Madame Brought Industry to Tampa
South Carolina native Madame Fortune Taylor Ranson (1825-1906), commonly referred to as Madame Fortune Taylor, was brought as Fortune, an enslaved woman, to the Town of Tampa. Before freedom came to Tampa’s African Americans on May 6, 1864, she and her longtime love Ben (Benjamin Taylor, 1824-1869) moved freely and had begun to establish their lives just north of the town on the east bank of the Hillsborough River. They did odd jobs and operated a vegetable stand. On May 5, 1866, Benjamin and Fortune Taylor were the second Black couple to legally marry in Hillsborough County. Two years later Ben received a County homestead claim on January 20, 1868, for 33-acres of land where they had initially settled. Ben built a house and planted 70 orange trees and guava, peach and plum trees. The couple were among the first citrus farmers in Tampa bringing a wealth of knowledge from their labor in Richland County, South Carolina and Brooksville, Hernando County, Florida.
Madame Built Black Churches
Fortune is credited with donating land in 1865 for a sanctuary for Beulah Baptist Church (now Beulah Baptist Institutional Church) so that African Americans could worship with dignity. Later in the 1890s she would often buy all the pies to be supportive of fundraising for the building of Historic St. Paul A.M.E. on East Harrison Street in Downtown Tampa.
Madame Was a Landowner
In 1869 her beloved Ben passed away. Fortune Taylor continued with the homestead claim for six years having received the County homestead claim in her name. In 1875 former Tampa Mayor and real estate developer Edward A. Clark helped Mrs. Taylor gain free and clear title to her land before purchasing 28-acres of it. He used it to create the plan for the City of North Tampa. At the heart of the plan was Fortune Street. It ran through Fortune’s property. This area is today’s North Downtown Tampa and a portion of The Tampa Riverwalk North. Fortune Taylor left Tampa for a short time. She reappears as Madame Fortune and in 1885 Tampa records as the wife of a much younger man from Georgia named Edward “Ned” Ranson. Tampa annexed the City of North Tampa in 1887 and became the City of Tampa in July of that year. By 1890 Madame Fortune had sold off her remaining land. Ned disappears from city records.
She Bridged the Gap
In 1893 a bridge was built over the Hillsborough River to connect the City of West Tampa (1895-1925) to Tampa. That connection in Tampa was Fortune Street and it became the Fortune Street Bridge. Its construction saved the struggling cigar industry and served as a figurative connector between Tampa’s ethnic groups. For over 70 years her name graced the structure. However, in 1961 a decision was made to reroute/disconnect Fortune Street in preparation for urban renewal.
Today Anchor Riverwalk Apartments, The Barrymore Hotel Tampa Riverwalk, The Straz Center for the Performing Arts, and The Times Building are located on the reroute of Fortune Street on what was once Madame’s land. In October 2017 the Tampa City Council voted unanimously to reconnect the history of Madame Fortune Taylor to the bridge.
They named it the Fortune Taylor Bridge to keep her spirit alive. It is a Local Historic Landmark in the City of Tampa. On July 1 of 2018, the month and day that she became a legal landowner in America, the bridge name also became official in the State of Florida.
Madame Fortune Today
Madame Fortune Dessert + HiFi Parlour (Speakeasy) has made fresh the beloved story of a Tampa pioneer and the significance of her name for Tampa citizens, visitors, and generations to come. From a labor of love, it offers delectables and libations that honor the Taylors’ entrepreneurial genius. The venue is a stunning reflection of Black wealth and Black Tampa history in a city she built. It is in the Ybor City Historic District, a neighborhood she saved. During her lifetime, Madame Fortune was loved by children. Madame Fortune Speakeasy and its story will encourage our youth, anyone to “Find Your Fortune”.
(Provided by Gloria Jean Royster, Downtown Tampa activist, children’s book author, and creator of the Madame Fortune Taylor Walking tour for the Tampa Bay History Center)