about 1722-1806 Not a lot is known about James' mother, Margaret Forten. Where she was from, if she was a slave, when and where she met Thomas Fortune (her husband and James Forten’s father) are all a mystery. There is no marriage record left today. We do know that if she wasn't already free, she had become a free woman before she had her daughter Abigail in 1763, otherwise her children would have been born into slavery. She worked as a domestic servant cleaning and cooking people's homes to supplement Thomas' wages from the sail loft and then to provide for her family after his death in 1773. Once James became prosperous, he looked after his mother and the rest of his family. He made sure that his mother had the security she had struggled to provide for him and his sister.
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