Elizabeth and Reverend James Gloucester were leaders of Brooklyn's black community. She made a fortune in real estate and was active in fundraising for New York City's Colored Orphan Asylum. During the Civil War, she led efforts to raise funds for freedmen and Union soldiers. James was the founding pastor of Brooklyn's Siloam Presbyterian Church. He also was the principal of the African School in Carsville and a supporter of Lewis Tappan's American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. The Gloucesters were friends and colleagues of both Frederick Douglass and John Brown, men who would not have quietly accepted discrimination. When it came time for Elizabeth and James to purchase a burial spot, they chose lot 9817 in 1856. When she died in 1883, she was one of the richest women in America–and was widely believed to be the country's richest woman of color. They bought their 300 square foot lot in 1856 for $110–about $3000 in today's dollars. That was a substantial investment, one which many New Yorkers and Brooklynites, white and black, could not afford.

James Gloucester was the son of John Gloucester, the founder of the first Black Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. In 1847, James became the founding pastor of Siloam Presbyterian Church, in Brooklyn. He also served as principal of the African School in Carsville and supported Lewis Tappan's American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.

James married Elizabeth Gloucester in 1838 and moved to Brooklyn in the late 1840s. The couple were close friends and colleagues with Frederick Douglass and John Brown, and offered financial support for Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. After Elizabeth died in 1883, James became a physician and moved to Long Island.

Father of Jeremiah, Emma J. (White) (Blanchard), Stephen, Elizabeth A. (Melendez) (Johnston), Louisa "Eloise" R., Adelaide "Ella" (Rice), James N., Alfred P., Charles M.

Name James A. Gloucester
Event Type Death
Event Date 21 Mar 1890
Event Place Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States
Gender Male
Age 79
Marital Status Widowed
Race Black
Occupation Physician
Birth Year (Estimated) 1811
Birthplace Philadelphia
Burial Date 23 Mar 1890
Cemetery Greenwood
Father's Birthplace Philadelphia
Mother's Birthplace Philadelphia

Name James N Gloucester
Date of interment March 24, 1890
Lot number (of current burial site) 9817
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Birthplace U S
Marital status Widow
Age at death 77 years
Late residence 144 Remsen St, Brooklyn
Place of death 197 Duffield St Brooklyn
Cause of death Pneumonia
Date of death March 21, 1890
Diagram available (see digital image) false
Lot owner? true
Undertaker / Funeral Director Samuel Henderson & Son
Burial Registry Volume 35
Burial Registry Page 14
Interment Number 255690