Norfolk County, Virginia Genealogy

United States &gt; Virginia &gt; Norfolk County

Parent County
1691--Norfolk County was created in 1691 from Lower Norfolk. It was changed to Chesapeake City 1 January 1963. County seat: Norfolk

Court
County Court


 * Walter, Alice Granbery. Lower Norfolk County, Virginia Court Records: Book "A" 1637-1646 and Book "B" 1646-1651/2. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Family Histories
Bibliography


 * [Bachelor] Williams, Lyle Keith. The Batchelor Family: Batchelor in Virginia; Batchelor in North Carolina; Bachelor/Batchelor in Tennessee, Missouri and Texas; Batchler in Texas; and Bachlor in Oklahoma and California. Fort Worth, Texas: L.K. Williams, 1991. Available at FHL.
 * [Burle] Russell, Donna Valley. "Robert Burle of Severn River, Anne Arundel County, Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 74, No. 4 (Oct. 1999):263-274. [Burle resided in Lower Norfolk County, Virginia before being exiled to Maryland.]
 * [Butterfield] See Delaymos.
 * [Delaymos] Russell, George Ely. "Portuguese and Spanish Colonists in Seventeenth-Century Maryland," The American Genealogist, Vol. 76, No. 1 (January 2001):50-60; Vol. 77, No. 1 (Apr. 2001):138-147.
 * [Hancock] Childs, J. Rives. "Hancock Family of Lower Norfolk, Henrico and Bedford Counties," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct. 1924):413-416. Available at JSTOR ($).
 * [Moseley] "Families of Lower Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Jan. 1898):327-334. Available at JSTOR ($). 
 * [Sweny] Henkel, Steve. "Murder in the Family: Identifying the Parents and Siblings of George Wythe Sweny, Murderer of His Great-Uncle, George Wythe, Chancellor of Virginia," The American Genealogist, Vol. 78, No. 2 (April 2003):87-94.
 * [Walke] "Families of Lower Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Oct. 1897):139-153. Available at JSTOR ($).

Immigration

 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. "Intercepted Letters Relating to America 1777-1811," The Genealogist, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Fall 2000):184-200; Vol. 15, No. 1 (Spring 2001):53-74. [Overseas correspondence of residents of Norfolk with the following surnames: Donaldson, Proudfitt, and Sutton (?).]
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London 1611-1857. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2007. [Includes wills of residents of Elizabeth River, Gosport, Lower Norfolk County, Norfolk County, and Portsmouth proved in London. These records often help establish an immigrant's place of origin.]
 * [http://immigrantservants.com/search/advancedResults.php?surname=&givenName=&varientSurnameSpellings=&gender=&dateOfBirthDay=&dateOfBirthMonth=&dateOfBirthQuantifier=&dateOfBirthYear=&placeOfBirthParish=&placeOfBirthTown=&placeOfBirthCity=&placeOfBirthCounty=&placeOfBirthColony=&placeOfBirthNation=&occupations=&religions=&orphan=&familyPosition=&immigrationYearQualifier=&immigrationYear=&portOfDepartureTown=&portOfDepartureCity=&portOfDepartureCounty=&portOfDepartureNation=&placeOfArrivalTown=&placeOfArrivalCounty=&placeOfArrivalColony=&shipName=&convict=&yearOfIndentureQualifier=&yearOfIndenture=&lengthOfIndentureYears=&lengthOfIndentureMonths=&yearOfFreedomQualifier=&yearOfFreedom=&placeOfIndentureTown=&placeOfIndentureCity=&placeOfIndentureCounty=Norfolk&placeOfIndentureColony=Virginia&agentSurname=&agentGivenName=&agentTitle=&masterSurname=&masterGivenName=&masterTitle=&residenceParish=&residenceTown=&residenceCity=&residenceCounty=&residenceColony=&residenceNation=&landowner=&literate=&spouseSurname=&spouseGivenName=&spouseMarriageDateDay=&spouseMarriageDateMonth=&spouseMarriageDateQualifier=&spouseMarriageDateYear=&spouseMarriageLocationParish=&spouseMarriageLocationCounty=&spouseMarriageLocationColony=&spouseMarriageLocationNation=&deathDateDay=&deathDateMonth=&deathDateQualifier=&deathDateYear=&deathLocality=&deathCounty=&deathColony=&deathState=&testate=&proofServantStatus=&proofConvictStatus=&headright=&preServitudeSources=&postServitudeSources=&comments=&family=&sourceCitations=&interestedResearchers= List of imported servants and transported convicts from Europe] who served labor terms in Colonial Lower Norfolk and Norfolk Counties, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.

Local Histories

 * Burton, H. W. The History of Norfolk, Virginia: A Review of Important Events and Incidents Which Occurred from 1736-1877; Also a Record of Personal Reminiscences and Political, Commercial, and Curious Facts. Norfolk, Va.: Norfolk Virginian Job Print, 1877. Available at FHL; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and BYU Family History Archives.
 * Forrest, William S. Historical and Descriptive Sketches of Norfolk and Vicinity: Including Portsmouth and the Adjacent Counties, During a Period of Two Hundred Years: Also, Sketches of Williamsburg, Hampton, Suffolk, Smithfield, and Other Places, with Descriptions of Some of the Principal Objects of Interest in Eastern Virginia. Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1853. Available at FHL; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and Google Books (full-view).

Military
Colonial Militia


 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at FHL. [Identifies some Lower Norfolk County and Norfolk 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 FHL; digital book at Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Lower Norfolk County and Norfolk 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 FHL. [Identifies some Norfolk Borough, Lower Norfolk and Norfolk 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 FHL; digital version at Google Books. [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 Norfolk County, see p. 112.]
 * Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776. Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1954. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Identifies some Lower Norfolk and Norfolk County militia officers and soldiers; see place name index.]

Probate
Original Wills


 * McIntosh, Charles Fleming. Brief Abstract of Lower Norfolk County and Norfolk County Wills, 1637-1710. 1914; reprint, Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1982. Available at FHL; digital version at Google Books (full-view).
 * McIntosh, Charles Fleming. Brief Abstracts of Norfolk County Wills, 1710-1753. Richmond, VA, USA: Colonial Dames of America, 1922. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * James, Edward W. "Will of Josias Mackie, Presbyterian Minister, Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties, 1716," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Apr. 1900):358-363. Available at JSTOR ($).

London Courts


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

Taxation
At first glance, researchers might conclude that Virginia tax lists contain very little family history data, though one soon learns that valuable genealogical conclusions can be drawn from these records, nicknamed "annual censuses," such as: relationships, approximate years of birth, socio-economic status, identification of neighbors, the ability to distinguish between persons of the same name, evidence of land inheritance, years of migration, and years of death.

Virginia began enumerating residents' payments of personal property and land taxes in 1782. These two types of taxation were recorded in separate registers. Personal property tax lists include more names than land tax lists, because they caught more of the population. The Family History Library has an excellent microfilm collection of personal property tax lists from 1782 (or the year the county was organized) well into the late nineteenth century for most counties, but only scattered land tax lists. Microfilm collections at The Library of Virginia include land tax lists for all counties and independent cities for the years 1782 through 1978, as well as personal property tax lists for the years 1782 through 1930 (and every fifth year thereafter). Taxes were not collected in 1808.

Some tax records are available online or in print, though published abstracts often omit useful details found only in the original sources. Statewide indexes can help genealogists identify specific counties where surnames occurred in the past, providing starting points for research.


 * [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. Available at FHL; reprinted in Virginia Tax Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983, which is also available at FHL; digital version of VMHB at JSTOR ($). [Norfolk County appears in 30:21-30.]
 * [1730-1785] Norfolk County, Virginia Tithables, 1730-1785. Original records, Chesapeake City Courthouse, Chesapeake, Virginia; also available on microfilm at FHL.
 * [1730-1780] Wingo, Elizabeth B. and W. Bruce Wingo. Norfolk County, Virginia Tithables. [1730-1780] 3 vols. Norfolk, Virginia: E.B. Wingo, W.B. Wingo, c1979-1985. Available at FHL.
 * [1732-1788] Norfolk County - the Colonial Tithe Lists 1732-1788, CD, available for purchase at Binns Genealogy.
 * [1787] 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. Available at FHL. [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Norfolk County is included in Vol. 2.]
 * [1790, 1799] Indexed images of the 1790 and 1799 Personal Property Tax Lists of Norfolk County, Virginia are available online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at FHL. [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Norfolk County is included in Vol. 3.]

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog