The Mayor and
City Council Of
Stockton Honor The Black Stuntmen's
Association Of
Hollywood for recognizing an important part of Stockton's history and creating an avenue for it to live on through the
William Robison /
Black Stuntmen Association
Scholarship.
For forty years, William Robison was the
Express Messenger who carried
Wells, Fargo & Co.’s Express between
Stockton, Calif. and the
Sierra Nevada gold mines. He was active in community affairs and worked forcefully to protect the civil rights of
African Americans in California. What distinguishes Robison’s accomplishments is the fact that he was active in an era when
African Americans faced the hardest attitudes against them: the era of slavery and
Jim Crow, 1850-1899.
William M. RobisonBorn into slavery in
Virginia, Robison gained his freedom in 1836 after serving with the
U.S. Army in the “
Seminole War.” Robison came to
California during the
Mexican War and settled in Stockton in 1850.
Following a stint at mining (like just about everyone in those years!), he worked for
Page,
Bacon & Co.,
California’s largest bank. Robison then hired on with
Adams & Co.’s express business. His route was from Stockton to the mines, carrying mail and newspapers to be first with the news. Adams & Co. crashed in the financial panic of 1855 and
Wells Fargo happily hired Robison. He worked for Wells Fargo for another forty years.
Robison actively fought for civil rights. He was a delegate to the
State Convention of
Colored Citizens in 1856, which circulated petitions to allow non-Whites to testify in court cases
. In the early
1870s, Robison worked to integrate Stockton’s schools.
In pre-Civil War years, California was a
Free State and Robison was not quiet about reminding people of that fact. Robison took action as well: According to Stockton historian Virginia L. Struhsaker, Robison was one of an armed band that liberated slaves held illegally in
San Joaquin County. An
African American man took a huge risk by participating in such an act because negative attitudes were everywhere, even in
Free States.
In 1861, for instance, a business agent along Robison’s Messenger route protested the employment of a black wagon driver.
George Tighlman, Wells Fargo’s cashier in the Stockton office, sarcastically replied, “we are obliged to you for your advice…We get along very well with ours; have never had any trouble.”
Robison was a respected man in his community. Even the pro-slavery
San Joaquin Republican praised him as “a worthy and noticeable man,” noted for “his remarkable kindnesses.” Robison was a member of the Stockton
Pioneer Society, one of many such organizations formed in that era by “Forty-niners” and other early-comers to the
Golden State. At his death in 1899, other
Pioneers wrote of Robison’s trustworthiness and the positions of responsibility he held.
In sum: Robison had a military career and claimed his freedom, stayed in one job for decades, was active in civic affairs, joined community organizations, risked his life for justice — and leaves a primary legend as being a great guy. Robison is THE model of citizenship.
It’s an honor to work with him.
This entry was posted in
African American History, Miscellaneous,
Perspective,
Remember and tagged African American, Bacon & Co., California,
Civil Rights, George Tighlman, gold mine, Jim Crow, Mexican War, or Page, Seminole War, Sierra Nevada, slavery, State Convention of Colored Citizens, Stockton, Stockton Pioneer Society, William Robison. Bookmark the permalink.
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The Pattersons of
Greenfield
- published: 29 Feb 2016
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