Charles Davis Norton (November 20, 1820 – April 11, 1867) was an American government official.

Early life

Norton was born on November 20, 1820, in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. He was the son of Lucretia ( Huntington) Horton and Capt. Joseph G. Norton (d. 1844), a well-known shipping merchant of Hartford. His maternal grandfather was the Rev. Dr. Joseph Huntington, a Congregationalist minister of

Coventry, Connecticut Coventry ( ) is a New England town, town in Tolland County and in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,235 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The birthpla ...

. His grandfather was the brother of

Samuel Huntington Samuel Huntington may refer to: * Samuel Huntington (Connecticut politician) (1731–1796), American jurist, statesman, and revolutionary leader, 18th Governor of Connecticut * Samuel Huntington (Ohio politician) (1765–1817), American jurist, thi ...

, a

Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...

and signor of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. His uncle, Samuel Huntington Jr., served as the 3rd

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

before becoming Chief Justice of the

Ohio Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

. After preparing for college under private tutors, he attended

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

, where he graduated with honors in 1840.

Career

In 1827, he moved to

Black Rock, New York Black Rock, once an independent municipality, is now a neighborhood of the northwest section of the city of Buffalo, New York. In the 1820s, Black Rock was the rival of Buffalo for the terminus of the Erie Canal, but Buffalo, with its larger h ...

, where his father had a dry-goods business with Judah Bliss known as Norton & Bliss. In 1830, they moved to nearby Buffalo. In 1839, he entered the law office of Horatio Shumway, with whom he continued his legal studies until 1841. He was admitted to the bar in 1843. An ardent Whig, he supported the presidential prospects of

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

. In 1849, he was elected City Attorney of Buffalo and in 1851 he was elected Surrogate of Erie County. In 1865, President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

appointed him

Collector of the Port of Buffalo The Collector of Customs at the Port of Buffalo, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of Buffalo, sometimes referred to as Buffalo Creek, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import duties on foreign goods that ...

to succeed Christian Metz Jr., who had been appointed during the Lincoln administration. Norton served in this role until his death in 1867 after which Joseph K. Tyler was appointed to succeed him. In 1865, Norton published ''The Old Ferry at the Black Rock'', a book of the history of the ferry that crossed the

Niagara River The Niagara River ( ) flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between Ontario, Canada, to the west, and New York, United States, to the east. The origin of the river's name is debated. Iroquoian scholar Bruce T ...

from the " black rock" near the foot of Fort Street to the Canadian shore from the time of the American Revolution.

Personal life

In October 1851, Norton was married to Jeannette Phelps (1822–1889), a daughter of Oliver Phelps (grandson of

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Oliver Phelps) and Laura ( Chapin) Phelps of

Canandaigua, New York Canandaigua () is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,576 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex in the adjacent town of Hopewell. ...

. Her grandmother, Elizabeth "Betsy" Law ( Sherman) Phelps, was the granddaughter of founding father

Roger Sherman Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American politician, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, ...

. Together, they were the parents of two sons: * Porter Norton (1853–1918), a lawyer who married Jennie H. Watson, daughter of Stephen Van Rensselaer Watson and Charlotte ( Sherman) Watson of Buffalo. * Charles Phelps Norton (1858–1923), a lawyer who became the 6th Chancellor of the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

. Norton died on April 11, 1867, in Buffalo. After a funeral at the First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, he was buried at

Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo Forest Lawn Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Buffalo, New York, founded in 1849 by Charles E. Clarke. It covers over and over 152,000 are buried there, including U.S. President Millard Fillmore, First Lady Abigail Fillmore, singer Ric ...

. His widow lived until September 10, 1889.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Porter, he was a grandfather of Porter Huntington Norton (who married Gilbertine Love Coakley) and Gertrude Van Dolfson Norton (who married Daniel Willard Streeter).

References

External links

Porter-Phelps-Huntington Family Papers
at the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

Libraries {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Charles Davis 1820 births 1867 deaths Union College (New York) alumni Lawyers from Buffalo, New York Collectors of the Port of Buffalo