Yolo County CA Archives Biographies.....Norton, John 1868 - 
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Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

JOHN NORTON

    A native of Ireland, his birth having occurred in County Roscommon, October
14, 1868, Mr. Norton came direct to Woodland at the age of sixteen years, in
1885, and shortly thereafter secured a situation upon the ranch of Frank
Bullard, with whom he remained off and on for sixteen years. In 1900 he accepted
a position on the Southern Pacific Railroad, his route lying between Sacramento
and Truckee, Cal., but five months later, having been accustomed all his life to
the great out of doors, resigned his position with intense relief at the
prospect of again working in harmony with nature.

    Returning to Yolo county, Mr. Norton took charge of the farm of George
Woodward, and two years later purchased his present ranch of twenty acres, one
mile west of Woodland, which was formerly used as a race track and was known as
Brown's Corners. Twelve acres of this property he planted to wine grapes, the
balance to alfalfa and orchard, maintaining in connection with his agricultural
pursuits an active interest in the breeding of fine horses. At one time he owned
the famous stallion Gossiper Jr., and has raised many fine trotters and
roadsters. At present he is the owner of the draft stallion, Prince S. Wright,
whose weight is eighteen hundred and sixty pounds, and who, by reason of his
superiority, has taken two blue ribbons, one at the Sacramento State Fair in
1903, as a two-year-old, and one at the Yolo County Fair, held in Woodland in
1909. Mr. Norton trained the well-known pacer Smuggler, by Walstein, whose
record was 2:17 1/4, and has raised many fine colts.

    The marriage of Mr. Norton in August, 1901, united him with Miss Rowena
Millsap, a native of Yolo county, and to their union three children were born,
Elsa, Glennon L. and Albert L. Mrs. Norton's father, Walter W. Millsap, a native
of Missouri, crossed the plains at the age of seventeen, arriving in Hangtown in
May, 1850. During the succeeding two years he mined with indifferent success,
and in 1852 settled in Yolo county, where until his death, February 2,1910, he
farmed one hundred and fifteen acres near Yolo. He was married in 1856 to Miss
Amanda Lowe, a Kentucky girl, who came overland by wagon to California in 1850
with her parents, and who now resides on the home place. Mrs. Norton is fifth
eldest of the living children, as follows: William N., of Anderson, Shasta
county, Cal.; Martha W., now Mrs. L. Odium of Woodland; Lee W. and Casse, twins,
the former residing in Yolo, the latter, now Mrs. S. M. Snyder, of San
Francisco; Rowena, Mrs. Norton; Rufus L., of Lake county; Melvin H., a rancher
near Yolo; Wirt, who conducts the home ranch; Gertrude, now the wife of Allen
Lawcock, of Berkeley; and Albert, who makes his home in Portland, Ore.

    Mr. Norton has aided materially in the development of Yolo county,
maintaining at all times an alert interest in all public enterprises, and enjoys
the highest esteem of his fellow citizens.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth
and Development From the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]


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