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HE most noted man in Afro-American journalism is T. Thomas Fortune of New York. He was born of slave parents in the town of Marianna, Jackson County, Florida, October 3, 1856. His parents were Sarah Jane and Emanuel Fortune,—the former of whom died in 1869; the latter, who was a conspicuous character in the Reconstruction period of Florida politics, is now a well-to-do and respected citizen of Jacksonville.

It is evident that young Fortune was destined to be a power in journalism. While a mere lad he haunted newspaper offices, soon after the war, making himself useful around the office of The Marianna Courier; and later, when his parents moved to East Florida, he entered, first the composing room of The Jacksonville Courier, then The Union, where he gathered a fair knowledge of the "art preservative," He then attended the Stanton school at Jacksonville for a while, and afterward entered the Jacksonville post-office as office-boy. He was soon promoted to the position of letter