Warwick County, Virginia (c 1630 – January 20, 1665) (age ~35 yrs)

Elizabeth Key was the first woman of African ancestry in the American colonies to sue for her freedom and win! Elizabeth secured her freedom and that of her infant son on July 21, 1665. This occurred in the colony of Virginia. It was one of the earliest freedom suits in the colonies. She sued based on the fact that her father was a free Englishman and that she was a baptized Christian. Key’s lawsuit was one of the earliest freedom suits in the American colonies filed by a person of African Ancestry. With William Grinstead, father of her son, acting as her lawyer, Key asked the court to free her. She used an English law for her case. It stated that if a child’s father was a free man, then the child should be free. After winning the case, Elizabeth and William were married, and they had another son together.