William Hutchinson Norris

William Hutchinson Norris (September 25, 1800 – July 13, 1893) was an American politician who was the founder of the city of Americana and a settlement in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste. A notable Confederate during American Civil War, Norris was a significant figure in the history of the Confederados following the war.

Norris was a colonel in the militia during the Mexican-American War and an Alabama senator as well, who left the U.S. for Brazil with 30 Confederate families.

Career in the United States Norris was born in Oglethorpe, Georgia, in 1800. His father was a North Carolina born merchant named William Norris (1757 in Johnston County, North Carolina - New Orleans, Louisiana) who was largely based in Charleston, South Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana and was a North Carolina State Senator, his mother, Nancy Watkins (1767 in Williamsburg, Virginia - 1852 in Charleston, South Carolina) was a relative of Thomas Jefferson. His brother Frank Hutchinson Norris (1804 in Savannah, Georgia - 1878 in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste) was a South Carolina State Senator and merchant, who was a graduate of the College of Charleston. Norris served in the Alabama State Legislature, both as a senator and member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Dallas County during the late 1830s and early 1840s. On December 2, 1861, he was elected grand master of the Alabama Masonic Lodge.

Career in Brazil On 27 December 1865, Norris, his brother, and his son Robert C. Norris arrived in Rio de Janeiro aboard the ship South America. It is uncertain what his departure point was, probably New Orleans or Mobile. Norris had left his home at Mount Pleasant in Monroe County. The only member of this immediate family who did not accompany the group to Brazil was his son Francis Johnson Norris.

Norris helped establish a Confederate American presence in Americana and Santa Bárbara d'Oeste where slavery was still legal, and he began planting cotton.

Norris had three sons-in-law: Willie Daniel (married to Nancy Angeline), Edward Townsend and Joseph Whitaker.