Charles D. Norton
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Charles Dyer Norton (March 12, 1871 – March 6, 1923) was an American banker who served as the
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury is one of several positions in the United States Department of the Treasury, serving under the United States Secretary of the Treasury. History According to the U.S. statute, there are eight Assis ...
and Secretary to President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
.


Early life

Norton was born on March 12, 1871, in
Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...
. He was a son of the Rev. Franklin Burroughs Norton (1833–1895) and Harriet Arvilla ( Dyer) Norton (1846–1921). Through his mother, he was a direct descendant of
Mary Dyer Mary Dyer (born Marie Barrett; c. 1611 – 1 June 1660) was an English and colonial American Puritan-turned-Quaker who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony d ...
, the
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
martyr, and of
Roger Williams Roger Williams (March 1683) was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Pl ...
, founder of
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
. He graduated from
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
with the class of 1893. His father had graduated from Amherst in 1856.


Career

Norton spent several years with ''
Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ...
'' before becoming associated with the Northwest Mutual Life Insurance Company, eventually becoming general agent for the company in Chicago. He stayed with Northwest Mutual until 1909 when he became
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury is one of several positions in the United States Department of the Treasury, serving under the United States Secretary of the Treasury. History According to the U.S. statute, there are eight Assis ...
under President Taft's Secretary
Franklin MacVeagh Franklin MacVeagh (November 22, 1837July 6, 1934) was an American politician, lawyer, grocer and banker. He served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury under President William Howard Taft. Formative years and family Born on November ...
, replacing Louis A. Coolidge who served under President
Roosevelt Roosevelt most often refers to two American presidents: * Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919, president 1901–1909), 26th president of the United States * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945, president 1933–death), 32nd president of the United State ...
's Secretary
George B. Cortelyou George Bruce Cortelyou (July 26, 1862October 23, 1940) was an American Cabinet of the United States, cabinet secretary of the early twentieth century. He served in various capacities in the presidential administrations of Grover Cleveland, Willi ...
. In 1910, Norton left the Treasury Department (and was succeeded by
A. Piatt Andrew Abram Piatt Andrew Jr. (February 12, 1873 – June 3, 1936) was an American economist and politician who served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, the founder and director of the American Ambulance Field Service during World War I, and a ...
) to become Secretary to President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
, where he "organized the Commission on Economy and Efficiency which prepared the Government estimates on a budge basis for the first time." He worked for Taft for one year and was succeeded by fellow former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Charles D. Hilles. In 1911, he left the White House to become Vice President of the
First National Bank of New York Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for " National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation. Citibank was founded in 1812 as City Bank of New York, and ...
(which later became
Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...
). He replaced
Thomas W. Lamont Thomas William Lamont Jr. (September 30, 1870 – February 2, 1948) was an American banker. Early life Lamont was born in Claverack, New York. His parents were Thomas Lamont, a Methodist minister, and Caroline Deuel Jayne. Since his father wa ...
, who left to become a partner at J. P. Morgan & Co. In 1918, Norton retired as vice president of the Bank, and became president of the First Security Company, an affiliated institution, succeeding
George Fisher Baker George Fisher Baker (March 27, 1840 – May 2, 1931) was an American financier and philanthropist. Known as the "Dean of American Banking", he was also known for his taciturnity. Baker made a fortune after the American Civil War, Civil War in rai ...
who became chairman of the board. Norton was president of the Coal and Coke Railway Company, the New Gauley Coal Corporation and a vice president of the West Virginia Coal and Coke Company. He was a trustee of the
Adams Express Company Adams Funds, formerly Adams Express Company, is an investment company made up of Adams Diversified Equity Fund, Inc. (), a publicly traded diversified equity fund, and Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. (), formerly Petroleum & Resources Corp., a ...
and a director of the American Railway Express Company, the First National Bank, Equitable Life Assurance Society, Montgomery Ward & Co., Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Coal Co.,
American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...
among others.


Philanthropy and volunteer efforts

While at the Treasury, Norton became a member of the Executive Committee and Treasurer of the
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
as well as a trustee. In 1917, President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
appointed him one of the five members of the Red Cross War Council, which assumed the management of the Red Cross in its war work. He also served as a trustee of the Russell Sage Foundation and was chairman of the Special Committee on Plan of New York and its Environs as well as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, the
American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History 19th century In 1893, a group of American architect ...
, and a trustee and treasurer of the
American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 ...
.


Personal life

In 1897, Norton was married to Katherine McKim Garrison (1873–1948) of
Llewellyn Park Llewellyn Park is a historic gated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within West Orange in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Llewellyn Park is thought to be the country's first planned residential community, ...
in
West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...
. She was a daughter of prominent editor and author Wendell Phillips Garrison and the poet Lucy McKim Garrison, Lucy (née McKim) Garrison. Katherine's grandfather was the prominent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and among her family were aunt Fanny Garrison Villard (wife of railroad tycoon Henry Villard) and maternal uncle Charles Follen McKim, the prominent New York architect. They were the parents of three children: * Garrison Norton (1900–1995), the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR), Assistant Secretary of the Navy who married Emily McMullan. * Lucia Garrison Norton (1902–1992), who married Alan C. Valentine in 1928. * Charles McKim Norton (1907–1991), who married pianist Martha Chipman Hutcheson (d. 1988) in 1939. Norton died of complications from influenza on March 6, 1923, at 4 66th Street (Manhattan), East 66th Street, his home in New York City. At the time of his death, his eldest son was a senior at Harvard, his daughter was a senior at Smith College, Smith, and his younger son was at Groton School, Groton. He was buried at Rosedale Cemetery (Orange, New Jersey), Rosedale Cemetery in New Jersey. His widow, who never remarried, died in New York on February 8, 1948.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Charles D. 1871 births 1923 deaths Dyer family Amherst College alumni American bankers United States assistant secretaries of the treasury Burials at Rosedale Cemetery (Orange, New Jersey)