Nansemond County, Virginia Genealogy

Nansemond County, Virginia genealogy and family history research page. Guide to Nansemond County (established 1637) genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, Revolutionary War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

County Courthouse
Because the county is extinct, there is no existing Nansemond County Courthouse. Records are held at the Independent City Courthouse in Suffolk.

History
The county was named after a local Indian tribe. The county is now extinct.

Parent County
Established in 1637 as Upper Norfolk County and the name Nansemond was adopted in 1646. It became the independent city of Nansemond in 1972 and merged with the independent city of Suffolk in 1974. The entire area is now known as Suffolk.


 * County Seat: Suffolk

Record Loss
1734, 1779, and 1866 Many records were lost by the burning of the county clerk's office where the records were in April 1734, when the courthouse was razed by British troops in 1779, and by a fire 7 February 1866.


 * Lost censuses: 1790, 1800, 1810, 1890

Neighboring Counties

 * Isle of Wight
 * Lower Norfolk
 * Norfolk
 * Southampton

Getting Started
Finding records about historic Nansemond County on the FamilySearch Catalog can be confusing. Most appear under the Place Search "Suffolk (Independent City), Virginia."

African American
From 1790 to 1860, Nansemond County had one of the largest free colored populations in the state (480 in 1790; 2480 in 1860).


 * Fouts, Raymond Parker. Registration of Slaves to Work in the Great Dismal Swamp, Gates County, North Carolina, 1847-1861. Cocoa, Fla.: GenRec Books, 1995. The majority of these workers (which included free people of color and Native Americans) came from Nansemond County, Virginia.
 * Heinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. 2005-present. - free online book. Documents the Alman, Ashe, Boon, Bowser, Burkett, Churchwell, Copeland, Curtis, Davis, Demery, Elliott, Elmore, Milton, Newby, Parker, Pierce, Powell, Pugh, Read, Reynolds, Robinson, Shepherd, Teamer, Young of pre-1820 Nansemond County.
 * Search the Library of Virginia's Virginia Untold collection for digitized records related to African Americans of Nansemond County.

Bible Records

 *  Bible Records of Suffolk & Nansemond County, Virginia: Together With Other .... By Fillmore Norfleet. Online at Ancestry ($).

Cemeteries

 * FamilySearch Places

Census
1783 Enumeration


 * Nansemond County Heads of Families - 1783 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 56.

1784 Enumeration


 * Nansemond County Heads of Families - 1784 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 72.

1785 Enumeration


 * Nansemond County Heads of Families - 1785 at U.S. Census Bureau - free. County begins on page 92.

1790 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.

1800 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.

1810 - Lost, but a substitute is available, see Taxation.

1890 Union Veterans


 * Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890.   Online at: Ancestry ($).

Church
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Baptist
Early Baptist churches (with years constituted):


 * 1) Shoulder's Hill (1785)Robert Baylor Semple and George William Beale, A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia (1810; reprint, Richmond, Va.: Pitt and Dickinson, 1894), 442-443. Online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive.
 * 2) Western Branch (1779)
 * 3) South Quay. Birth records (1758-1799) were published in the Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jan. 1968), which is available online at Ancestry ($). An early membership list (no date) was published in the Portsmouth Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Jul. 1997).

Nansemond County fell within the bounds of the Portsmouth Association.

Christian

 * College of William and Mary. Earl Gregg Swem Library and Liberty Spring Christian Church. County Collections: Nansemond County. MSS., Manuscripts and Rare Books Department, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia; also available at . List of members (no date, 2 p.) from the Historical Sketch of Liberty Spring Christian Church, 1869-1931.

Church of England
Also known as Anglican and Protestant Episcopal.

Colonial Parishes



Meade's 1861 history of parishes in Nansemond County is available online.


 * Hall, Wilmer Lee. The Vestry Book of the Upper Parish, Nansemond County, Virginia, 1743 - 1793. Richmond [Virginia]: Commonwealth of Virginia, Division of Purchase and Printing, 1949. Available at and . Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * Hopkins, William Lindsay. Suffolk Parish Vestry Book, 1749-1784, Nansemond County, Virginia, and Newport Parish Vestry Book, 1724-1772, Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: W.L. Hopkins, 1988. Available at.
 * Mason, George Carrington. Colonial Churches of Tidewater Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet &amp; Shepperson, 1945. Available at ; digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library.

Quaker
Early monthly meetings (with years of existence):


 * Chuckatuck Monthly Meeting, Suffolk, Va. (begun 1672). Later names: Western Branch Monthly Meeting and Somerton Monthly Meeting. The Library of Virginia holds records from this meeting (1678-1755). Microfilm copy: . The Historical Society of Pennsylvania also holds records (1651-1755). Microfilm copy: . Minutes and a register (1651-1754, 1767-1771) have been published: . Hinshaw also published the early records:.
 * Chuckatuck Meeting of Quakers (1722-1788) List of Quaker Women Virginia Pioneers ($)
 * Lower Virginia Monthly Meeting (by 1673). Early records (1673-1756) have been published:.
 * Murdaugh's Monthly Meeting, Suffolk, Va. (1710-1766) aka Marshy Creek
 * Nansemond Monthly Meeting (1677-1730) aka Southern Branch
 * Pagan Creek Meeting of Quakers (1722-1788) List of Quaker Women Virginia Pioneers ($)
 * Western Branch Meeting of Quakers (1722-1788) List of Quaker Women Virginia Pioneers ($)


 * White, Miles. "Early Quaker Records in Virginia," Publications of the Southern History Association, Vol. 6, No. 3 (May 1902):220-231; Vol. 6, No. 4 (Jul. 1902):304-313; Vol. 7, No. 1 (May 1903):17-24; Vol. 7, No. 2 (Mar. 1903):96-105; Vol. 7, No. 3 (May 1903):207-213. Digitized by Internet Archive - free. Reprint:.

Court

 * Nansemond County Fee Book (abstracts) 1789 to 1800 Virginia Pioneers
 * Library of Virginia's Virginia Memory: Chancery Records Index can be used to search Nansemond County chancery records for the years 1866-1944. Digital images are available for 1866-1933. Indexed information and original images available through 1944 - see online catalog or contact Archives Research Services for availability.
 * Post-1913 chancery records may be available from the Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

Genealogy
More than 275 genealogies have been published about Nansemond County families. To view a list, visit Nansemond County, Virginia Genealogy.

History

 * Dunn, Joseph Bragg. The History of Nansemond County, Virginia. 1907. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.

Immigration
Suffolk has been a port since colonial times. Unfortunately, no official passenger lists survive for the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries.


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Nansemond River and Nansemond County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]

Land

 * 1704 - Quit Rents at Virginia Pioneers ($)

Grants and Patents


 * Hudgins. 882 patents dated 1638-1749 in what is now Suffolk City (previously Nansemond County), Virginia placed on a map. DeedMapper, 2003. [Names of those who received land patents, dates, land descriptions, and references may be viewed free of charge (click "Index" next to the county listing); however, in order to view the maps, it is necessary to purchase Direct Line Software's DeedMapper product.]
 * Joyner, Ulysses P. They Crossed the Blackwater: The First Settlers of Southhampton County Virginia. Orange, Virginia: U.P. Joyner, c2001/2003. Available at . [Index to land patents (1700-1749) south of the Blackwater River in that part of Nansemond County added to Southampton in 1786.]
 * Nugent, Nell Marion. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants 1623-1666. Vol. I (1934; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1991). Available at ; online at: Hathitrust, Ancestry ($). Includes Nansemond County.

Maps

 * FamilySearch Places: Cities and Towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Nansemond County for European settlers included:


 * Atlantic Ocean
 * King's Highway about 1704
 * Secondary Coast Road late 1730s

Colonial Militia

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . Online at: Ancestry ($). Identifies some Nansemond County militia officers and/or soldiers; see place name index.
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at ; digital book at Ancestry ($). Identifies some Nansemond County militia officers; see place name index.

French and Indian War

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . Online at: Ancestry ($). Identifies some Nansemond County militia officers, soldier enlistments, and veterans; see place name index.
 * Boogher, William F. Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources. Washington: n.p., 1903. Available at ; online at Internet Archive. Includes a chapter titled "Legislative Enactments connecting the preceding historic sketch (French and Indian War, Lord Dunmore's War) with the adjudication of the resulting accounts that follow; with the list of officers, soldiers and civilians entitled to compensation for military and other services rendered." For Nansemond County, see pp. 95, 112.
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at ; digital book at Ancestry ($). Identifies some Nansemond County militia officers; see place name index.

Revolutionary War
Regiments. Service men in Nansemond County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Nansemond County supplied soldiers for the:


 * - 4th Virginia Regiment (10th Company)
 * - 15th Virginia Regiment (1st Company)

Additional resources:

The British burned Suffolk during the Revolutionary War.


 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshals of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. 1841. Online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($). 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. See Virginia, Eastern District, Nansemond County on page 132.
 * Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." ; digital version at Ancestry ($). Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.

War of 1812
Nansemond County men served in the 59th Regiment.


 * List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. 973 M2Lp v. 5; online at Internet Archive, Ancestry ($). See Vol. 5, Virginia, Nansemond County, p. 91. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.

Civil War

 * - 3rd Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate). Company F (Nansemond Rangers).
 * - 5th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (12 months, 1861-62) (Mullins') (Confederate).
 * - 13th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (12th Months, 1861-62) (Confederate). Company C (Randolph's Dragoons) and Company I (The Nansemond Cavalry).

Native Americans
The Nansemond Tribe lived in the area in the late 1600s.


 * Bell, Albert D. Nansemond Indian Ancestry of Bass Familes. 1961?. Available at.
 * Egloff, Keith and Deborah Woodward. First People: The Early Indians of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 1992. Available at . [History concerning the Indian tribes in Virginia, notably the Mattaponi, Chickahominy, Monacan, Nansemond, Pamunjey and Rappahannock.]
 * Floyd, Donald. The Elusive Floyds: And Many More Related Families Including - Bagley, Bass, Basse, Bushier, Clerke, Goodson, Griggs, Jordan, Justice, Ledbetter, Lister, Nansemond Indian, Pritchett, Sandiford, Strickland. Griffin, Georgia: D. Floyd, 2006?. Available at.
 * Fouts, Raymond Parker. Registration of Slaves to Work in the Great Dismal Swamp, Gates County, North Carolina, 1847-1861. Cocoa, Fla.: GenRec Books, 1995. The majority of these workers (which included free people of color and Native Americans) came from Nansemond County, Virginia.
 * Houck, Peter W. Indian Island in Amherst County (Virginia). Progress Printing Co., Inc., 1984. Available at.

Private Papers

 * Norfleet, Fillmore. Bible Records of Suffolk and Nansemond County, Virginia: Together with Other Statistical Data. Baltimore, MD: Reprinted for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1996, 2001. Available at . Digital versions at Ancestry ($).
 * [Campbell] Family Bible Record of Robert and Mary Campbell. MSS., Smithfield Branch of the Isle of Wight Library in Smithfield, Virginia. Available at.
 * [Langley] Hargroves, Abigail Langley Granbery, Julian Hastings Granbery, and Alice Granbery Walter. The Journal of Abigail Langley of Nansemond County, Virginia: So-called in the Family, but Properly "John Granbery, Junior, His Book, 1708." [Virginia Beach, Virginia : A.G. Walter, 1963?]. Available at.
 * [Lawrence] Family Bible Records of George Lawrence. MSS., Smithfield Branch of the Isle of Wight Library in Smithfield, Virginia. Available at.
 * [Scull] Scull: Bible Records Transcript, 1755-1835. MSS., available at.

Probate
Local Court


 * Hopkins, William Lindsay. Some Wills from the Burned Counties of Virginia and Other Wills Not Listed in Virginia Wills and Administrations 1632-1800. Richmond, Virginia: W.L. Hopkins, 1987. Available at . [Includes Nansemond County.]
 * 1676-1824 - Images of (recovered wills) refiled in Will Bk 1909-1919) at Virginia Pioneers ($)
 * 1722-1788 - Deeds at Virginia Pioneers ($).
 * 1789-1800 - Fee Books at Virginia Pioneers ($).
 * 1863-1865 - Images of Fiduciary Settlements (Orphans), Bk O, at Virginia Pioneers ($).
 * 1866-1872 - Images of Wills at Virginia Pioneers ($).
 * 1909-1919 - Images of Wills at Virginia Pioneers ($)

London Courts


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Nansemond River and Nansemond County proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]


 * Will of James Montgomery, "of James River in Nantzimum in the Island of Virginia," dated 25 August 1697, proved 24 December 1697, Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Pyne, 290, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 39 (1885):333-334. Online at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).

North Carolina Courts


 * Livingston, Virginia Pope. "Some Virginia Wills Recorded in North Carolina," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1967):30-34. Available at ; digital version at New England Ancestors by NEHGS ($). Includes abstracts of wills of the following Nansemond County testators: John Lear (dated 1695), John Hamilton (dated 1706/7), and Rev. John McKinzie (dated 1754).

Taxation
How can Virginia tax lists help me?


 * 1704 "Virginia Quit Rent Rolls, 1704," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 28 (1920):207-218, 328-339; Vol. 29 (1921):18-28, 337-343, 402-412; Vol. 30 (1922):21-30, 280-285, 341-347; Vol. 31 (1923):70-75, 153-163, 215-231, 314-318; Vol. 32 (1924):69-75, 144-158, 281-287, 338-343; Vol. 33 (1925):47-50, 359-370; Vol. 34 (1926):113-119, 252-258, 313, 321. ; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983. ; digital version of VMHB at JSTOR ($). Nansemond County appears in 29:402-412.
 * 1782-1861 Land Tax Lists of Nansemond County [Suffolk, Virginia] 1782-1861. - images.
 * 1815-1925 Personal Property Tax List. Available on microfilm at Library of Virginia.
 * 1785 Insolvents, 1785, Southside Virginian, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Jul. 1988); Vol. 6, No. 4 (Oct. 1998). ; available online.
 * 1786-1788 Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florene Speakman Love. The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years, the Number of White Males Between 16 &amp; 21 Years, the Number of Slaves over 16 &amp; Those Under 16 Years, Together with a Listing of Their Horses, Cattle &amp; Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. . Source for this publication are the 1787/88 land tax lists, three petitions dated 1786/87, and the 1786 insolvent list. Nansemond County is included in Vol. 2.
 * 1786 Residents on Southampton Co. Land Tax List, 1786, Southside Virginian, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Jan. 1984). ; available online.
 * 1800 Tax List, 1800, Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Jul. 1999); Vol. 43, No. 4 (Oct. 1999).
 * 1810 Schreiner-Yates, Netti. A Supplement to the 1810 Census of Virginia: Tax Lists of the Counties for which the Census is Missing. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1971. . The source for this publication is the 1810 personal property tax list. Nansemond County is included because the 1810 Census for that county has been destroyed.
 * 1810, 1815 Schreiner-Yantis, Netti. Nansemond County, Virginia, 1815 Tax List. . The source for this publication is the 1815 personal property tax list; includes 1810 land tax list.
 * 1815 Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. . The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax list. Nansemond County is included in Vol. 3.

Marriage

 * 1660-1800 Virginia Marriages 1660-1800 (Ancestry) ($).


 * 1740-1850 Virginia Marriages 1740-1850 (Ancestry) ($).


 * 1783-1877 - Nansemond Marriages in Gates County, North Carolina at Virginia Pioneers ($).

Vital Record Substitutes

 * Norfleet, Fillmore. Bible Records of Suffolk and Nansemond County, Virginia: Together with Other Statistical Data. Baltimore, MD: Reprinted for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1996, 2001. Available at . Digital version at Ancestry($).

FamilySearch Centers

 * Bennetts Creek Virginia Family History Center

Websites

 * Nansemond County, VAGenWeb - free genealogy resources; part of the USGenWeb Project
 * Glebe Church Marker, Suffolk, Va., The Historical Marker Database
 * Cyndi's List
 * Virginia Pioneers
 * Virginia Pioneers