Minerva Brace Norton (, Brace; January 7, 1837 - October 2, 1894) was an American educator and writer. She was from her early youth until her last days a constant contributor to

periodical literature Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annual ''volumes ...

. For most of her life, she also filled the role of a pastor's wife.

Early life and education

Sarah Minerva Brace was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, January 7, 1837. She was of

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

ary and

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

ancestry, the Braces, of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and the Thompsons, of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. She was the daughter of Captain Harvey and Hannah Thompson Brace, New England pioneers to

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The family first moved to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and, when she was nine years old, to

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 65,615, making it the List of cities in Wisconsin, tenth-most populous city in Wis ...

, where her youth was spent. Her education was received in the schools of Janesville, and under

Mary Mortimer Mary Mortimer (December 2, 1816 – July 14, 1877) was a British-born American educator. She served as principal of the Milwaukee-Downer College, Milwaukee Female College and other women's educational institutions. When just a child, Mortimer and ...

, in Milwaukee College, and in Baraboo Female Seminary from which she was graduated in 1861.

Career

She spent the years of her early adulthood as a teacher in the schools where she had studied, her favorite lines of study and work being

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

, mathematics and history. She was assistant editor of the ''Little Corporal'' in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, in 1866, and subsequently did considerable editorial work. She married Rev. Smith Norton, April 18, 1867, Congregational minister. She devoted most of the years of her married life to domestic and parish duties. For 27 years, she a leader in the work of that church, especially home and foreign missions. Her work extended from New Hampshire to

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

, and its record is found in part of the book entitled ''Service in the King's Guards'', the joint work of herself and husband. She also served as secretary of the Woman's Board of Missions,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, in 1876 and 1877. This period was varied by teaching, from 1871 to 1874, in the Evanston College for Ladies,

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, and as principal of the ladies' department of Ripon College, from 1874 to 1876. She traveled from 1886 to 1888 in England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, after which she wrote ''In and Around Berlin'' (1889). In 1890, she was again abroad, traveling with her husband in England, France, Belgium and Holland. Norton was a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for several journals, including the ''Andover Review''. She wrote and published many articles on various topics during the last quarter of the 19th century in periodicals, including the ''Independent'', ''Christian Union'', New York ''Observer'', New York ''Evangelist'', ''Congregationalism'', ''Advance'', ''Sunday-School Times'', ''Journal of Education'', ''Education'', and ''Wide Awake''. In addition to ''Service in the King's Guards'' and ''In and Around Berlin'' (Chicago, 1889), she also wrote ''A True Teacher'' and the ''Life of Miss Mortimer'', and was one of the editors of the cyclopedia entitled ''

A Woman of the Century ''A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred Seventy Biographical Sketches, Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women, in all Walks of Life'' is a compendium of biographical sketches of American women. It was published in 1893 by Charles We ...

''. Norton collaborated with her cousin,

Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 187 ...

, on the life of Willard's mother, entitled ''A Great Mother''.

Death and legacy

Norton made her home in

Beloit, Wisconsin Beloit ( ) is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. Beloit is a principal city of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Janesville–Beloit metropolitan statistical area (Rock Co ...

, and died there on October 2, 1894, after a lingering illness. She was survived by her husband, a son, James, and a daughter. Her papers are held in the collections of the Western Reserve Historical Society.

Selected works

* ''In and Around Berlin'' (1889) * ''Service in the King's Guards'' (with Rev. Smith Norton, 1891) * ''A great mother; sketches of Madam Willard'' (1894) * ''A true teacher; Mary Mortimer, a memoir'' (1894) * ''A Great Mother''

References

Attribution

* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Minerva Brace 1837 births 1894 deaths 19th-century American biographers 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American women writers Writers from Rochester, New York Educators from New York (state) Milwaukee-Downer College alumni Ripon College (Wisconsin) faculty American travel writers American women travel writers American Congregationalist missionaries American women newspaper editors American women academics Congregationalist missionaries in the United States Female Christian missionaries Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century