Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Nansemond County (Va.) Sheriffs' Records, 1840-1916, Local government records collection, Suffolk (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a shipment of court papers from Suffolk (City).

Historical Information

Nansemond County was created as Upper Norfolk County by 1640 and in 1642 was renamed Nansemond County for the Nansemond Indians, who lived in the area in the early seventeenth century. The county seat was Suffolk. The county became the independent city of Nansemond on 1 July 1972, and on 1 January 1974 Nansemond merged with the city of Suffolk. The entire area is now known as Suffolk.

Nansemond County court records were destroyed in three separate fires: the earliest consumed the house of the court clerk in April 1734 (where the records were kept at that time), the second was set by British troops in 1779, and the last occurred on 7 February 1866.

Sheriffs appeared in Virginia when the original shires were formed in 1634. They originally had three functions: 1) law enforcement, 2) conduct of elections, and 3) financial officer. The sheriff's duties have been curtailed over the years, but he is still the major law enforcing agent in a county.

Scope and Content

Nansemond County (Va.) Sheriffs' Records, 1840-1916, consist of a Sheriff's Execution Book, 1840-1842, that records the collection of court fines and a Sheriff's Return Book, 1904-1916, that records returns on poll tax postings.

Related Material

Additional Nansemond County Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm"

Nansemond County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Nansemond County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Suffolk (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Public records--Virginia--Nansemond County.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Local government records--Virginia--Nansemond County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data