by Jackie Nunnery
HEATHSVILLE—A new historical marker honoring Elizabeth Key (1630-1665), believed to be the first person of African descent in the colonies to sue—and win—her freedom, has been installed at the Northumberland County courthouse square. The Saturday, September 19, ceremony, hosted by the Northern Neck Hidden History Trail drew some 100 people including four descendants of Key and a recorded message from Sen. Tim Kaine.
Key was born of mixed race in 1630. While her mother was enslaved, her father was a white Englishman by the name Thomas Key, a planter and burgess in the colonial government. Her father had her baptized and placed into indentured servitude with….
