Sylvia Stark was born in 1839 in Clay County, MO, the youngest of three children, to Hannah and Howard Estes.  As was the custom for those who were slaves, Howard took the name of his owner, Tom Estes.

In 1851, Sylvia and her family left Missouri for California, hoping to find new freedoms in that state.  Disappointed by what they discovered, they were tempted by Sir James Douglas’ invitation to African Americans to move to British Columbia.  This invitation resulted in many black settlers moving and settling in the Victoria area. 

Sylvia married a farmer by the name of Louis Stark.  While Sylvia’s family settled in Victoria, she and Louis pre empted land on Salt Spring Island.  They came by sailing ship in 1860, and settled on their land north of Vesuvius Bay.  Ten years later, they moved to the northeast shore of Ganges Harbour.

In about 1875, Louis left Salt Spring for Nanaimo.  However, Sylvia chose not to accompany him and stayed on Salt Spring with her son, Willis.  She remained on the island until her death in 1944 at age 105.