This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/3Y.2ADI/835.1.1.1.1.2.1 Message Board Post: I wish I could help. The Stokelys I know of originated from Lews, Suxxes County Delaware. John Stokely came to western Virginia around 1790 but moved westward, to Illinois, instead of south. He owned seven slaves, York Jones, his wife Sukey, and five children. He manumitted them in 1819 because he considered slavery a "great moral evil." I know it is difficult for African-Americans to trace because of the lack of records. I wish you great luck. Don't give up. I have been working on my genealogy for 30 years. I am white but have a wonderful, beautiful biracial granddaughter who is the joy of my life. Phil Sturm