Nansemond County, Virginia Genealogy

United States   Virginia    Nansemond County

Formerly a Tidewater county in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.

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. It 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
Many records were lost by the burning of the county clerk's office in 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 Family History Library Catalog can be confusing. Most appear under the Place Search "Suffolk (Independent City), Virginia."

Census
For tips on accessing census records online, see Virginia Census.

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

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

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

1890 Union Veterans


 * Turner, Ronald Ray. Virginia's Union Veterans: Eleventh Census of the United States 1890. Available online, courtesy: Prince William County Virginia website. [Includes residents of this county.]

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




 * 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 World Vital Records ($).
 * 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 BYU Family History Archives. [Includes Nansemond County.]

Quaker

 * Brown, Douglas Summers. A Copy of Lower Virginia Monthly Meeting Minutes (Commonly Called the Chuckatuck Record) 1673-1756. MSS., 1944. Available at.
 * Putnam, Martha A. Quaker Records of Southeast Virginia. Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1996. Available at . [Includes records about Quakers in Dinwiddie, Isle of Wight, Nansemond, Norfolk, Prince George, Southampton counties and Suffolk City from 1600s and 1700s (Blackwater Montly Meeting, Chuckatuck Monthly Meeting, Pagan Creek Meeting, Western Branch Monthly Meeting, and Somerton Monthly Meeting.)]
 * Society of Friends. Chuckatuck Monthly Meeting (Nansemond County, Virginia). Friends' Records, 1678-1755 [Suffolk, Virginia]. MSS., Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia; also available at.
 * Society of Friends. Chuckatuck Monthly Meeting (Nansemond County, Virginia). Monthly Meetings, 1651-1755. Original records at Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; also available at.
 * White, Miles and Anita Comtois. Early Quaker Records in Virginia. 1902-1903; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977. Available at . [This is a copy of a book "containing the earliest records of Friends in Nansemond and Isle of Wight counties, Va." -- page 1.]

DNA
DNA has been collected for purported descendants of the following Nansemond County, Virginia residents. Attempts have not been made to verify the lineages of those tested.


 * [Ballard] Multiple descendants of John Ballard, b. c1635 of Bitton, Gloucestershire, England, d. bef 1704 Nansemond County, Virginia. Y-DNA 12, 25, and 67 Marker Tests, FTDNA (Kits 25104, 33804, 62193, 137959). Genetic signatures available online (labelled Lineage II: B-21, B-22, B-23, B-33), courtesy: The Ballard DNA Project, World Families Network.
 * [Bizzell] Descendant of Thomas Bizzell, b. c1655 England, d. Nansemond County, Virginia. Y-DNA 12 Marker Test, FTDNA (Kit 115869). Genetic signature available online (labelled B-8), courtesy: The Bizzell DNA Project, World Families Network.
 * [Godwin] Descendant of Thomas Godwin, b. England, d. 1676 Nansemond County, Virginia. Y-DNA 37 Marker Test, FTDNA. Genetic signature available online (labelled Goodwin Lineage IV: G-13), courtesy: The Goodwin DNA Project, World Families Network.
 * [Hobbs] Descendant of Simon Hobbs, b. c1750 of Nansemond County, Virginia, d. 1800 Onslow County, North Carolina. Y-DNA 12 Marker Test, FTDNA (Kit 116711). Genetic signature available online (labelled H-16), courtesy: The Hobbs DNA Project, World Families Network.
 * [Hunter] Descendant of William Hunter, b. c1650 of Nansemond County, Virginia, d. 1732. Y-DNA 12 Marker Test, FTDNA (Kit N41781). Genetic signature available online (labelled H-26), courtesy: The Hunter DNA Project, World Families Network. [Note: the migrations reported for this pedigree seem somewhat questionable.]
 * [Lassiter] Descendant of Thomas Lassiter, b. c1587 England, d. Nansemond County, Virginia. Y-DNA 67 Marker Test, FTDNA (Kit 146461). Genetic signature available online (labelled Lineage 1), courtesy: The Lassiter DNA Project, World Families Network.
 * [Norfleet] Multiple descendants of Thomas Norfleet, b. c1645, d. c1700 Nansemond County, Virginia. Y-DNA 12, 25, 37, and 67 Marker Tests, FTDNA (Kits 395, 396, 1527, 43097, 44630, 97019, 109910, 110929, and 113087). Genetic signatures available online (labelled Thomas Norfleet Lineage 1: N-1, N-2, N-3, N-6, N-10, N-11, N-12, N-13, N-14), courtesy: The Norfleet DNA Project, World Families Network.
 * [Norfleet] Multiple descendants of Elisha Norfleet, b. 1800 Nansemond County, Virginia. Y-DNA 12 and 37 Marker Tests, FTDNA (Kits 125344, 132932, and 163689). Genetic signatures available online (labelled Lineage III), courtesy: The Norfleet DNA Project, World Families Network.

Genealogy
More than 100 genealogies have been published about Nansemond County families. To view a list, visit Nansemond County, Virginia Genealogy.

Immigration

 * 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.]
 * [http://www.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=Nansemond&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 Nansemond County, Virginia (work in progress), courtesy: Immigrant Servants Database.

Land
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 ; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes Nansemond County. N.B. If Ancestry's search engine fails, try checking the printed index at the end of the book.]

Colonial Militia

 * Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. Available at . [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 . [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 ; 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 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
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 Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital versions at U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books et. al. 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." 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Virginia section begins on page 238.]

War of 1812

 * 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; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, Nansemond County, p. 91. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Native Americans

 * 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.
 * 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. Culpeper, Virginia: Community Press, 1962. Available at ; digital version 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.]

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. Digital versions at Google Books and New England Ancestors ($).

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 ($). [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..
 * [1785] Insolvents, 1785, Southside Virginian, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Jul. 1988); Vol. 6, No. 4 (Oct. 1998).
 * [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).
 * [1789, 1802] Images of the 1789 and 1802 Land Tax Lists of Nansemond County, Virginia are available to browse online, courtesy: Binns Genealogy.
 * [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.]

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($) andWorld Vital Records ($).

Web Sites

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