Julius Caesar Chappelle ( – January 27, 1904) was an American Republican Party politician who was born into slavery in South Carolina and served in the Massachusetts General Court. He was a leading figure of Boston's black community from 1870 until his death. He was the first African-American to serve on the Massachusetts Republican State Committee and an active supporter of civil rights and consumer protection. His speeches were frequently covered by newspapers. Early life and education Julius Caesar Chappelle was born into slavery to an enslaved mother in 1852 at Chappelle's Landing, a plantation in Newberry County, South Carolina. He was classified as a "mulatto," of mixed race, with African-European ancestry. There is evidence that during very early childhood Julius Chappelle and at least one of his brothers may have been moved from South Carolina to two other plantations in different states before being brought back to Newberry County. During slavery, it was often common for plantation owners to break up families and move them to different plantations of the same owner in order to stop possible uprisings. Chapelle was 13 years old when slavery was abolished following the end of the American Civil War. He studied at an academy for black students in nearby Edgefield. During Chappelle's childhood, South Carolina was an area of white resistance to Reconstruction and the rights of former slaves. Insurgent groups were active in trying to maintain white supremacy. The Ku Klux Klan had numerous chapters that attacked freedmen to maintain white supremacy and establish dominance. Due to the severity of the insurgents' attacks, in 1871 President Ulysses Grant ordered the National Guard of the United States into nine counties in South Carolina, declaring martial law in order to suppress the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK usually raided towns, as many towns in South Carolina such as the Town of Newberry were abolitionist, whereas the slave plantation areas were not. LaVilla, Florida Around 1869, Chappelle moved to Florida to help establish the black community of LaVilla, today a neighborhood of Jacksonville. Boston In November 1870, the young Julius Chappelle moved to Boston. The city was then known for its thriving black community and attracted many migrants from Southern states in the 19th century. In Boston, he continued his studies and graduated from high school. He found work as a custodial engineer for the Boston Herald newspaper, staying with them for 13 years. He