Gilbert Pillsbury (1813-1893) was the Reconstruction mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, and he served one term from 1868 to 1871.
He argued that the school's "vigorous pro-slavery restrictions" forced him to leave after he helped found an Abolitionist Society on campus.
He joined over fifty students in advocating for abolition following lectures in 1834 by George Thompson (abolitionist) and William Lloyd Garrison on campus.
[9] Pillsbury was an abolitionist who, during the Civil War, headed to the South as an agent of the Freedman's Bureau.
[10] In Charleston, he worked to educate freed slaves and was placed in charge of abandoned property.