Marie Marguerite Rose, a woman from what is now modern Guinea was sold into slavery in 1736 when she was about 19 and arrived in Louisbourg on Île Royale (modern Cape Breton Island) the same year as the property of Jean Chrysostome Loppinot, a French naval officer stationed at Louisbourg, who fathered a son by her in 1738. In 1755, she was freed and married a Miꞌkmaq Indian who upon his conversion to Roman Catholicism had taken the name Jean-Baptist Laurent. Rose, an excellent cook, became the most successful businesswomen on Île Royale, opening up a tavern that was famous for the quality of its food and brandy all over the island. When she died in 1757, her will and inventory of her possessions showed that she owned expensive clothing imported from France, and like many other women from 18th century west Africa had a fondness for brightly colored dresses.