Collections

Norfolk County (Va.) Health and Medical Records, 1774-1905, consist of four folders: Mental Health Records, 1824-1891; Registers of Medical Professionals, 1909; Sanitary Inspectors' Reports, 1847-1885; and Smallpox Epidemic Records, 1774-1905.

Norfolk County (Va.) Business Records, 1889-1927, is comprised of various records created by individuals and companies is pursuit of documenting business activities in and around Norfolk County (Va.). Represented records largely consists of letter books and a minute book.

Norfolk County (Va.) Daily Record of Providence (White) School No. 2, 1894-1897. The volume documents monthly attendance of students, age 5 to 16, and teachers at the Providence School, Washington District, Norfolk County. Attendance rolls include first and last names, age, and number of days attended each month.

Norfolk County (Va.) County Judgments (Freedom Suits), 1819, consist of one suit: Peter, a slave vs. John Shipp. Suits initiated by slaves seeking to gain their freedom on the law side of the court. Cases are identified by style of suit consisting of plaintiff and defendant names. Surnames of others involved in a suit, including secondary plaintiffs and defendants, witnesses, deponents and affiants, and family members with surnames different from the plaintiff or defendant are indexed. Also identified are names of slaves and slaveowners found in suit as well as whether slave(s) won their freedom. Predominant documents found in freedom suits include petitions, records of suits, depositions, affidavits, wills, among other items. Information found in documents include slave's argument for freedom, acquisition of slaves by slaveowners, slave ancestry, and relationship between slaves and slaveowners.

Norfolk County (Va.) Naturalization Records, 1808-1895, consists of loose naturalization records filed in the local court. Loose naturalization records may include affidavits, reports for naturalization, declarations of intent to become United States citizens, and notices of application for admission of citizenship. The reports are narrative accounts made by applicants summarizing their journey to the United States. The declarations of intent record the person's name, place of birth, age, country of previous citizenship, renunciation of allegiance and fidelity to the nation of which the person is currently a citizen, and the date the intention was sworn. Affidavits, signed by those who knew the applicant and could vouch for their loyalty to the United States, may also be filed with the reports and declarations.

Norfolk County (Va.) Organization Records, circa 1779-1912 is comprised of various records created by groups in Norfolk County. Represented records consist of unprocessed, loose records. The records typically consist of appointments of trustees, minutes, and miscellaneous records of religious organizations, fraternal organizations, independent associations, and cooperatives.

Norfolk County (Va.) Public Buildings and Grounds, 1755-1913. The records consist of orders to sell public tobacco warehouses and property containing the ruins of the county workhouse, and an unidentified key (1755-1796); jail inspectors' reports and bids for an addition to the jail (1767-1913); and orders and vouchers for repair and upkeep of the courthouse, orders for the relocation of the courthouse to Portsmouth, orders and documents regarding the sale of the old courthouse, and documents concerning the division of the courthouse between Portsmouth and Norfolk County (1787-1887). One courthouse-related document from 1852 shows a rough sketch of the courtroom.

Norfolk County (Va.) Records, 1740-1899 (bulk 1800-1899), consist predominantly of Judgments, Road and Bridge Records, and Land Records. Road and Bridge records include plats. The collection also includes Wills, Overseers of the Poor Records, Bonds, Commisions, and Oaths, School Records, Military and Pension Records, Organization Records, Tax and Fiscal Records, Fiduciary Records, and Miscellaneous Records - an eighteenth century broadside advertising the play Hamlet.