Charles Davis Norton

Charles Davis Norton (November 20, 1820 – April 11, 1867) was an American government official.

Early life Norton was born on November 20, 1820, in Hartford, Connecticut.

His maternal grandfather was the Rev. Dr. Joseph Huntington, a Congregationalist minister of Coventry, Connecticut. His grandfather was the brother of Samuel Huntington, a Governor of Connecticut and signor of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. His uncle, Samuel Huntington Jr., served as the 3rd Governor of Ohio before becoming Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.

In 1865, Norton published The Old Ferry at the Black Rock, a book of the history of the ferry that crossed the Niagara River from the "black rock" near the foot of Fort Street to the Canadian shore from the time of the American Revolution.

Personal life In October 1851, Norton was married to Jeannette Phelps (1822–1889), a daughter of Oliver Phelps (grandson of U.S. Representative Oliver Phelps) and Laura ( Chapin) Phelps of Canandaigua, New York. Her grandmother, Elizabeth "Betsy" Law ( Sherman) Phelps, was the granddaughter of founding father Roger Sherman. Together, they were the parents of two sons: Charles Phelps Norton (1858–1923), a lawyer who became the 6th Chancellor of the University of Buffalo.

Norton died on April 11, 1867, in Buffalo. After a funeral at the First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, he was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo. His widow lived until September 10, 1889.

Descendants Through his eldest son Porter, he was a grandfather of Porter Huntington Norton (who married Gilbertine Love Coakley) and Gertrude Van Dolfson Norton (who married Daniel Willard Streeter).