Elizabeth Bray Allen

1692–by 22 February 1774) operated a large plantation after the death of her first husband, Arthur Allen.

She provided the direction and funds to establish a free school for poor boys and girls in Smithfield, Virginia.

[4] She grew up near Colonial Williamsburg and learned to read and write, which was unusual for girls at the time,[1] whose education was generally limited to household skills and social graces.

[4] Elizabeth Bray married Arthur Allen on November 27, 1711, at her family's house in Williamsburg.

His brick house in Surry County was known at Bacon's Castle in the early 19th century.

She then inherited town lots in Williamsburg and land in James City County.

Arthur Smith was an entrepreneur in Smithfield and a successful planter at the Isle of Wight County, Virginia.

[2] Between September 1761 and April 1763 she married a man with the surname Stith, his first name is unknown.

William Byrd II visited her house on February 28, 1728, as he headed toward the border of Virginia and North Carolina, which he was going to survey.

[7] Elizabeth Bray Allen likely died by February 22, 1774 at her house in Surry County.