The Late Captain George W. Norton – No Source Given
On Saturday last, a gloom was suddenly cast over our entire community by a dispatch from Gallipolis, announcing that our fellow citizen, Capt. George W. Norton, President of the Belfont Iron Works Company, and R. M. Biggs were among the lost on the ill-fated steamer Harry Dean, which exploded her boilers about two miles below that place.
The steamer Telegraph was chartered by the Belfont Iron Works Co., accompanied by many citizens, and proceeded at once to the disaster scene. At Burlington, she met Victor No. 4, but she had left Gallipolis just as the Harry Dean landed and did not know of the explosion.
After a thorough investigation, it was ascertained that Mr. Norton had been blown overboard, as two or three papers were found below the wreck washed ashore, which he had in his pocket at the time. There is no event so much to be deplored as his loss to our community at this time, and the sudden manner of his taking off makes our regrets more acute.
Born in Pennsylvania
Capt. George W. Norton was born in Rising Sun, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, in July 1813. While yet quite young, his father removed to Richmond, Virginia. In the Winter of 1821-2, the father died from the effects of exposures received while attempting to quench the fire at the Richmond theater burning at the age of 33.
The orphan boys, consisting of three brothers, were then taken charge by an uncle at Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where they learned the nailing business, all being quite young. In 1842 Capt. Norton came to Pittsburg, where he served as deputy sheriff under Major Weaver for nearly two years.
In 1844 he went to Norristown, Pennsylvania, remaining one year, from whence he moved to Wheeling, Va., in 1845. He was engaged in the iron business until 1848, when, with others, he built the steamer Mary Stephens, which he commanded for some time. He afterward built the Geo. W. Kendall, which he sold, and was for some time commander of the Union line packet, Alvin Adams, and still later of the Melodeon, a Louisville and New Orleans packet.
Retiring from the river in 1853, George Norton entered the firm of Norton, Acheson & Co., Belmont Mills, at Wheeling, took charge of and built Nelson Furnace in Nelson county, Kentucky, which was sold in 1856, after which he was an active member of the Belmont Mills Co., succeeding his brother, Capt. Ed. M. Norton, until Jul 1, 1863, when the firm was dissolved.
Came to Ironton
He then made up a company, came to Ironton, and purchased the Star Nail Works, under his control and management to the time of his death, under the style of Belfont Iron Works Company.
Capt. George Norton has been twice married and leaves a widow and seven children, all sons. His oldest son, Major Thomas H. Norton, of the regular army, is now in command at Jackson, Mississippi. He entered the service at Wheeling in the 1st Virginia Infantry and served with distinction throughout the war.
John M. Norton has been connected with the mill and furnace for several years. The rest of the children are underage, the youngest being six years old.
In his intercourse with his fellow man, Capt. George Norton was courteous, kind, and warm-hearted. In his business relations, he was attentive, careful, and systematic. He was peculiarly well adapted for the position he held as President and business manager of the Belfont Co.
When the Nail Works started under his management, a complete revolution was made in doing business in this part of the country. From the company’s operations in 1863 to the present, they have never failed to pay off its hands every two weeks in cash. This had the effect of gradually doing away with the mill store and scrip business and gave a great impetus to the general prosperity of Ironton.
The loss of Capt. Norton to his partners in business, as well as this community, cannot be overestimated. He had recently purchased a property and was making arrangements to build and make this his permanent home. His widow and bereaved family relatives have the sympathy of his many friends in this vicinity.
Ironton Register Jan 9, 1868 – Our Great Loss
Ironton has been called upon to mourn the loss of one of its most useful citizens. Like a sharp pang did the intelligence of last Saturday rush through the community, that Capt. George W. Norton had met a terrible fate, and we would no longer see him on our streets. – Hard as the sad fact was to be realized, the people’s hearts were stricken with a dark bereavement.
The dreadful Fate may be justly esteemed, a serious calamity to the community. The event clouded the countenances and subdued the conversation on the streets, indicating that everyone felt a peculiar loss.
The hopes of our city were based upon the efforts of no man more than upon those of Capt. George Norton. – Endowed with great energy, imbued with an enterprising spirit, and gifted with a keen appreciation of those elements that contribute to worth and wealth, he was constantly engaged in strengthening and improving those monuments to Industry that so happily crown a locality, with blessings and prosperity.
Be it to his honor, whether intended or not, that wherever his hand of Enterprise has touched, the spot has gleamed with a light that shed its rays of advancement over the entire community. With hardly an exception, in our conversation with him, when adverting to his manufacturing projects, did he allude to their influence upon the welfare of this locality – ever seeming to link in his desires the progress of the section into which he had thrown his fortunes, with his prosperity.
The deceased was just such a person as Ironton needed. Though somewhat of a cosmopolitan, he took delight in its attempts to gain some degree of importance in the iron world. As a citizen, he was highly ambitious to see this place as a point of attraction for the iron trade.
Though he has not completely identified with us (his family still resides in Wheeling), nearly all his time was spent here, and he was completing arrangements to make this his permanent home. He had already purchased a building lot, where he proposed, in a short time, to erect an elegant residence. But his plans have all, too soon, been swept away by the hand of Fate.
Worked in Nail Factory
Captain George Norton was born at Rising Sun, Pennsylvania, in 1813, when about 19 years of age moved to Brownsville, in the same State. – There, he went to work in a Nail factory and learned his trade as a nailer. Between that place and Pittsburg, he spent the next fifteen years of his life, most of which time he pursued his occupation. He then went upon the river and was steamboating considerable time. While living at Pittsburg, he was also Sheriff of Allegheny county. He moved to Wheeling in 1847. – Here, he continued steamboating.
The first boat he commanded was the Mary Stevens, plying between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. He afterward was a captain on the Geo. W. Kendall, Golden Gate, R. H. Winslow, Empress, Diani, and the Alvin Adams. All accounts show that he was eminently successful in this branch of the business. He left the river about 1854, connected himself with the Belmont Iron Works Co., manufacturers of nails, at Wheeling, and continued with that until 1863, when he sold out and came to Ironton.
Here, he and others bought the Nail mill and formed an incorporated company. He was elected President. His conduct of the affairs of that institution was, to the highest degree, successful. In all the business operations of that splendid establishment, he proved himself an acute financier and an able manager.
About the middle of last December, he left here, with others, in a delegation, to attend the Manufacturer’s Convention at Cleveland. – From which place, he went to Wheeling and Pittsburgh to spend the holidays with his family, and to transact business regarding machinery, ordered for the furnace now being built for his company.
Last Friday, he started on his return to this place, taking passage on the Harry Dean, the terrible explosion of which last Saturday deprived a home of a kind husband and father and this town of one of its best citizens.
Ironton Journal Jan 15, 1868
The Wheeling Intelligence of Monday week, announcing the death of the late Capt. George W. Norton, by the explosion of the Harry Dean, says:
He was on his way from here, where he had been spending the holidays with his family, to his place of business, at Ironton, Ohio. His brother Frederick had repaired the disaster scene from Ironton but could only confirm the truth of the melancholy tidings. The news of Capt. Norton’s death excited a widespread feeling of sorry and sympathy on Saturday as fast as it became known.
He had a large acquaintance in the city, having been one of our most prominent, active, and influential business citizens for many years. In times gone by, he was identified with our river interests as a commander in the Union Line and afterward in the trade between Louisville and N. O.. Still, later, he had more nearly associated himself with the city as one of her leading iron manufacturers.
The news of Capt. Norton’s untimely end came like a bolt from a clear sky. He had only left last Thursday morning, and certainly with prospects of health and life of such a character as to excite no misgiving that he had bidden them a final farewell. Indeed, we never saw him in more apparent robust health or better spirits.
During his two weeks’ sojourn, he visited our office frequently, as was his want when in the city, to read the papers and converse upon the various political and business topics of the day, in all of which few men took a more lively interest. He never seemed more hearty in this characteristic interest than during his stay. We have rarely listened to his conversation, as it always did a wide range of practical information and observation with a more general interest.
Little did either he or we suppose that those were his valedictory words – and that the brain and voice, then so busy with the concerns of active life, were so soon and suddenly to be stilled by a mysterious stroke of Fate. He had engaged passage on another boat and had even brought his baggage uptown in the expectation of leaving on her.
The Ill-Fated Harry Dean
But she passed our wharves without landing, and thus it happened that he took passage the next day on the Parkersburg packet and connected at Marrietta with the ill-fated Harry Dean. Capt. Norton was born in Germantown, Pa., and was 58 years old. He and his two brothers, E. M. and F. D. Norton, were left fatherless when quite young, and all began life as nailers in one of the Pennsylvania factories. The energy of character was a trait common to all of them.
Capt. Norton was well-fitted for the various positions he was called to occupy at different times. His address, conversational powers, general intelligence, and close and quick perceptions made him unusually bright and capable. He and his brothers came to this city in the year 1865 and, since that time, have been largely engaged in our iron interests.
Lately, their operations have been diverted to Ironton, Ohio, where they have a successful nail mill and a furnace nearly completed. The Captain was largely the manager and director of the concern and, at the time of his death, was fully absorbed in the prospects of his experiments in that new field of his labor.
Ironton Journal Jan 29, 1868
It is a matter of many regrets that nothing definite can be ascertained regarding the Fate of our esteemed fellow citizen, Capt. G. W. Norton. Many believe that he was blown overboard and that his remains may yet be recovered, while others think that he was among those consumed by the flames of the burning steamer. It would be a great satisfaction to the friends to find and identify the remains they might have the homage of a Christian burial. We still have hope that the remains will be found.
Gallipolis Journal, Gallipolis, Ohio, 16 Jan 1868
As a consequence of the death of Captain G. W. Norton, one of the victims of the Harry Dean disaster, the Belfont Iron Works at Ironton have been stopped. Capt. Norton was the President of the company, and its active, efficient manager.
Ironton Journal Jul 8, 1868 – The Body of Captain G. W. Norton Found.
The body of Capt. George W. Norton, who was a victim of the Harry Dean disaster, was a victim of the Harry Dean disaster, was found on Friday at the mouth of Swan Creek, a few miles below the place where he was lost. Although it had been in the water for nearly six months, the body was swollen and preserved well.
The legs were both broken, the left one entirely off at the ankle and the other badly shattered at the thigh; part of the nose and the upper lip were gone, and he was badly mutilated on the lower part of the back and the left arm. The ends of two or three fingers of the left hand were off, and the clothing was all torn from the body except a portion of the shirt – the collar and necktie and parts of the boots.
Mr. F. D. Norton, John W. Norton, and several friends went up Sunday morning on the Victor No. 4 and had no difficulty identifying the body at first sight. The ring was still on his finger, and his collar bore the familiar mark of his wash-woman. His remains were placed in a burial case and on board the Potomac, in charge of his son, John W. Norton, who proceeded to Wheeling, where he probably arrived this morning.
It is a matter of congratulation to the friends of the deceased to have the privilege, even at this late day, of consigning his remains to the tomb in a becoming manner, as well as the satisfaction of knowing something more of the terrible means that produced his unexpected death.
“Peace to his ashes.”
Ironton Register Jul 9, 1868 – Capt. Norton’s Body Was Reclaimed
Last Saturday night, a man arrived here from up the river with the intelligence that a drowned man’s body answered to the description of Capt. George Norton. Some raftsmen had found Norton, who had been engaged in extricating their raft from where it had struck, and, while putting forth efforts for this purpose, had discovered the body.
This was about seventeen miles below Gallipolis, near Mr. Guthrie’s. The body, somewhat mutilated about the lower limbs, was placed in a wooden box and sunk in the river, where it could easily be raised.
The Victor No. 4 was chartered here and left early Sunday morning for where the body was found. As soon as the corpse was raised and the lid of the box removed, everyone present recognized it as Capt. Norton’s body.
The upper part of the trunk of the body and the head bore an unmistakable resemblance. The body was placed in a metallic coffin and brought down the river when they met the Potomac, bound for Wheeling, the deceased’s residence. The coffin was placed upon this boat and sent to Wheeling, accompanied by Mr. John Norton, the Captain’s son.
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