American Bizzells, Bizel, Bizell, Bizzel, Bizzle, Bizzelle, Bizill

1655 -- 1700 (page 8 - The Bizzell Book)

No. 1: Thomas Bizell was the first person of record we were able to find in America. We believe he was born ca 1655 in England -- also see Thomas Bizell (3010) under English Bizzells.A land grant was issued to him in Nan semond Co. VA, 20 Oct 1691. The patent, or deed, is quoted in its entirety to show the legal phrases in use a the time and how indentured servantss were bound as a part of the transaction: "To all -- whereas -- now know ye that I the said Francis Nicholson, Esquire, Lt. Governor, give and grant to Thomas Bizell one hundred and seventy acres of lan d lying and being at a p0lace called Kingsayle in the upper parish of Nansemond County, beginning at a white oak a corner tree to the land of Francis Sanders standing on the south side of Queens Graves Swamp and running North eighty on degrees East one hundred and sixty poles to a poplar standing on a branch of the swanp, thence North nine degrees west one hundres and sixty poles to a pine, thence South eighty one degrees West to the intersecting of Francis Sanders his line, thence by the said Sanders his line South and by East Halfe Easterly one hundred and sixty poles to the first station, the said land being due, by and for the Importation of four persons, to have and to hold, to be held, yielding and paying, provided, dated ye 20th day of October Anno Dolmini 1691. --Tho. Pohers, Nath. Pile, Gra. Dorrie, James Pollon." Thus, ther persons imported were Thomas Pohers, Nathaniel Pile, Graham Dorrie, and James Pollon, and the patent was recorded in book 8, 1689 to 1695, page 176, VA State Library, Richmond, VA --Using an 1820 map on file at the VA State Library, we determined that Kingsayle was located near a place called South Quay Towne which lay along the Blackwater River, not far from the corner of Isle of Wight, Southampton and Nansemond Counties, Kingsayle Creek appears to flow into Wickham Swamp (see 1694 land patent below) which lies east of Blackwater River. In 1975, South Quay was still a place name along VA highway 189, ca 10 miles above the NC border. --To determine if Thomas came to America as an indentured servant, an extensive search was made of early VA records. We found no evidence that he did and concluded thaqt he must have paid for his passage across the ocean (6 pounds or less if he came directly from England to VA). We believe he must have been about 35 yrs old when he received his land grant and imported 4 indentured servants. --In an effort to obtain more information about Thomas, we made a visit to the Nansemond Courthouse. However, all early county records were lost during two burnings of the courthouse during the 19th century. Also, a search for records on this person was made at the Public Records Office in London, but without6 success. Thus, except for land patents issued directly by the Crown or the Territorial Governor, there appears little hope for finding additional information about Thomas. --Another land patent for 208 acres in Nansemond County was issued to Thomas Bissell on 20 Apr 1694. This was on the head branches of Wickham Swamp, adjacent to the lands of Col. Milner, Capt. Lear and Robert Carr. The patent was for importation from Elgland of 5 persons: James Dawson, Leonard Sheldon, William Pierce, Francis Theterson and Benjamin Lucas, and is recorded in bk. 8, p. 346. Since this land lay very close to the 1691 grant, it was either to the same person or to a man named Bissell who must have previously know Thomas Bizell. --Another county court record, 1721 - 1723, showed that Thomas Bozell (or Bizell) sold land in Perquimans Co., NM. This county lies just to the south of Nansemond Col Note:

land in Perquimans Co., NM. This county lies just to the south of Nansemond Col Note:

There is evidence that Bizells also were in the adjacent Hertford Co., NC area, which was not formally established as a county untiil 1759; and in the Edgecombe Co., NC area, which was not established as a county until 1741. Early records in Hertford, however, were lost in several burnings of the courthouse.