Joseph Gillespie

Joseph Gillespie (August 22, 1809 – January 7, 1885) was an American politician from New York. Moving with his family to Illinois at a young age, Gillespie fought in the Black Hawk War before studying law at Transylvania University. Upon graduation, he was elected to a two-year term in the Illinois House of Representatives, where he once jumped out of a window with Abraham Lincoln to stop a quorum. He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1846, serving for twelve years. He was a founder of the Illinois Republican Party and served on the Illinois circuit courts for twelve years.