Amos Fortune was a prominent member of the town of Jaffrey, NH in the late 18th century. He was born free in Africa and kidnapped and transported to America on a slave ship. He was able to negotiate with the man who held him a price for his freedom, and in 1770 he was able to pay that price and become a free man.
He lived and worked in Woburn, MA until he moved to Jaffrey with his wife Violate in 1781. He set up his business as a tanner and by 1789 was able to buy 25 acres of land in the town on the Tyler Brook. He built a house and barn which are still standing to this day. His business was prosperous enough for him to take on two apprentices. He became a full member of the church and a leading founder of the Social Library - the town's first public library.
Amos died in 1801 in Jaffrey at the age of 91 years. He was buried in the Old Burying Ground in Jaffrey Center, and his headstone remains in pretty good condition. In his will after taking care of his wife and donating to the church, the rest of his funds were given to support schoolhouse No. 7. This generous gift has turned into the Amos Fortune Fund which is now administered by the Jaffrey Public Library.
He is memorialized in a New Hampshire Historical Marker on Route 124 in Jaffrey. His life also inspired the biographic novel Amos Fortune's Choice by F. Alexander Magoun in 1965 and the award winning children's novel Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates in 1950. More recently in 2000 Peter Lambert wrote a biography, Amos Fortune, The Man and His Legacy.
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