Ezekiel gillespie

Ezekiel Gillespie (1818 - March 31, 1892) was an American civil rights, and African-American community leader. He was born to a slave owner in Georgia, but purchased his own freedom for several hundred dollars. He then travel to Indiana, but quickly moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he sold groceries. While in Milwaukee, he became a railway messenger. He quickly became a leader in the African-American community. He operated a local branch of the Underground Railroad, pushed Richard Allen (bishop) to open Wisconsin first African-American church, and also played a role in the Joshua Glover controversy.

In 1865, at the insistence of Sherman Booth, Gillespie attempted to vote. He was denied a ballot, so he sure the Board of Elections. Gillespie v. Palmer went all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The justices of the court sided with Gillespie, in his argument that Wisconsin voters had voted in favor of male African American suffrage in a 1849 referendum.

Gillespie later moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he died on March 31, 1892. His remains were brought back to Milwaukee to be buried in Forest Home Cemetery alongside some of Milwaukee's most famous residents.