Henry Ellsworth Norton (1836 - 1900)

Born 3 Aug 1836 in Madison, Connecticut, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Lucy Ann (Munger) Norton — married 9 Jun 1859 in Connecticut, United States

Died 2 Nov 1900 at age 64 in Kenesaw, Nebraska, United States

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Biography

From the 1890 book Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall, and Hamilton Counties^[1]:

Hon. Henry E. Norton, Kenesaw, Neb. Eminent success achieved through honorable endeavor affords one of the greatest sources of pleasure to him, who, in a retrospective view of life, traces his progress by such tokens as deserve admiration and esteem. Such an enjoyment is afforded in its fullest sense to Mr. Henry E. Norton, of whose life but a brief summary is presented in this biographical sketch.

The Norton family is known as one of the earliest families of Connecticut. When the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock with her precious load of weary pilgrims, who, in order that they might enjoy the freedom of worship, and follow this after the dictates of their own conscience, left their native lands and pushed westward across the broad Atlantic, there was numbered among this little band, one, John Norton, in whose veins flowed the blood of the sturdy Scotch, and who, settling at Guilford, Conn., became the progenitor of the Norton family in America.

Henry E. Norton was born at Madison, Conn. , on August 3, 1836, and is the son of Jonathan E. and Eliza (Stone) Norton, both worthy people of the same town and State, where the father died in 1880, at the age of eighty years, but where the mother now resides at the advanced age of eighty-five years. Of a family of three sons and three daughters born to this worthy couple, Henry E. is the third child in order of birth. Growing to manhood in his New England home, he inherited those Puritanical principles of industry and sterling integrity which have ever characterized his after life.

Young Norton secured his education in the high schools of his native place, and early possessing a longing for active business, we find him when but seventeen years of age, acting in the capacity of traveling salesman, and in 1861 he became a member of the general merchandising firm of Munger, Norton & Co.

Two years later he engaged in the oil industry at Titusville, Pa. , as a member of the firm of Hale & Norton. The company did a general business, pumping, refining and shipping petroleum, and were so successful, and their business increased so rapidly, that the following year they found it necessary to establish an office at the corner of Maiden Lane and Water Streets, New York, Mr. Norton acting as general manager of the company.

In 1865 he went to Canada, and organized an oiling and prospecting company, at Oil Springs, Ontario. Soon afterward he returned to his native State, where he engaged at merchandising, also in the hard wood timber business for a number of years. In 1879 he organized the Guilford Enterprise Company, for the manufacture of vegetable ivory buttons, and was elected general manager, secretary and treasurer of the company.

Mr. Norton not only took an active interest in the business development of his country, but also took a deep interest in politics, and in 1864 represented Guilford in the General Assembly of Connecticut. He had become a stockholder in the Lyon's Rock and Lime Quarry Company, of Lyons, Col. , and in the spring of 1884 he went to the west to view his property, and was at once elected president of the company, which position he now holds.

In 1884 he came to Kenesaw, Neb., and established the Kenesaw Exchange Bank, which opened for business November 11 , of that year, with Mr. Norton as president, and under his guidance has proved a success. The firm, first known as Norton & Fry, has since been changed to Norton & Hatch, who, in June, 1888, established the Madrid Exchange Bank.

In 1859, at Madison, Conn. , he was united in marriage to Miss Lucy A. Munger, a native of Madison, and also of old Puritan stock. The fruits of this union were two sons and one daughter: Elouise C. (now Mrs. P. E. Hatch, of Kenesaw, Neb.), Charles G. (who died at Guilford, Conn., at the age of fourteen years), and Elbert E. (assistant cashier of Kenesaw Exchange Bank, and a graduate of Yale College in the class of 1888). In 1880 Mrs. Norton passed to her last long sleep, and now lies at rest in the cemetery at Guilford, Conn. , she being at the time of her death a respected member of the Third Congregational Church of that place.

In April, 1885, at Atlantic, Iowa, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Norton with Miss Ella S. Talmadge, who died the following September, at Kenesaw, Neb. His marriage with Laura Gertrude Francis occurred on June 2, 1887. This lady is a native of Thibodeaux, La Fourche Parish, La. The family worship at the First Presbyterian Church of Kenesaw, of which they are members, and in which organization Mr. Norton is an elder. He has for many years been prominent in Masonic circles, both in the East and West, first becoming a member of the fraternity in 1861, when he entered into St. Albans' Lodge No. 38, at Guilford, Conn. He was made a Koyal Arch Mason at Fair Haven, in 1883, and the following year became a member of the New Haven Commandery No. 2, K. T. He was prominent in organizing Kenesaw Lodge No. 144, of which he is a charter member and was first Master. He is also a member of Mt. Nebo Commandery No. 11, at Hastings, Neb.

Since his residence in Kenesaw, Mr. Norton has been prominently identified with all movements tending toward its advancement. A noticeable event in his career is the thorough principles upon which all his business ventures were conducted, and the eminent success with which they were attended. Mr. Norton is in every respect a self-made man, and his achievements are due to his own personal efforts. His successful career in life furnishes for the younger generation a valuable example, showing, as it does, what may be accomplished by one having pluck and energy.

This might also be the same Henry E. Norton who was treasurer of the Guilford Fair in 1869.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall, and Hamilton Counties. p 288-289. The Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890. https://archive.org/stream/biographicalhistachhne00good#page/288/mode/2up
2. ↑ Helander, Joel. Guilford Fair: A Brief History. p 2. The Guilford Agricultural Society, Inc., 2011. http://guilfordfair.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Guilford_Fair_History_Booklet_for_web.pdf

• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F74Q-WL1 : accessed 4 November 2015), Henry Ellsworth Norton, 03 Aug 1836; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M68G-JKK : accessed 4 November 2015), Henry E Norton in household of Jonathan E Norton, Madison, New Haven, Connecticut, United States; citing family 354, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "Connecticut Marriages, 1630-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7G1-62X : accessed 5 November 2015), Henry A. Norton and Lucie A. Munger, 09 Jun 1859; citing Connecticut, United States, reference p1241; FHL microfilm 3,301.
• "Connecticut Marriages, 1630-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7G1-62N : accessed 5 November 2015), Henry C. Norton and Lucie A. Munger, 11 Jun 1859; citing Connecticut, United States, reference p1401; FHL microfilm 3,301.
• "United States Census, 1860," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHR3-GW3 : accessed 4 November 2015), Henry E Norton, Baraugh Town Guilford, New Haven, Connecticut, United States; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing p. 26, household ID 259, NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 803,085.
• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN7J-PML : accessed 4 November 2015), Henry E Norton, Connecticut, United States; citing p. 12, family 121, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 545,610.
• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFC1-FSX : accessed 4 November 2015), Henry E Norton, Guilford, New Haven, Connecticut, United States; citing enumeration district 106, sheet 560C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0107; FHL microfilm 1,254,107.
• "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7VN-JYW : accessed 4 November 2015), Henry E. Norton, 02 Nov 1900; citing , reference 46; FHL microfilm 3,336.
• "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F76M-KP1 : accessed 4 November 2015), Henry E. Norton, 02 Nov 1900; citing Guilford, Connecticut, reference ; FHL microfilm 3,176.
• http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=107162212