Jeremiah (took the surname Gillen in 1804) was a black slave on the Virginia plantation of Charles Gillen. His status in the society of the Federated Commonwealths became the subject of a legal battle which marked the beginning of the end of human slavery. Like most black slaves, Jeremiah was used for domestic service rather than outdoor labor. And like most black slaves, Jeremiah could take comfort from the fact that he was a man, and not one of the sims used for manual labor.