Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Norton, Hon Isaac C ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com October 3, 2007, 5:30 am Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County HON. ISAAC C. NORTON. A lifelong resident of this county, Mr. Norton is one of the experienced steel-mill men of Joliet, having been actively identified with this business since the days when the Bessemer process was in its infancy. He has been prominent in public affairs and has wielded an influence in the Republican party, of whose principles he is a stanch advocate. As a member of committees and delegate to conventions he has borne his part in party matters, and at one time he represented the first ward on the board of aldermen. In 1888 he was elected to serve as a state elector and was one of the twenty-two electors who cast their votes for Benjamin Harrison for president. Almond Norton, a native of New York and a merchant of Lewis County, was an intimate friend of DeWitt Clinton and other men prominent in public affairs. When his son, whom he named in honor of his statesman-friend, was a youth of sixteen years, he brought the family to Illinois, settling in Lockport in 1842 and engaging in the mercantile business there, where he died at seventy-two years. His son, who was born in Lewis County, N. Y., in 1826, became a merchant and grain-dealer and operated one of the first stone quarries in Lockport. He was superintendent of the Singer & Talcott Stone Company at Letnont until this company sold out to the Western Stone Company, and he remained with the latter as superintendent. He died in Lemont in 1892 and was buried in Lockport. In early life he was a Douglas Democrat, but voted for Abraham Lincoln's re-election and ever after affiliated with the Republicans. He held the office of school director in Lockport and was also mayor of Lemont foi ten or more years. The marriage of DeWitt Clinton Norton united him with Maria L. Singer, who was born in Conneaut, Ohio, and is now living in Englewood, Ill. Her mother was a Miss Collins, daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. Mr. and Mrs. Norton had four sons and two daughters, namely: Isaac Cook, the subject of this article; Fred D., who is engaged in the stone business in Bedford, Ind.; Clinton S., who is also in the stone business in Indiana; Mrs. Elizabeth Knight, of Kankakee, Ill.; Mrs. Mamie Clealand, of Englewood; and Horace S., who is with the Illinois Steel Company in Joliet. The subject of this notice was born in Lockport, Ill., December 15, 1850, and was educated in his home town and Chicago. His first employment was as a clerk in Lemont. In 1870 he bought out a mercantile business in Lemont and with a partner, under the title of Kipp & Norton, carried on a profitable business. In 1872 the firm was consolidated with Teedens & Co., and as such the business was continued until 1874. He then spent six months in Garnett, Kans., after which he became bookkeeper for R. Mathews in Joliet. In 1878 he accepted a position as time-keeper with the Joliet (now the Illinois) Steel Company. Two years later he was made superintendent of the making of rails in B mill. In 1882 he became night superintendent in A mill, and continued as such for seven years, when he was made superintendent of the Billet and Bar mill. In 1897 he was also made superintendent of the rod mill, in which capacity he has since continued, having the oversight of between eight hundred and one thousand men. He has witnessed the growth of this plant from insignificant proportions to its present size, and has himself been an important factor in its development. The company has had no employe more faithful to its interests than he, and his good judgment and intelligence have materially aided the advancement of its interests. The residence of Mr. Norton is at No. 302 North Eastern avenue. He was married, in Lemont, to Miss Alvira S. Niccolls, who was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and received her education in Bloomington, Ill. Her father, Eben S. Niccolls, an early settler of Bloomington, went from there to Kansas, where he engaged in railroad contracting and in the real-estate business; he now makes his home in Joliet. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Norton. The eldest, Charles C., died at twelve years of age. The second, DeWitt Clinton, a graduate of the Joliet high school, served in Company A, Third Illinois Infantry, during the Spanish-American war, and is now connected with the quartermaster's department of the gulf, located at Atlanta, Ga. The youngest child, Maria Louisa, is a graduate of the Joliet high school. Mrs. Norton is a member of the Baptist Church and a contributor to its work. Additional Comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/norton1801nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 5.3 Kb