{{Short description|Canadian businesswoman (1774–1864)}} {{Infobox person | name = Rose Fortune | image = RoseFortuneNovaScotiaArchievesandRecordsManagement.jpg | image_size = 180px | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1774|3|13}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania | death_date = {{death date and age|1864|2|20|1774|3|13}} | death_place = Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia | spouse = |}} '''Rose Fortune''' (March 13, 1774 – February 20, 1864) was a child born in or around Philadelphia of runaway slaves. Her parents became Black Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War when they pledged to be loyal to the British Army in exchange for their freedom. At around the age of 10, Rose was among the approximately 3,000 Black Loyalists who sailed from New York City to Nova Scotia in 1783. She had at least three children and is thought to have been married twice. At about 50 years of age she began a business transporting luggage in a wheelbarrow from the Annapolis ferry docks to hotels and houses. By the early 1840s, she was using horse-drawn carriages to convey the luggage. She acted as the first female police officer in North America when she chose to institute and enforce curfews to keep the streets safe at night. Fortune is remembered for her business sense, strength, and courage.
==Early life== Rose Fortune was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<ref name="Thompson" />{{efn|Rose Fortune is also said to have been born in Virginia,<ref name="AAReg" /><ref name="Forster">{{Cite book |last=Forster |first=Merna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E5ckXn9VV0IC&pg=PA88 |title=100 Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces |date=2004-11-01 |publisher=Dundurn |isbn=978-1-55002-952-9 |pages=88–89 |language=en}}</ref> but her parents ran away from Virginia in 1773.<ref name="1773 ad" />}} about March 13, 1774, to her parents Fortune and Aminta,<ref name="Thompson p. 37">{{Cite book|title=Finding Fortune- Documenting and Imagining the Life of Rose Fortune (1774-1864)|last=Thompson|first=Brenda J.|publisher=SSP Publications|year=2019|isbn=978-1-989347-04-1|location=Halifax, Nova Scotia|page=37}}</ref> of African, Madagascarian, and South American descent.{{efn|As the result of DNA tests of three of Rose Fortune's descendants and as a result of the runaway slave advertisement of Fortune and Aminta placed in the Virginia Gazette Newspaper of April 21, 1773, we now know that Rose Fortune had ancestors that came from not only Africa but also South America and Madagascar.<ref name="Thompson">{{Cite book|title=Finding Fortune- Documenting and Imagining the Life of Rose Fortune (1774-1864)|last=Thompson|first=Brenda J.|publisher=SSP Publications|year=2019|isbn=978-1-989347-04-1|location=Halifax, Nova Scotia|pages=114–116}}</ref> Brenda J. Thompson, author from Annapolis Royal, had DNA tests performed on three of Rose Fortune's descendants.<ref name="Thompson" />}}
thumb|left|upright=.8|Run Away notice, April 29, 1773, ''Virginia Gazette'' regarding Fortune and Aminta A year before her birth, her parents were identified in a runaway slave advertisement in Virginia.<ref name="1773 ad" /> Written in Petersburg, Virginia by William Bradley, the ad was published in the ''Virginia Gazette'' on April 29, 1773. Fortune and Aminta ran away on April 20. Fortune was thought to have been about 40 years of age (born about 1733), of a slim build, and about six feet tall.<ref name="1773 ad" /> He left with warm clothing. Aminta appeared to be Native American with long black hair and around 30 years of age (born about 1743). Besides the clothes she was wearing, she ran away with a quilt. Bradley offered an award of three pounds. Fortune and Aminta were brought to Virginia from Rhode Island by Captain John Atkinson. Aminta's mother was said to have come to Rhode Island from the Spanish Main. It was thought that they might have returned to Rhode Island.<ref name="1773 ad">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47222327/run-away-last-night-from-the/ |title=Run away, last night, from the Subscriber - Fortune and Aminta |date=April 21, 1773 |work=The Virginia Gazette |access-date=March 23, 2020 |pages=3}}</ref> They were believed to have been owned by members of the Devone family of Virginia.<ref name="AAReg" /><ref name="Forster" /><ref name="AHS - Rose" />
[[File:Annapolis Royal RMG K0076 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, 1781]] During the American Revolutionary War, the British offered freedom to runaway slaves and free blacks if they provided their loyalty. Fortune's family were among the 3,000 Black Loyalists who supported the British during the war and at the end of the war were transported from New York to Nova Scotia, a British territory.<ref name="AAReg">{{Cite web |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/rose-fortune-a-special-canadian/ |title=Rose Fortune, a special Canadian |website=African American Registry |language=en |access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref><ref name="PCA">{{Cite web |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/clmhc-hsmbc/res/doc/information-backgrounder/Rose_Fortune |title=Rose Fortune (c.1774-1864) - History and culture |date=January 11, 2018 |website=Parks Canada Agency, Government of Canada |access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref> In 1783, they relocated to<ref name="Forster" /> Annapolis Royal, when she was 10 or more years old.<ref name="ANS" />{{efn|She was not on any of the lists of ships that carried Black Loyalists to Nova Scotia.<ref name="AHS - Rose" />}} She was enumerated under the column "child above ten" on the Annapolis County muster roll for her father Fortune in June 1784.<ref name="ANS">{{Cite web |url=https://novascotia.ca/archives/africanns/archives.asp?ID=30 |title=Rose Fortune (ca. 1774-1864) |website=Nova Scotia Archives |access-date=March 22, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://novascotia.ca/archives/africanns/archives.asp?ID=29&Page=200402035&Language= |title=Muster roll of discharged officers, disbanded soldiers and Loyalists taken in Annapolis County 18-24 June 1784 |date=June 30, 1784 |website=Nova Scotia archives |access-date=March 22, 2020}}</ref> Baptismal records of Rev. Roger Veits seem to indicate that Rose was living in Freeport, Long Island, Nova Scotia in the year 1795.<ref name="Thompson" />
==Career== thumb|left|St. George Street, Annapolis She started her own business when Black Canadians and especially women were not encouraged to do so.<ref name="CE - Rose" /> Around 1825, Rose began carting passengers’ luggage between the Saint John-Digby-Annapolis ferry docks and nearby homes and hotels.<ref name="ANS" /> She also met ferries from Boston.<ref name="BL - Rose">{{Cite web |url=http://blackloyalist.com/cdc/people/secular/fortune.htm |title=Rose Fortune |website=Black Loyalist, Canada's Digital Collection |access-date=March 22, 2020}}</ref> She became a trusted figure for travellers, helping them find accommodation and ensuring they made their connections to schooners and steamships.<ref name="ANS" />
In 1841, her business became known as Lewis Transfer<ref name="CE - Rose" /> and that year,<ref name="Chandler">{{Cite news |last=Chandler |first=D.L. |url=https://newsone.com/2277618/rose-fortune-loyalist/ |title=Rose Fortune, Canada's 1st Female Police Officer, Born On This Day In 1774 |date=March 13, 2013 |work=News One |access-date=March 23, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> or three years later,<ref name="Ingram" /> she used horse-drawn wagons to transport luggage.<ref name="Chandler" /><ref name="Ingram">{{Cite news |last=Ingram |first=Katie |url=http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/lifestyles/local-lifestyles/whats-in-a-street-name-rose-fortune-black-loyalist-female-cop-entrepreneur-305509/ |title=What's in a street name? Rose Fortune: Black Loyalist, female cop, entrepreneur |date=May 3, 2019 |work= The Chronicle Herald |access-date=March 23, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> She woke up guests at inns so that they could meet their ferries on time. One of her regular customers was Thomas Chandler Haliburton, judge of the Supreme Court from 1841 to 1856, whom she woke so that he could travel to Digby in time for court.<ref name="ANS" />
{{blockquote|text=I was aided in my hasty efforts to quit the abominable inn by a curious old Negro woman, rather stunted in growth{{nbsp}}... and dressed in a man’s coat and felt hat; she had a small stick in her hand which she applied lustily to the backs of all who did not jump instantly out of the way. Poor old dame! She was evidently a privileged character.|author=Lieutenant-Colonel Sleigh of the 77th Regiment, 1852<ref name="AHS - Rose">{{Cite web |url=http://annapolisheritagesociety.com/community-history/notable-personalities-past/rose-fortune-privileged-character/ |title=Rose Fortune - a "privileged character" |website=Annapolis Heritage Society |language=en-CA |access-date=March 22, 2020}}</ref>}}
She was well known by the town's leaders and she had limited competition due to her reputation.<ref name="AHS - Rose" /> Her strength, trustworthiness, honesty and constant presence on the waterfront led her to become entrusted with safeguarding property and maintaining order on the wharves and warehouses of Annapolis Royal, choosing to act as the town's waterfront police officer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ableorg.ca/pdf/fortunebutler.pdf |title=The Rose Fortune Peter Butler III police scholarship|publisher=Canadian Association of Black Law Enforcers }}</ref> For instance, she created and imposed curfews at the wharves<ref name="CE - Rose" /> to keep boys' behavior in order.<ref name="PCA" /> She was the only person responsible for law and order in Annapolis for a time and is said to be the first female police officer on the American continent.<ref name="Forster" /> She worked into her 70s.<ref name="ANS" />
==Personal life and death== Fortune was married several times, as noted in the St. Luke's Church of England record books.<ref name="AHS - Rose" /> She had two daughters<ref name="ANS" /> and at least three children. One was Jane Fortune, who married Isaac Godfrey.<ref name="AHS - Rose" />{{efn|Jane's husband, Isaac Godfrey was the son of Edward Godfrey, a Black Loyalist. They were married on December 21, 1830, but had no children. They are buried near the Court House in the Garrison cemetery.<ref name="AHS - Rose" />}} Her son, John, married the sister of Isaac, Hester Godfrey, on January 13, 1838.<ref name="AHS - Rose" />{{efn|John and Hester Fortune had two children, George who died during childbirth and a daughter Joanna Fortune who married George Moses. John and Hester lived in the Annapolis Royal area. John was dead by 1871. Hester lived to at least 1901.<ref name="AHS - Rose" />}} Her daughter Margaret Fortune married John Francis of Digby by 1842.<ref name="AHS - Rose" />{{efn|Between 1842 and 1856, Margaret and John Francis had six children who were baptised in Digby at the Trinity Church of England.<ref name="AHS - Rose" />}}
Fortune helped other blacks escape slavery on the Underground Railroad by leading runaways to locations that were safe.<ref name="Forster" />
[[File:Rosegrave.jpg|thumb|Rose Fortune's memorial marker in Garrison Cemetery]] In her later years, she had severe rheumatism<ref name="ANS" /> and lived near the Union Bank.<ref name="AHS - Rose" /> Rose Fortune died in Nova Scotia on February 20, 1864<ref name="AHS - Rose" /><ref name="CE - Rose">{{cite web|url=http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009868 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930065057/http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009868 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |publisher=The Canadian Encyclopedia |title=Rose Fortune |date= March 25, 2008 | access-date=March 22, 2020}}</ref>{{efn|She is also said to have died of February 20, 1867<ref name="ANS" />}} at around the age of 90.<ref name="AHS - Rose" /><ref name="ANS" /> Her funeral was held at St. Luke's, Church of England, Annapolis Royal.<ref name="AAReg" /> She was buried at Garrison Cemetery in Fort Anne in an unmarked location.<ref name="AAReg" />{{efn|She is in St. Luke's records,<ref name="AHS - Rose" /> but perhaps that was because her memorial service was held there.<ref name="AAReg" />}} A monument was created to commemorate her and installed in the cemetery on Canada Day in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://annapolisroyal.com/event/rose-fortune-monument-unveiling-dedication/ |title=Rose Fortune Monument Unveiling and Dedication |date=July 1, 2017 |work=Annapolis Royal |access-date=March 23, 2020 |language=en-CA}}</ref> Created by sculptor Brad Hall, it uses a stylized wheelbarrow made of iron and stone to evoke her work and the business she founded on the waterfront. The wheelbarrow forms a memorial bench.<ref name="Powell">{{cite news|url=http://www.annapoliscountyspectator.ca/community/good-fortune-annapolis-royal-honours-its-most-famous-black-loyalist-4151/ |first=Lawrence |last=Powell |title=Good Fortune -- Annapolis Royal honours its most famous Black Loyalist|newspaper=Annapolis County Spectator |date=July 12, 2017 }}</ref>
==Descendants== The business she founded was continued by family for several generations as a stevedore and cartage company, later led by her grandson-in-law Albert Lewis as the Lewis Transfer Company, remaining in business until 1960<ref name="AHS - Rose" /> or 1980.<ref>Ian Lawrence, ''Historic Annapolis Royal'', Halifax: Nimbus Publishing (2002), p. 26, 154</ref> Albert was married to Fortune's granddaughter Amberzene Lewis.<ref name="AHS - Rose" /> Her direct descendant, Daurene Lewis, was elected Mayor of Annapolis Royal in 1984, being the first African-Canadian woman in Canada to attain that position.<ref name="AHS - Rose" />
==Legacy== When Black Loyalists, like Fortune, came to Nova Scotia they were subject to racial prejudice, barriers to opportunities, and economic marginalization, in which they did not receive pay commensurate with white people. She was also subject to physical threats as a woman. Fortune became a "respected and prominent member of the community" by making her own opportunities. Now she is known among the African-Canadian community for her strength and pride.<ref name="PCA" />
The Rose Fortune Gate in Bedford, Nova Scotia, is named after her.<ref name="Ingram" /> In 1999, a plaque in her honour was installed near the location of her house in the Petit Parc on the Annapolis Royal waterfront, part of the Mathieu Da Costa African Heritage Trail.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vansda.ca/heritage-trail/panel-locations/ |title=Rose Fortune, Mathieu Da Costa Trail |publisher=Valley African Nova Scotian Development Association }}</ref> In May 2015, Rose Fortune's first name was bestowed upon the new ferry, the {{MV|Fundy Rose}} to operate between Digby, Nova Scotia, and Saint John, New Brunswick.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Riley|first1=Jonathan|title=Fundy Rose is the name of the new Digby Saint John ferry|url=http://www.digbycourier.ca/news/local/2015/5/8/fundy-rose-is-the-name-of-the-new-digby-4140293.html|website=Digby County Courier|access-date=4 September 2017|ref=digby-courier-2}}</ref>
Fortune was named a National Historic Person on January 12, 2018.<ref>[https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2018/01/government_of_canadaannouncesnewnationalhistoricdesignations.html Government of Canada Announces New National Historic Designations], Parks Canada news release, January 12, 2018</ref> The plaque was installed by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada on July 20, 2019, at the waterfront of Annapolis Royal where Rose once worked. It is mounted on a granite boulder donated by Fred Bailey, one of Fortune's descendants, which came from the family's land in Lequille, just outside of Annapolis Royal.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/black-loyalist-rose-fortune-recognized-for-historical-significance-1.5219561 |first=Alex |last=Cooke |title=Black Loyalist Rose Fortune recognized for historical significance: New plaque unveiled on Annapolis Royal waterfront a lasting legacy |publisher=CBC News |date=July 21, 2019 }}</ref>
A scholarship, Peter Butler III–Rose Fortune Scholarship Program, was established by the Association of Black Law Enforcers in memory of the initial black police officers in Canada.<ref name="Forster" />
==In popular culture== * ''Fortune'', a play inspired by the life of Rose Fortune, written by playwright George Cameron Grant, has been performed through the United States and the Maritimes. Grant was inspired by a Candlelight Graveyard tour in 2013, led by Annapolis Royal historian Alan Melanson which featured the unmarked resting place of Rose Fortune. Grant resolved to write the play and start the campaign for the grave monument.<ref name="Powell" /> * The film ''Rhythm Stick to Freedom'' is the story of her life.<ref name="Forster" />
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fortune_rose_9E.html Brenda J. Thompson, "Rose Fortune", ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', Volume IX (1861-1870)] *[http://www.famouscanadians.net/name/f/fortunerose.php Famous Canadians: Rose Fortune] *[http://ableorg.ca/pdf/fortunebutler.pdf The Rose Fortune Peter Butler III police scholarship]
{{Black Loyalists}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Rose}} Category:1774 births Category:1864 deaths Category:Black Nova Scotians Category:Canadian police officers Category:Canadian women police officers Category:American emigrants to pre-Confederation Canada Category:Businesspeople from Virginia Category:Loyalists who settled Nova Scotia Category:Black Canadian businesspeople Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Category:Black Loyalists in the American Revolution