SR16,1,32 Whereas, Ezekiel Gillespie was born about May 31, 1818, in Greene County,
3Tennessee; and

SR16,1,54 Whereas, he sustained himself during his youth by selling small, self-made
5goods that he peddled from town to town; and

SR16,1,76 Whereas, in 1852, he moved to Milwaukee, earning a living by selling groceries,
7vegetables, poultry, and game; and

SR16,1,98 Whereas, he eventually went to work for Alexander Mitchell, working as a
9porter for the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company; and

SR16,1,1110 Whereas, despite his limited financial means, he selflessly boarded migrant
11families from the south; and

SR16,1,1312 Whereas, in 1865, he helped to petition the legislature for a referendum on
13African-American suffrage; and

SR16,1,1514 Whereas, later that year, while attempting to vote in that referendum, he was
15denied suffrage by the Milwaukee Board of Election Commissioners; and

SR16,2,3

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1Whereas, he successfully brought suit against the board, prompting the
2Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide unanimously in favor of African American
3suffrage; and

SR16,2,54 Whereas, thanks to his efforts, African Americans for the first time voted freely
5in elections during the elections of 1866; and

SR16,2,76 Whereas, in 1869, he helped found the first African Methodist Episcopal church
7in Wisconsin; and

SR16,2,98 Whereas, he spent much of his late life raising funds for, and speaking on behalf
9of, the church; and

SR16,2,1010 Whereas, Gillespie died in 1892; and

SR16,2,1411 Whereas, the adoption of this senate resolution is supported not only by the
12senate, but also by members of the assembly, including specifically Representatives
13Sheridan, Schneider, Young, Grigsby, Sinicki, Mason, Fields, Benedict, Turner, and
14Hintz; now, therefore, be it