a full member of the First Church. Additionally, though a former slave, Fortune was a literate man. In 1797, he was a leading founder in the establishment of the Social Library, the town's first library. Years later, he was commissioned by this library to rebind a collection of books. Death Fortune died in January 1801, at the age of 91. He is buried behind the Jaffrey Meetinghouse in the Old Burying Ground. The inventory of his estate testifies to his prosperity. Among the items listed are silver shoe buckles, a silver watch, and a fur coat. Many of the items were sold and, due to the precise details documented, we known it amounted to the quantity of $770.20. Fortune instructed his executor, Eleazer, to have "hand stones" erected to his wife and himself and to make a "handsome present" to the church. The remaining money was given to the town to support Schoolhouse Number 7. This last bequest has evolved into the Amos Fortune Fund and has supported diverse projects including public speaking contests and special publications. The Jaffrey Public Library now administers the Fund, using the income to develop and distribute educational materials on Amos Fortune. Violate Fortune died in 1802, one year after her husband, and was buried next to him. Their epitaphs were written by the Reverend Laban Ainsworth: Legacy Elizabeth Yates wrote a Newbery Medal winning biographical novel entitled Amos Fortune, Free Man in 1950. Fortune is featured on a New Hampshire historical marker (number 13) along New Hampshire Route 124 in Jaffrey. A 1997 short film by Matthew Buckingham, Amos Fortune Road, meditates on the scantness and fragility of the surviving historical record regarding Amos Fortune. F. Alexander Magoun's 1964 novel Amos Fortune's Choice gives a fictional biography of Fortune's life. Amos Fortune Day was celebrated, and created for, February 20, 1955. Governor Lane Dwinnel of New Hampshire created this holiday. See also List of enslaved people References External links 1710 births 1801 deaths African-American businesspeople 18th-century American businesspeople American people of Ghanaian descent 18th-century American slaves People from Jaffrey, New Hampshire