[Joseph Norton]. American statesman, born at Dolphsburg, NY, on the 19th of October 1835; attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, NY; studied law and was admitted to the bar at Binghamton, NY, in 1861. In 1862 he was appointed orderly sergeant in Crawford’s Company, which was raised for the protection of emigrants to the Pacific Coast, against hostile Indians, and was known as the “Oregon Escort.” He settled at Portland, OR, in 1862; was elected city attorney in 1864; the same year being appointed, by President Lincoln, district attorney. After being elected four times to the state senate, he was elected to the United States Senate, and took his seat March 4, 1883, and was re-elected in 1889.
