Caleb Gillen

Caleb Gillen was the son of Virginia planter Charles Gillen. An idealist, young Caleb had become entranced with the laws and political system of the Federated Commonwealths, so much so that he even began educating the family's house-slave, Jeremiah.

Caleb went to Portsmouth and became an apprentice of attorney Zachary Hayes. In the meantime, an outbreak of diphtheria killed many of the Gillens' sims. Jeremiah was put into the fields. After a day, he fled to Portsmouth himself, and began working for another lawyer, Alfred Douglas.

Caleb Gillen and Zachary Hayes visited Douglas one day. Gillen immediately recognized Jeremiah, and tackled him, asserting his family's ownership. Douglas demanded a trial, wherein he asserted that slavery was an unjust institution because it depended on very superficial differences between people. To underscore this, Douglas pointed to the sims.

The judges ruled in favor of Jeremiah. Caleb Gillen regreted his decision to educate the slave.