Charles Hicks Bustill
Encyclopedia
Charles Hicks Bustill was a plasterer
, abolitionist
and conductor in the Underground Railroad
before the American Civil War
.
(1822-1895), who also became a conductor in the Underground Railroad
. Bustill learned the trade of plasterer.
). He was of Anglo-American, African and Lenape ancestry. His parents married on August 6, 1773 in Christ Church, Philadelphia
. As his mother was of English-Lenape ancestry, she was free, and their children were born free.
who became active in colonial politics and was a "clerk to the council". Samuel Bustill later married Grace Gardiner and had additional children with her.
Elizabeth Morrey was also mixed-race, the daughter of Satterthwait, a Lenape
woman, and Richard Morrey, an English immigrant.
By 1870, Charles Bustill was a widower supporting his two children.
during the antebellum years. As Philadelphia was a port, escaped slaves sometimes made their way by ship to the city, and anti-slavery supporters helped them go further north or settle in the region.
He worked as a plasterer in Philadelphia.
Plasterer
A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls...
, abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
and conductor in the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
before the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Early life and education
Charles was born in 1816 in Philadelphia to David Bustill (1787-1866) and Mary Hicks. He had two younger brothers: James M. Bustill (1820-after 1880) who married Lydia A. X (1824-?); and Joseph Cassey BustillJoseph Cassey Bustill
Joseph Cassey Bustill was an African American conductor in the Underground Railroad.-Birth and marriage:Joseph was born in Philadelphia in 1822 to David Bustill and Elizabeth W. Hicks . His sibling was: Charles Hicks Bustill...
(1822-1895), who also became a conductor in the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
. Bustill learned the trade of plasterer.
Paternal grandparents
David Bustill was born free as the mixed-race son of Elizabeth Morrey (1745-1827) and Cyrus Bustill (1732-1806) (born in Springfield Township, Burlington County, New JerseySpringfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,227 people, 1,098 households, and 906 families residing in the township. The population density was 107.4 people per square mile . There were 1,138 housing units at an average density of 37.9 per square mile...
). He was of Anglo-American, African and Lenape ancestry. His parents married on August 6, 1773 in Christ Church, Philadelphia
Christ Church, Philadelphia
Christ Church is an Episcopal church located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1695 by members of the Church of England, who built a small wooden church on the site by the next year. When the congregation outgrew this structure some twenty years later, they decided to erect a new...
. As his mother was of English-Lenape ancestry, she was free, and their children were born free.
Great-grandparents
Cyrus Bustill was born into slavery, the mixed-race child of an enslaved woman and Samuel Bustill, a white lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
who became active in colonial politics and was a "clerk to the council". Samuel Bustill later married Grace Gardiner and had additional children with her.
Elizabeth Morrey was also mixed-race, the daughter of Satterthwait, a Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
woman, and Richard Morrey, an English immigrant.
Marriage
Charles Bustill married Emily Robinson (d. before 1870) and they had the following children:- Maria Louisa BustillMaria Louisa BustillMaria Louisa Bustill Robeson was a Quaker schoolteacher; the wife of the Reverend William Drew Robeson of Witherspoon Church in Princeton, New Jersey and the mother of Paul Robeson and his siblings.-Birth:...
(1853-1904), who married William Drew Robeson IWilliam Drew Robeson IWilliam Drew Robeson I was the father of Paul Robeson and the minister of Witherspoon Church in Princeton, New Jersey from 1880 to 1901. Associated with the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, this facility was built for its black members.Robeson escaped from slavery in North Carolina at the...
(1845-1918). They they were the parents of Paul RobesonPaul RobesonPaul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
. - Gertrude Emily Hicks Bustill (1855-1948), who married Nathan Francis MossellNathan Francis MossellNathan Francis Mossell was the first African American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1882. He did post-graduate training at hospitals in Philadelphia and London. In 1888 he was the first black physician elected as member of the Philadelphia County Medical Society...
(1856-1946). Mossell was the first African American to graduate from the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
medical schoolMedical schoolA medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
.
By 1870, Charles Bustill was a widower supporting his two children.
Career
Bustill was active as an abolitionist. He served as a conductor in the resistance movement of the Underground RailroadUnderground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
during the antebellum years. As Philadelphia was a port, escaped slaves sometimes made their way by ship to the city, and anti-slavery supporters helped them go further north or settle in the region.
He worked as a plasterer in Philadelphia.