In 1672 Thomas Stacey, b. about 1640, migrated to Middlesex County, Virginia. Thomas Stacey was born in the eastern English coastal town of Colchester in County Essex, England. He was born about 1640 at a turbulent time when the King of England and the Parliament were at odds with each other. In 1646 when Thomas would have been about 6 years old the Royalist raided and took over the vital fortified town of Colchester and it population of around 12,000 people. In those days a city of 12,000 individuals was considered a huge city. Two years later it would be taken over by Parliament Troops. It is no wonder that young Thomas chose to travel to the New World at the age of about 32 years in 1672. There would have been plenty of opportunity for him because Colchester was a Coastal Town. He was sponsored by Martin Baker and had to serve an indenture. Those who served an indenture were normally awarded 50 to 100 acres of land by the Kings authority. Martin Baker also earned land by transporting new immigrants to the colonies. Thomas Stacey married twice in Virginia, once, according to the Parish Records of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Virginia, to Elizabeth a Native Indian, who gave him three sons; John, b. about 1677 in Virginia, Thomas, b. Feb. 18, 1679 and Charles, b, January, 1684. Elizabeth Stacey died April 30, 1686 at Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia. When Elizabeth Stacey died in 1686,  Thomas the senior married Rebecca Standly 27 Feb. 1687 at Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia. Thomas Stacey was shown to be a land holder in Virginia in 1687 as found in early Virginia records.

Records held in the archives of the William and Mary University, in the William & Mary Journal, show that Thomas Stacey the senior served in the Middlesex County, Virginia Militia in 1876 to fight Indians. Another family member suggests he may have later served with Bacon, during Bacon's Rebellion. There is no record to date that shows Thomas Stacey served with Bacon's Army.

By 1690 Thomas Stacey had moved his family to St. Mary's, Maryland where Maryland Archive records show he served on the citizens elected council in 1691 and 1692. It must be noted that Thomas Stacey's brother, Simon, migrated to Calvert County, Maryland in 1674 and was involved with raising tobacco as late as 1684.  Simon Stacy was once brought to court in St. Mary's, Maryland on an accusation made by John Hoskins that Simon started a false rumor about the Indians around St. Mary's.  A side note to this is John Hoskins is the grandfather of Sarah Haskins, who married Benedict 'Bennet' Stacey, the grandson of Thomas Stacey.

Thomas the senior may have been a land owner in St. Mary's during his stay there, but a record has not been found. In 1694, he moved his family to a 100 acre plat on the Albemarle Sound in Chowan County, North Carolina near Edenton as proven in the book, North Carolina Historical & Genealogical  Records.  He died in Chowan, North Carolina on July 5th, 1697 and left a will  for his wife and children. Thomas Stacey died a wealthy man.

By at least 1710 Thomas Stacey the senior's son, John Stacey, had moved back to St. Mary's, Maryland where he lived with his wife Ann who bore him at least one child, Bennet Stacey, in 1725.  A 1710 prerogative report was found for Ann Stacey who was working for John Parsons who owned land in St Mary's, Maryland. John Stacey farmed tobacco in St. Mary's County, Maryland and numerous Maryland Prerogative Reports in St Mary's shows his activity there through the years dealing with some of the men his father, Thomas Stacey, served with on the Maryland Council, in St Mary', Maryland. Most likely, John Stacey died in St. Mary's, Maryland, but no will or other death record has been found.  I have learned from Janet Reno of the St. Mary's Historical Society that in those early years of the colonies, Calvert County took over a portion of St Mary's land holdings. As a result numerous land  and birth records were lost forever for St Mary's in the shuffle. The land area taken over by Calvert County was returned to St Mary's in later years.

A birth record for Benedict (Bennet) Stacey from a parish record shows he was born in Maryland on December 19, 1725. The birth record listed both John and his wife, Ann.  Bennet Stacey farmed in St. Mary's County for many years and was a land owner, although records of his holdings in the Hopewell area of St Mary's, Maryland cannot be found. Bennet Stacey married Sarah Haskins of St. Mary's, Maryland about 1759. She was the daughter of Aaron Haskins, a land owner in St. Mary's who inherited land there from his father, John Haskins. Note: the name Haskins is quite often spelled Hoskins in early records. Four children were born to Bennet and Sarah in St. Mary’s; Benjamin, b. 1752 and supplied materials for the Revolutionary War, Aaron, b. 1760, served 4 enlistments during the Revolutionary war, John, b. 1761, was killed in the Revolutionary War, and Lucretia Stacey b. 1766. Bennet and his family migrated on to North Carolina. Bennet Stacey's three sons joined or assisted the Revolutionary War after leaving St. Mary's, Maryland on their way south to North Carolina.