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J. J. NorthJ. J. Norton, farmer and stockman. Randall, Ark. Among the successful agriculturists of Cleveland County whose merits are such as to entitle them to representation in the present work is Mr. J. J. Norton, the subject of this sketch. He is a native of Lawrence County, Ala., where he was burn in 1831, and is the son of Jacob L. and Elizabeth (Martin) Norton, natives of Kentucky. The parents were partly reared in Tennessee, but were married in Alabama, and were among the first settlers of that State. They both died in Alabama, the father in 1882, and the mother in 1841. After the death of his wife, Jacob L. Norton married again. He was a successful farmer, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church. His father, Edward Norton, was killed by a horse in Tennessee, and his grandfather, James Norton, was drowned in Lawrence County, Ala. The latter served all through the Revolutionary War. J. J. Norton, the fifth of ten children born to his parents, received a fair education in his native State, and in 1852 moved to the frontier of Texas, where he spent about fiteen years engaged in farming and stock-raising. During the last two years of the war he served in Company E, Twenty-sixth Texas Cavalry, and his field of action was principally in Texas and Indian Territory. In 186 7 he returned to Jefferson County, Ark., and in 1871 to his present neighborhood. He has about 500 acres of excellent land, has about 200 acres under cultivation, has a good residence, substantial barns, outbuildings, etc., and is one of the foremost farmers of the county. He was married in 1852, before leaving Alabama, to bliss Mary Gibson, a native of Morgan County, Ala., and the daughter of David and Susannah Gibson. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and died in 1879. To this union were born six children, two sons and one daughter now living. Mr. Norton was again married in 1882, to Mrs. Martha Gill, who was born in Arkansas, and who was the daughter of Henry and Sarah Barnes, of Alabama and Virginia, respectively. Her parents were married in Bradley County, Ark, and died in what is now Cleveland County, in 1867 and 1872, respectively. Mr. Barnes was a farmer and carpenter. To Mr. Norton's last union two children were born, both sons. Mr. Norton was reared a Whig, but now affiliates with the Democratic party. He is a member of the Agricultural Wheel, and although formerly a Presbyterian in his religious belief, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mrs. Norton belongs to the Missionary Baptist Church.
Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas |
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