Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

Nansemond County, Virginia, was one of the original eight shires (counties) formed in the Virginia Colony. It started as Upper Norfolk County in 1637, carved from Elizabeth City County (now Hampton). In 1646, it was renamed Nansemond after the Nansemond River and the local Native American tribe (Algonquian people who lived there for centuries before English settlement in the early 1600s). The county covered a large area along the river in the Tidewater region, focused on tobacco farming, trade, and later shipbuilding. In 1974, it merged with the city of Suffolk, so it no longer exists as a separate county—records are now in Suffolk City.The big issue with Nansemond’s historical records is that most were destroyed by three major fires over the years. This makes genealogy and history research tough, but some bits survive in other places like state archives or copied documents.Key Fires and Record Losses

• 1734 Fire: The first big loss happened when the courthouse clerk’s house (where records were kept) burned down in April 1734. Most early deeds, wills, and court papers from 1637–1734 were lost.
• 1779 Fire (Revolutionary War): British troops raided and burned the courthouse during the war, destroying more records from 1734–1779.
• 1866 Fire (Post-Civil War): The last fire hit the courthouse on February 7, 1866 (possibly accidental or related to post-war chaos). This wiped out almost everything left from 1779–1866.

Because of these fires, Nansemond is called a “burned county” in genealogy circles—meaning very few original records survive from before 1866.What Records SurviveEven with the losses, some info can be found in backups, state copies, or other counties:

• Deeds & Wills: A few pre-1734 deeds were recopied or referenced in later documents. Post-1866 deeds start fresh in Suffolk records.
• Court Orders: Some 17th-century orders were copied into Virginia state archives.
• Land Patents/Grants: These are in Virginia Land Office records (from 1623 onward), not county-specific, so many Nansemond grants survive.
• Church Records: Parish registers from Nansemond’s Anglican churches (e.g., Suffolk Parish) have some births, marriages, deaths from 1700s–1800s.
• Census/Tax Lists: Federal censuses from 1790 onward (but 1790/1800 lost for all Virginia due to 1812 War fire in D.C.), and state tax lists from 1782+.
• Free Negro Records: Some certificates from 1827–1861 survived and are in the Library of Virginia.
• Other Sources: Family Bibles, newspapers (e.g., Norfolk papers), military records (Revolutionary/Civil War), and books like History of Nansemond County by Jos. B. Dunn (1907) summarize lost info from memories and fragments.
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  Note above in the account of its history…”In 1974, it merged with the city of Suffolk“.  That statement is not true… what actually happened is that a flock of Cucoos landed and “nested” in the County and refused to just fly over.

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