Fortune, an enslaved person, was purchased by Eleazar Wheelock in 1743
Fortune is—after the unnamed girl mentioned in a letter of 1735—the first person enslaved by Eleazar Wheelock of whom there remains any record. As documented by a bill of sale dated May 27, 1743, Fortune was purchased at age “twenty two or three years” for £245 from one Nathaniel Cushman. According to existing records, the price that Wheelock paid for Fortune far exceeded that of future enslaved persons. This is likely a function, however, of the unstable nature of colonial currency vis-à-vis the British pound sterling, meaning that, essentially, the prices Wheelock paid for enslaved persons varied by only 10 or so pounds.
Not much is known about Fortune beyond the fact that he appears to have been largely put to field work. He was also used a means of rental income. As documented in one of Wheelock’s account books, during the late winter of 1745 and/or 1746, Fortune and another enslaved man named Billy were hired out to a John Pilkin of Hartford, Colony of Connecticut, for several days' labor. A little less than 10 years later, as noted in the account book, Fortune and an enslaved person named Elijah were rented to a local farmer for half a day’s work “pulling turnips.”
Fortune’s fate is unknown. He is not among the slaves mentioned by name in Wheelock’s will; but if he were still alive at the time of Wheelock’s death (Fortune would have been 59 or 60 years old), it is possible he would have been bequeathed to Wheelock’s son John, along with other enslaved persons who remain unnamed and unknown.