The Lost Records Localities (formerly Burned Counties) guide has
recently been updated. It's found here:
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/rn30_lostrecords.pdf
The Library of Virgina has recently scanned our Lost Records Localities
collection which includes 131 documents recorded in Nansemond County
going back to the late 1600's. This digital collection is available at
http://www.virginiamemory.com/ Go to Digital Collections A to Z and look
for Lost Records Localities Digital Collection. You can also access
through our Digitool page:
http://digitool1.lva.lib.va.us:8881/R/1FE7V61HHP9GTUTUL3K4GQ66R48PUEI783
881LQTAMLTM5SCA1-02889?&pds_handle=GUEST
Select Lost Records under the County & City Records heading
Greg Crawford
Local Records Program Manager
Library of Virginia
[log in to unmask]
804-371-2127
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls
and looks like work." - Thomas Edison
-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wilson, Donald L
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2011 12:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Nansemond county
Certainly Nansemond is one of the most challenging counties in Virginia
in which to do research. Like working in all "burned record" or "lost
record" counties, you have to be especially resourceful in using any
records that exist.
The Library of Virginia has a useful guide to getting started at
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/va22_burnedco.htm. This guide
actually calls Nansemond one of the "hopeless" counties, but I wouldn't
be quite that despondent. There are enough records scattered through
the centuries to allow you to at least produce a credible outline of
your family, though you may be unable to prove every link. Here are
some of the most important sources available:
19th century:
*) Deeds and wills re-recorded after the 1866 fire may contain valuable
early information.
*) U.S. census records 1820 and later will show you the family
composition. (1790-1810 censuses are lost for Nansemond.)
*) Annual personal property tax lists 1815 and later will show you
every household, may identify relationships, and show you changes in
property and migrations. It usually counts and may identify every free
male over age 16. (Lists 1782-1814 are missing.)
*) Annual land tax lists 1782 and later will show you all lands your
family owned, may show you where it is located, its value, how they
obtained it, and adjacent owners. Can be very helpful if land is passed
down in the family. Nansemond land tax lists prior to 1815 are
available online by subscription from www.binnsgenealogy.com. I see
that the Savage family had extensive land holdings in Nansemond in 1815
(Thomas, Caleb, Elizabeth, Jacob's estate, Jesse [of Gates County],
Abel, and John) -- and their lands were all about 13 miles southwest of
the courthouse, adjacent to each other.
*) Vital records (births, marriages, and deaths) were sent to the State
Auditor's office after 1853, and those state copies (available at the
Library of Virginia) may provide clues to family relationships in the
early 19th century.
*) Newspaper contain notices of marriages and deaths as well as other
personal news items. Earliest Virginia newspaper, in Williamsburg 1736,
carried news from throughout the Commonwealth. Notices of their members
were carried by church newspapers such as the Religious Herald
(Episcopal, 1828+), and Southern Churchman (Baptist, 1835+).
18th century and earlier:
*) Don't underestimate the information to be found in military rosters
and pension files, especially Revolutionary pensions. Military size
rolls from the French and Indian war (1750s) can give ages and
birthplaces of soldiers. Much of this data is abstracted or online.
Recently Eric Grundset began publishing abstracts of Virginia muster
rolls from ca. 1702 which include some burned counties. Don't know if
Nansemond will be included by the time it is completed (Magazine of
Virginia Genealogy).
*) Family Bible records deposited in many libraries (Library of Va. has
put some online)
*) Records of adjacent counties -- take advantage of the many published
abstracts.
*) Surviving Nansemond clerk's fee books, 1774, and 1789-1825, 1836-37,
1846-52, outline many (if not all) court actions in those time periods,
including probates, chancery cases, conveyances, marriage settlements,
guardianships. They at least provide clues to other documents and
family relationships. (There are nine entries for the name Savage
between 1791 and 1800.)
*) The state census of Nansemond, 1783-85, identifies every head of
household and counts every person there. (for example, Caleb Savage had
9 whites and 6 blacks in his household in 1783.) [Heads of Families at
the First Census ... Virginia (state enumerations 1782-85)]
*) The vestry book of the Upper Parish of Nansemond County, 1743-1793,
contains numerous mentions of residents, including poor people, and
periodic processioning records (confirminig the boundaries of all
landowners). Processioning records show you what landowners were alive
in a given year, and identifies their neighbors. It may allow you to
link successive generations of owners. (In 1752, a boundary line
between William Savage and William Rogers was confirmed.) A vestry book
also exists for Suffolk Parish, 1749-84 and 1825-56.
*) Although Anglican church registers of births, marriages and deaths
do not survive for Nansemond, there are good records of Quaker meetings,
as early as the 1670s, with much family information.
*) A 1704 rent roll for Virginia names all 384 landowners in Nansemond
with their acreage. (No one named Savage appears.)
*) State land grants, which begin in 1623, should be studied (Cavaliers
and Pioneers, by Nell M. Nugent et al). With that information it should
be possible (with a lot of effort) to construct a map showing every
original grant in Nansemond. Regrants often help trace the history of a
land's ownership. Early land grants include the names of persons whose
transportation (immigration) was the basis of the land title.
I'm sure other sources can be found to supplement these.
Be optimistic and keep plugging. (And Good Luck!)
Donald L. Wilson, Virginiana Librarian,
Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center
for Genealogy and Local History (RELIC), Prince William Public Library
System, Bull Run Regional Library,
8051 Ashton Avenue, Manassas, VA 20110-2892
703-792-4540 www.pwcgov.org/library/relic
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