1745 - 1821

Home    Search    Print    Login    Add Bookmark

• Suffix	Captain
  Birth	2 Feb 1745	of E. Hartford, Connecticut
  Gender	Male
  Died	20 Oct 1821	Ashfield, Ma
  Person ID	I96471	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	20 Oct 2005 00:00:00
  Father	Job NORTON, b. 19 Feb 1720
  Mother	Susannah OLMSTED, b. Abt 1721, E. Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
  Family ID	F41758	Group Sheet
  Family 1	Anne PORTER, b. 25 Sep 1756
  Married	20 Nov 1777
  Children	1. Anne NORTON, b. 17 Sep 1778   2. Anne NORTON, b. 11 Sep 1779   3. Elizabeth NORTON, b. 10 Aug 1780   4. Anne Porter NORTON, b. 29 May 1782   5. Elizabeth NORTON, b. 13 Jun 1784   6. Susannah NORTON, b. 9 Jun 1786   7. Harriet NORTON, b. 16 Jul 1789   8. Selah NORTON, b. 23 Oct 1790   9. William NORTON, b. 28 Jul 1792   10. Edwin NORTON, b. 7 Jul 1795   11. Emily NORTON, b. 7 Jul 1795   12. Julian NORTON, b. 19 Mar 1799
  Family ID	F42007	Group Sheet
  Family 2	Chloe BUTLER
  Children	> 1. Chloe Butler NORTON, b. 20 Feb 1771   2. Selah NORTON, b. 19 May 1772   3. William NORTON, b. 20 Jun 1774   4. Job NORTON, M.D., b. Aug 1776
  Family ID	F42006	Group Sheet

• Notes

  Name Suffix: Captain !War record from the records of the U.S. Pension Office: "He belonged to a troop of Light Horse which was attached to a regimentof Infantry, and according to 'Connecticut men in the Revolution', he turned out as ensign for eight days on the alarm of hostilities at Lexington,MA, but itis probable the Light Horse did notcontiue in service as such. Norton, early in May 1775, accepted the position as Clerk and Orderly Sergeant in a Company ofFoot in Lt. Col. George Pitkin's regt. and was stationed at Roxbury for the siege of Boston. He was discharged there late in Dec. 1775. During his servicethere, about August 1, 1775, he received intelligence of dangerous sickness inhis family and went home, leaving as his substitute Aaron Olmsted, who was an officer. It is proper to state that the files in this office show instances ofofficers volunteering short tours of duty as privates. Olmsted was or had beenadjutant of the regiment and was of East Hartford,CT. Norton was appointed at the May session 1775 of the Legislature, cornet in the 19th REgt. and Lieutenant in Jauary 1778, and Captain in April 1779. The Light Horse was composed ofmembers from East Hartford, East Windsor, and it is probable from some of theother adjoining towns. He is alluded to as in the 4th Company and 2d REgt. by witnesses testifying to portions of his services. He served 2 or 3 months in 1776, as cornet in the Light Horse in NY City, and when the place was evacuated Sep. 15, 1776, he retreated with the army under Gen. Washington to White Plains,Westchester Co. Early in 1777 he, with the Light Horse, was ordered for dutyin Rhode Island, and in Aug 1777 under Capt. Joel Loomis and Lt. Augustus Fitch, he marched to oppose the advance of Gen. Burgoyne, at or near Saratoga, NY.In the same year, or in 1778, he was on duty at Horse Neck in Greenwich, Fairfield Co., CT In August and September 1781, as Captain of the Light Horse, he was escort to Gov. Trumbull going to the headquarters of Gen. Washington with a large sum of money to pay the troops of the State. One o these trips was in early August, and another trip in September with only money for the CT troops. Hewas on escort duty in the latter part of February to March 12, 1782, conveyinga large sum of money to the army to pay CT troops, as Captain of the Light Horse." The above contains all the particulars of his ervice, with dates and places as mentioned in the pension. There was filed, with the widows application for a pension a family record alleged to be in the handwriting of Selah Norton.

• Sources

  [S718] GEDCom File from Cassandra Olmstead [CassandraO@msn.com], with information from"Genealogy of the Olmsted Family in Americ, 10 Jun 2002.