Paul, my Great-Great-Great Grandfather is John Howard (1840 1850 1860 Federal Census) Stafford County, Virginia. It is highly likely he is a descendent of Frances Haward who begat Ann Howard listed in your Free Colored of Virginia. My research reflects John Howard married Elizabeth Dick on June 11, 1827 at Stafford County, Virginia and that one of their daughters, Nancy Howard, married J.D. Grayson in 1870. Any mention of Howard's in the Registry for Free Negroes in Virginia?