d/o James Fortson & Mattie (nee Gardner) Fortson, both born in Kentucky.
resided at 3413 Prairie Ave, Chicago, Cook, Illinois.
died aged 26 years, colored, single.
buried 4/17/1917.
Bettiola Fortson was a poet, essayist, and suffragist. She was born in Hopkinsville, KY, the daughter of James Fortson. At the age of nine, she was a boarder with the William Evans family on E. 13th Street in Hopkinsville, KY, according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. When she turned 12, she went to live with her aunt, Toreada Mallory, on Armour Avenue in Chicago, IL. When her aunt went abroad, Fortson lived with her mother, Mattie Arnold, in Evansville, IN, where she attended Clark High School. The family of four lived on Oak Street (Mattie, who was a widow, and her children Robert, Bettie, and James Jr.) [source: 1910 U.S. Federal Census]. Bettiola Fortson would become a poet and was poet laureate of her high school class, she graduated in 1910, and returned to Chicago where she worked in the feather industry and owned her own millinery business.
She was a journalist and president of the University Society Club, 2nd vice president of the Alpha Suffrage Club, and city organizer of the Chicago Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. She was the author of the 1915 title Mental Pearls: original poems and essays. For more see Toward a Tenderer Humanity and a Nobler Womanhood by A.M. Knupfer; Six Poets of Racial Uplift by E.T. Battle et. al.; Black American Writers Past and Present by T. G. Rush; and "Miss Bettiola Fortson," Broad Axe, 08/01/1914, p.2 [picture with article].
Published in the Broad Axe, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, April 21, 1917:
THE PASSING AWAY OF MISS BETTIOLA HELOISE FORTSON
Last Friday evening at 4:15 o'clock, Miss Bettiola Heloise Fortson very quietly closed her eyes in death at her home 3413 Prairie Avenue after a long spell of illness.
Miss Fortson was in her 27th year and died long before her time. Funeral services were held over her remains Tuesday morning at Olivet Baptist church. Rev. George Duncan, assistant pastor of Olivet, officiating, Charles S. Jackson, funeral director, in charge. Interment at Mt. Forest Cemetery.
The floral tributes from her many friends and various literary clubs or societies of which she was a prominent member, were indeed elaborate and very beautiful. Her remains were encases in a beautiful pink plush casket. Resolutions were read from the Standard Literary Society of Olivet Baptist Church, the University Society of which she was one of the founders and served as one of its presidents; the Pastor's Aid of Olivet Baptist Church, of which she was a member; the City Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, of which she was the organizer for more than two years; the Alpha Suffrage Club, all lamenting her untimely death. The last named club was also ably represented in person by Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who delivered short and timely remarks in connection with the death of Miss Fortson and her untiring efforts to enlighten the Colored people along literary lines.
It can well be stated right here that notwithstanding the fact that there are many wealthy and highly educated Colored people residing in this city, Miss Fortson has the honor of being one of the first Colored persons in this section of the country to write and publish a book.
Miss Mamie Bady sang a solo, "He is my friend"; Miss Pauline Lee solo, "He is the one"; Madam Peyton solo, "His eyes are on the sparrow"; Miss Mattie Fisher read one of the poems of Miss Fortson, "How Beautiful Is The House of God." She leaves her mother, Mrs. William M. Stegall; two brothers, James and R. V. Fortson; her cousin, Madam Rosilee Tyler, other relatives and hosts of friends to mourn their loss.
On Saturday, April 7th, an article appeared in these columns in relation to her illness and our visit at her home, and on the same Saturday evening, April 7th, we again called on her and presented her with a copy of the paper containing the article and in a voice scarcely above a whisper she requested us to draw a chair close up by the side of her bed and read what we had said for her, and after finishing it for her, although she was suffering great pain at the time and had been for many months, she bestowed a very pleasant smile on us, at the same time extending her hand, she thanked us for the kindly words which we had written in her behalf.
The last words spoken to us by Miss Fortson were that she had always regarded us as one of her best and truest friends; that she never would permit any one to say anything against us in her presence without defending or standing up for us; that when she was struggling so hard to raise the money in order to get her little book published that there were only two men in Chicago who willingly extended a helping hand to her and they were Rev. John W. Robinson, pastor of St. Mark church, and Julius F. Taylor. May she find favor in the sight of God throughout eternity.
resided at 3413 Prairie Ave, Chicago, Cook, Illinois.
died aged 26 years, colored, single.
buried 4/17/1917.
Bettiola Fortson was a poet, essayist, and suffragist. She was born in Hopkinsville, KY, the daughter of James Fortson. At the age of nine, she was a boarder with the William Evans family on E. 13th Street in Hopkinsville, KY, according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. When she turned 12, she went to live with her aunt, Toreada Mallory, on Armour Avenue in Chicago, IL. When her aunt went abroad, Fortson lived with her mother, Mattie Arnold, in Evansville, IN, where she attended Clark High School. The family of four lived on Oak Street (Mattie, who was a widow, and her children Robert, Bettie, and James Jr.) [source: 1910 U.S. Federal Census]. Bettiola Fortson would become a poet and was poet laureate of her high school class, she graduated in 1910, and returned to Chicago where she worked in the feather industry and owned her own millinery business.
She was a journalist and president of the University Society Club, 2nd vice president of the Alpha Suffrage Club, and city organizer of the Chicago Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. She was the author of the 1915 title Mental Pearls: original poems and essays. For more see Toward a Tenderer Humanity and a Nobler Womanhood by A.M. Knupfer; Six Poets of Racial Uplift by E.T. Battle et. al.; Black American Writers Past and Present by T. G. Rush; and "Miss Bettiola Fortson," Broad Axe, 08/01/1914, p.2 [picture with article].
Published in the Broad Axe, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, April 21, 1917:
THE PASSING AWAY OF MISS BETTIOLA HELOISE FORTSON
Last Friday evening at 4:15 o'clock, Miss Bettiola Heloise Fortson very quietly closed her eyes in death at her home 3413 Prairie Avenue after a long spell of illness.
Miss Fortson was in her 27th year and died long before her time. Funeral services were held over her remains Tuesday morning at Olivet Baptist church. Rev. George Duncan, assistant pastor of Olivet, officiating, Charles S. Jackson, funeral director, in charge. Interment at Mt. Forest Cemetery.
The floral tributes from her many friends and various literary clubs or societies of which she was a prominent member, were indeed elaborate and very beautiful. Her remains were encases in a beautiful pink plush casket. Resolutions were read from the Standard Literary Society of Olivet Baptist Church, the University Society of which she was one of the founders and served as one of its presidents; the Pastor's Aid of Olivet Baptist Church, of which she was a member; the City Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, of which she was the organizer for more than two years; the Alpha Suffrage Club, all lamenting her untimely death. The last named club was also ably represented in person by Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who delivered short and timely remarks in connection with the death of Miss Fortson and her untiring efforts to enlighten the Colored people along literary lines.
It can well be stated right here that notwithstanding the fact that there are many wealthy and highly educated Colored people residing in this city, Miss Fortson has the honor of being one of the first Colored persons in this section of the country to write and publish a book.
Miss Mamie Bady sang a solo, "He is my friend"; Miss Pauline Lee solo, "He is the one"; Madam Peyton solo, "His eyes are on the sparrow"; Miss Mattie Fisher read one of the poems of Miss Fortson, "How Beautiful Is The House of God." She leaves her mother, Mrs. William M. Stegall; two brothers, James and R. V. Fortson; her cousin, Madam Rosilee Tyler, other relatives and hosts of friends to mourn their loss.
On Saturday, April 7th, an article appeared in these columns in relation to her illness and our visit at her home, and on the same Saturday evening, April 7th, we again called on her and presented her with a copy of the paper containing the article and in a voice scarcely above a whisper she requested us to draw a chair close up by the side of her bed and read what we had said for her, and after finishing it for her, although she was suffering great pain at the time and had been for many months, she bestowed a very pleasant smile on us, at the same time extending her hand, she thanked us for the kindly words which we had written in her behalf.
The last words spoken to us by Miss Fortson were that she had always regarded us as one of her best and truest friends; that she never would permit any one to say anything against us in her presence without defending or standing up for us; that when she was struggling so hard to raise the money in order to get her little book published that there were only two men in Chicago who willingly extended a helping hand to her and they were Rev. John W. Robinson, pastor of St. Mark church, and Julius F. Taylor. May she find favor in the sight of God throughout eternity.
d/o James Fortson & Mattie (nee Gardner) Fortson, both born in Kentucky.
resided at 3413 Prairie Ave, Chicago, Cook, Illinois.
died aged 26 years, colored, single.
buried 4/17/1917.
Bettiola Fortson was a poet, essayist, and suffragist. She was born in Hopkinsville, KY, the daughter of James Fortson. At the age of nine, she was a boarder with the William Evans family on E. 13th Street in Hopkinsville, KY, according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. When she turned 12, she went to live with her aunt, Toreada Mallory, on Armour Avenue in Chicago, IL. When her aunt went abroad, Fortson lived with her mother, Mattie Arnold, in Evansville, IN, where she attended Clark High School. The family of four lived on Oak Street (Mattie, who was a widow, and her children Robert, Bettie, and James Jr.) [source: 1910 U.S. Federal Census]. Bettiola Fortson would become a poet and was poet laureate of her high school class, she graduated in 1910, and returned to Chicago where she worked in the feather industry and owned her own millinery business.
She was a journalist and president of the University Society Club, 2nd vice president of the Alpha Suffrage Club, and city organizer of the Chicago Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. She was the author of the 1915 title Mental Pearls: original poems and essays. For more see Toward a Tenderer Humanity and a Nobler Womanhood by A.M. Knupfer; Six Poets of Racial Uplift by E.T. Battle et. al.; Black American Writers Past and Present by T. G. Rush; and "Miss Bettiola Fortson," Broad Axe, 08/01/1914, p.2 [picture with article].
Published in the Broad Axe, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, April 21, 1917:
THE PASSING AWAY OF MISS BETTIOLA HELOISE FORTSON
Last Friday evening at 4:15 o'clock, Miss Bettiola Heloise Fortson very quietly closed her eyes in death at her home 3413 Prairie Avenue after a long spell of illness.
Miss Fortson was in her 27th year and died long before her time. Funeral services were held over her remains Tuesday morning at Olivet Baptist church. Rev. George Duncan, assistant pastor of Olivet, officiating, Charles S. Jackson, funeral director, in charge. Interment at Mt. Forest Cemetery.
The floral tributes from her many friends and various literary clubs or societies of which she was a prominent member, were indeed elaborate and very beautiful. Her remains were encases in a beautiful pink plush casket. Resolutions were read from the Standard Literary Society of Olivet Baptist Church, the University Society of which she was one of the founders and served as one of its presidents; the Pastor's Aid of Olivet Baptist Church, of which she was a member; the City Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, of which she was the organizer for more than two years; the Alpha Suffrage Club, all lamenting her untimely death. The last named club was also ably represented in person by Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who delivered short and timely remarks in connection with the death of Miss Fortson and her untiring efforts to enlighten the Colored people along literary lines.
It can well be stated right here that notwithstanding the fact that there are many wealthy and highly educated Colored people residing in this city, Miss Fortson has the honor of being one of the first Colored persons in this section of the country to write and publish a book.
Miss Mamie Bady sang a solo, "He is my friend"; Miss Pauline Lee solo, "He is the one"; Madam Peyton solo, "His eyes are on the sparrow"; Miss Mattie Fisher read one of the poems of Miss Fortson, "How Beautiful Is The House of God." She leaves her mother, Mrs. William M. Stegall; two brothers, James and R. V. Fortson; her cousin, Madam Rosilee Tyler, other relatives and hosts of friends to mourn their loss.
On Saturday, April 7th, an article appeared in these columns in relation to her illness and our visit at her home, and on the same Saturday evening, April 7th, we again called on her and presented her with a copy of the paper containing the article and in a voice scarcely above a whisper she requested us to draw a chair close up by the side of her bed and read what we had said for her, and after finishing it for her, although she was suffering great pain at the time and had been for many months, she bestowed a very pleasant smile on us, at the same time extending her hand, she thanked us for the kindly words which we had written in her behalf.
The last words spoken to us by Miss Fortson were that she had always regarded us as one of her best and truest friends; that she never would permit any one to say anything against us in her presence without defending or standing up for us; that when she was struggling so hard to raise the money in order to get her little book published that there were only two men in Chicago who willingly extended a helping hand to her and they were Rev. John W. Robinson, pastor of St. Mark church, and Julius F. Taylor. May she find favor in the sight of God throughout eternity.
resided at 3413 Prairie Ave, Chicago, Cook, Illinois.
died aged 26 years, colored, single.
buried 4/17/1917.
Bettiola Fortson was a poet, essayist, and suffragist. She was born in Hopkinsville, KY, the daughter of James Fortson. At the age of nine, she was a boarder with the William Evans family on E. 13th Street in Hopkinsville, KY, according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. When she turned 12, she went to live with her aunt, Toreada Mallory, on Armour Avenue in Chicago, IL. When her aunt went abroad, Fortson lived with her mother, Mattie Arnold, in Evansville, IN, where she attended Clark High School. The family of four lived on Oak Street (Mattie, who was a widow, and her children Robert, Bettie, and James Jr.) [source: 1910 U.S. Federal Census]. Bettiola Fortson would become a poet and was poet laureate of her high school class, she graduated in 1910, and returned to Chicago where she worked in the feather industry and owned her own millinery business.
She was a journalist and president of the University Society Club, 2nd vice president of the Alpha Suffrage Club, and city organizer of the Chicago Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. She was the author of the 1915 title Mental Pearls: original poems and essays. For more see Toward a Tenderer Humanity and a Nobler Womanhood by A.M. Knupfer; Six Poets of Racial Uplift by E.T. Battle et. al.; Black American Writers Past and Present by T. G. Rush; and "Miss Bettiola Fortson," Broad Axe, 08/01/1914, p.2 [picture with article].
Published in the Broad Axe, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, April 21, 1917:
THE PASSING AWAY OF MISS BETTIOLA HELOISE FORTSON
Last Friday evening at 4:15 o'clock, Miss Bettiola Heloise Fortson very quietly closed her eyes in death at her home 3413 Prairie Avenue after a long spell of illness.
Miss Fortson was in her 27th year and died long before her time. Funeral services were held over her remains Tuesday morning at Olivet Baptist church. Rev. George Duncan, assistant pastor of Olivet, officiating, Charles S. Jackson, funeral director, in charge. Interment at Mt. Forest Cemetery.
The floral tributes from her many friends and various literary clubs or societies of which she was a prominent member, were indeed elaborate and very beautiful. Her remains were encases in a beautiful pink plush casket. Resolutions were read from the Standard Literary Society of Olivet Baptist Church, the University Society of which she was one of the founders and served as one of its presidents; the Pastor's Aid of Olivet Baptist Church, of which she was a member; the City Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, of which she was the organizer for more than two years; the Alpha Suffrage Club, all lamenting her untimely death. The last named club was also ably represented in person by Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who delivered short and timely remarks in connection with the death of Miss Fortson and her untiring efforts to enlighten the Colored people along literary lines.
It can well be stated right here that notwithstanding the fact that there are many wealthy and highly educated Colored people residing in this city, Miss Fortson has the honor of being one of the first Colored persons in this section of the country to write and publish a book.
Miss Mamie Bady sang a solo, "He is my friend"; Miss Pauline Lee solo, "He is the one"; Madam Peyton solo, "His eyes are on the sparrow"; Miss Mattie Fisher read one of the poems of Miss Fortson, "How Beautiful Is The House of God." She leaves her mother, Mrs. William M. Stegall; two brothers, James and R. V. Fortson; her cousin, Madam Rosilee Tyler, other relatives and hosts of friends to mourn their loss.
On Saturday, April 7th, an article appeared in these columns in relation to her illness and our visit at her home, and on the same Saturday evening, April 7th, we again called on her and presented her with a copy of the paper containing the article and in a voice scarcely above a whisper she requested us to draw a chair close up by the side of her bed and read what we had said for her, and after finishing it for her, although she was suffering great pain at the time and had been for many months, she bestowed a very pleasant smile on us, at the same time extending her hand, she thanked us for the kindly words which we had written in her behalf.
The last words spoken to us by Miss Fortson were that she had always regarded us as one of her best and truest friends; that she never would permit any one to say anything against us in her presence without defending or standing up for us; that when she was struggling so hard to raise the money in order to get her little book published that there were only two men in Chicago who willingly extended a helping hand to her and they were Rev. John W. Robinson, pastor of St. Mark church, and Julius F. Taylor. May she find favor in the sight of God throughout eternity.
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