(1800-1880) William Gilman, was a Kentuckian and owner of the Charleston Hotel who had lived in Illinois since the 1830s.  He was not very well-educated though he served as Justice of the Peace and later as Constable for Charleston. During the trial in his court in August, he was considered a pro-slavery man, hence, the defense asked that two other justices of the peace join him as a panel to decide on whether or not Jane and the children should be considered fugitive slaves.  However, by 1864 when he was injured during the Charleston Riot, he was labeled a Republican.  The panel of justices decided that Jane and the children were blacks living in Coles County without a certificate of freedom, so they would be held in jail until, after the proper public notices, the would be hired out to the highest bidder at auction.