Key Facts

Snapshot:	wife of a Virginia plantation owner
Parents:	514Silvanus Stokes 515Cecilia ___
Born:	20 August 1740 (= 31 August 1740 Gregorian) very likely Albemarle Parish, Surry County, Virginia
Died:	between 29 September 1775 and 23 July 1785 probably Sussex County, Virginia
Buried:	unknown

257Elizabeth was born 20 August 17401 to her parents 514Silvanus Stokes1,2 and 515Cecilia ___1,3 and was baptized 12 October 1740 in Albemarle Parish, Virginia,1 which at the time was in Surry County.

As previously explained in her husband's profile, 257Elizabeth married 256John Knight. She was just 16 years old when she gave birth to their daughter Lydia on 27 April 1757.1 This was probably the couple's first child, so they must have married by August 1856 at the latest. 257Elizabeth went on to have nine more children with her husband, as explained in his profile.

Her father 514Silvanus died by the time she was 26 years old. His will left her “five shillings cash,” the same as all her siblings.2 Her mother 515Cecilia survived at least another decade. 515Cecilia's will left 257Elizabeth a portion of money arising from an estate sale minus 30 pounds "In consideration of the use of a Negroe they [i.e., 257Elizabeth and her husband 256John] have had in my lifetime." 3

257Elizabeth died at a fairly young age, although the circumstances of her death are unknown. She seems to have been alive on 29 September 17753 but had presumably died by 23 July 1785,5 so she died sometime between ages 35 and 44.

Sources Cited:

1: Gertrude R. B. Richards. Register of Albemarle Parish, Surry and Sussex Counties (National Society Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1958), page 24, entry for Elizabeth Stokes. The entry reads, "Elizabeth d. of Sylvanus Stokes and Cecilia; b. Aug 20; c. Oct 12, 1740; gdpts. Joseph Rolland, Tabitha Morris, Eliza Rolland."

2: Sussex County, Virginia. Wills book B (1764-1771), page 74-75. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KD67?i=54&cat=366507>, accessed 1 November 2021. This is 514Silvanus Stokes' will.

3: Sussex County, Virginia. Wills book D (1782-1786), pages 426 and 427. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-KXZ6?i=248&cat=366507>, accessed 1 November 2021. This is 515Cecilia ___'s will, dated 29 September 1775, which names “my Daughter Elizabeth Knight” and doesn't imply that 257Elizabeth was deceased.

4: Gertrude Richards, Register, op. cit., page 111, Lydia Knight, born 27 April 1757.

5: Sussex County, Virginia. Wills book E (1790-1796), pages 78-81. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-K621?i=379&cat=366507>, accessed 1 November 2021. This is 256John Knight's will. The will mentions "my loving wife Sarah Knight," so one may reasonably assume that 257Elizabeth had died and that 256John had remarried.