous actor and singer Paul Robeson. Educated at Rutgers and various music schools, Paul Robeson is not buried in the Robeson plot – his remains are in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.