Chatham County GaArchives Biographies.....Norton, George Mosse 1873 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 15, 2004, 8:31 am

Author: William Harden
p. 667-668

   DR. GEORGE MOSSE NORTON. One of the best known men in the medical profession
in Savannah, is Dr. George Mosse Norton. His father and other members of his
family were of the medical profession, and his ability in this line may be
credited somewhat to inheritance. Born of one of the oldest southern families,
he has lived up to the reputation for wit, and brilliancy and strength of
character which had belonged to his ancestors for generations. Although one of
the younger physicians in the city he has attained a success that an older
practitioner might envy.

   Dr. Norton was born in Savannah, Georgia, on the 29th of November, 1873, the
son of Dr. Robert Godfrey Norton and Martha Jane (Edwards) Norton. He is
descended from. Jonathan Norton, a native of England, who early in life came to
America and settled on the Island of St. Helena, off the coast of South
Carolina. He was born in 1705 and died in 1774, his wife being Mary Ann Chaplin.
One of his daughters, Dorothy Phoebe, became the wife of Dr. George Mosse. The
latter was a notable character in the coast country of South Carolina and in
Savannah. He was born, reared and educated for the medical profession in the
University of Dublin, Ireland. Soon after his graduation he came as a physician
to America and settled on the Island of St. Helena, where he subsequently became
the owner of a large amount of landed property. In addition to this
professional, practice he was a large planter and a manufacturer of leather. He
became in time a man of considerable wealth, and of prominence in this section
of the country. Both the Nortons and the Mosses were originally members of the
Protestant Episcopal church, but after coming to America they became devoted
members of the Baptist church. Dr. George Mosse, at his own expense, built a
house of worship on the Island of St. Helena. The advantages for education on
the island were extremely meagre, so in order to better educate his younger
children, in about 1799 or 1800, he removed with his family to Savannah. He had
a large family and one of his daughters, Martha, became the wife of Col.
Alexander Lawton. They were the parents of Gen. A. R. Lawton, now deceased, who
was one of the most distinguished lawyers in Savannah, a brigadier general in
the Confederate army, and for a long time the general attorney of the Central of
Georgia Railroad. Members of the Norton family lived on the Island of St. Helena
for over a hundred years and have been closely identified with the history of
that island, as well as with the near-by towns of South Carolina; Beaufort,
Bluffton, Robertville and Black Swamp, and with Savannah.

   The great-great-grandfather of Dr. George Mosse Norton was William Norton,
son of the original Jonathan Norton. "William Norton married Mary Godfrey, and
like, Dr. Mosse, removed in later life from the Island of St. Helena, to
Savannah. One of his sons, the greatgrandfather of the present Dr. Norton, was
Robert Godfrey Norton, who was a soldier of the Continental line during the
Revolutionary war. Robert Godfrey Norton married his cousin, Sarah Mosse, and
most of his life was spent at Robertville, South Carolina. One of their sons was
Dr. Alexander Norton, grandfather of Dr. George Mosse Norton. For a number of
years Dr. Alexander Norton practiced medicine in the city and was the first
official port physician of Savannah. He married Miss Julia Green, and after
living for a number of years in Robertville, after the close of the Civil war,
he again returned to Savannah and died here in 1869.

   Dr. Robert Godfrey Norton was born in Robertville, South Carolina, on the
17th of March, 1841, and died in Savannah in 1900. He was a graduate of the
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, and also of the Charleston
Medical College, and was one of the leading physicians in Savannah for many
years. He was married in 1861 to Martha Jane Edwards, of Effingham county,
Georgia, and they became the parents of the following children: Fannie Cone, who
is now the wife of Gordan L. Groover, of Savannah; Robert G.; William Edwards;
George Mosse, and Walter Abell. The latter is a physician and is practicing
medicine in Savannah. Dr. William Edwards Norton, who was also a physician of
Savannah, died in this city in March, 1911.

   Dr. George Mosse Norton was reared in Savannah and was educated in the public
schools of his home city and in the University of Georgia,. at Athens. He
studied medicine in the Southern Medical College at Atlanta, Georgia, from which
he was graduated in the class of 1898. Two years later he went to New York City,
where he took post-graduate work in the New York Post-Graduate Medical School.
He then began his practice in Savannah and soon became one of the successful
members of his profession in the city. He has continued to build up a large
general practice, but of late years he has turned his attention more directly to
surgery. He is a member of the Georgia and the American Medical Associations,
and is a member of the staff of Park View Sanatarium. In his fraternal relations
he is a member of the Masons and the Elks. For several years he was an active
member of the Georgia Hussars, in which .he was surgeon with the rank of
lieutenant. He was awarded a medal for horsemanship by the Hussars in 1899.

   The city of Savannah is noted for its historic old mansions, and the home of
Dr. Norton is one of the most notable. It was originally built by Joseph
Waldburg as a home for his family, and after his death it was occupied for many
years by his son-in-law, Colonel Clinch, a native of South Carolina. The house
is an example of that substantial style of architecture used by men of wealth in
a former age, when timber was plentiful, and veneer was unknown. The walls of
the house are more than two feet thick, and the brick of which it is built is
all rosined as are the hardwood floors. The ceilings, walls, partitions and
other inside wood work are all of the costliest and most durable materials. The
interior furnishings, decorations and the wonderful chandeliers were all
imported from Europe and most of these still remain to add to the artistic
beauty of the house itself. A delightful garden on the Barnard street side of
the house is in keeping with the rest, and on the west side is another garden
which affords a charming playground for the children. The property has one
hundred and twenty feet of frontage on Oglethorpe avenue, and from a financial
standpoint is one of the most valuable in the city. The house is built with two
stories and a basement, containing many rooms of the generous proportions that
our ancestors enjoyed. It cost $55,000 and required three years and a half in
building.

   Doctor Norton was married in Savannah, October 6, 1902, to Miss Leila Exley,
daughter of Marquis L. and Emma N. (Grovenstein) Exley. They have four children;
Elizabeth Emma, Leila Lucile, Angela Willie, and George Mosse, Jr.



Additional Comments:
A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913

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