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Researching the
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada
Recherche sur la Forteresse-de-Louisbourg Lieu historique national du Canada
Extracts of Matters of Historical Interest from "The Huissier, News For and About the Fortress of Louisbourg Heritage Presentation Staff" By The Fortress of Louisbourg Heritage Presentation Staff
THE HUISSIER
(July 13, 2005)
Marie Marguerite Rose, 1717-1757
By Ken Donovan, Staff Historian
(Further
to Ken Donovan’s article on slavery in the last issue of the
Huissier, the following is a brief ‘bio’ of a black slave who lived here
during the time of the Fortress).
Marie Marguerite Rose, a native of Guinea , Africa, was a slave of Louisbourg officer Jean Loppinot. Purchased in 1736, Marie worked in the Loppinot household for 19 years and helped to prepare the meals and raise their 12 children, as well as her own child, until she was freed in 1755. After being freed, Marie married Jean Baptiste Laurent, a Mi’kmaq, and they opened a tavern in the town. Skilled in managing a tavern, Marie was a cook and seamstress who could also knit, dye and iron clothes as well as make her own soap and preserves. The details of her inventory, unique in Canada, tell the story of a woman who had been recently freed from slavery. A gardener, Marie had vegetables worth 40 livres, the most valuable item in her estate. Proficient and dedicated woman such as Marie were highly valued as slaves.