Thank you Greg and all of you gracious friends that replied.  My problem has been one of  "chasing the facts"....with an impediment.  My patriarch has been reliably identified as Lewis Williams  "of Nansemond County, VA".....with documentations in some of the Colonial Records and in the "order of the first Families of NC".  However, a line back to his father ?John died Isle of Wight County ca 1650.   Lewis' life and times has been proved difficult to follow.  His property in Nansemond was probably in Bath precinct of Albemarle county which became Bath then Chowan then Bertie then Hertford counties, NC.  I have those recods with his death and will in 1717.  He has been identified with a birth date -1640- 1646.  "in Nansemond.....I don't think so, but posit Accomack or Isle of Wight counties.  Queen Creek, VA has been considered.  Thanks for your refernce.  George
---- "Crawford wrote: 
>  
> 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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