ALTON - Wilbur Theodore Norton, three-term postmaster of Alton, Alton Board of Education member, historical researcher and author, and previous owner and editor of the Alton Evening Telegraph, died on January 8, 1925.
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Wil bur T. Norton was born in Alton on September 10, 1844, to Reverend Augustus T. Norton and Eliza Rogers Norton. Augustus T. Norton served as one of the first pastors of the First Presbyterian Church in Alton from 1839 to 1858 and edited the Presbytery, the newspaper of the Presbyterian Church in Illinois. His book “History of the Presbyterian Church, in the State of Illinois,” published in 1879, is considered “an authoritative work that is the only record of the church in the early days in the state and finds a place in most libraries dealing with history of the church.” There is a copy available at the Hayner Genealogy & Local History Library (call number IR 285 NOR) and a digital copy available online:https://archive.org/details/historyofpresb00nort/
Wilbur T. Norton attended the public schools in Alton and started classes at Shurtleff College. He left school in 1864 to serve in the 133rd regiment of Illinois volunteers during the Civil War and returned to graduate from Shurtleff College in 1866. Norton married Frances S. Caldwell in 1875, and they had a daughter, Isabelle, and two sons, Frederick (who, at the time of his father’s death, worked for the Alton Telegraph) and Augustus. A beautiful gravestone marks the Norton family plot in the Alton Cemetery.
Like his father, Wilbur T. Norton wrote an authoritative work that we still use today. “What his father had been to the Presbyterian church as a librarian, Wilbur T. Norton was to Madison County and the city of Alton.” Wilbur T. Norton published the “Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People: 1812 to 1912” in 1912. Norton highlighted the good and the bad of Madison County. The two-volume set is available at the Hayner Genealogy & Local History Library (call number IR 977.386 CEN) and online:https://archive.org/details/centennialhistor01nort/
https://archive.org/details/centennialhistor02nort/
An article in the Telegraph five days after Wilbur T. Norton’s death reported that the Madison County Historical Society had adopted resolutions of respect in memoriam prepared by W.D. Armstrong, president of the society. The full text can be read on page 1 of the January 13, 1925, edition of the Alton Evening Telegraph, but here is an excerpt:
“Wilber T. Norton was born and reared in an atmosphere of culture and good literature. He early evinced a taste for the best books and writing…Mr. Norton began contributing to newspapers and magazines, but the things which seemed to attract him particularly were the historical facts of his own country and county…While he was editing the newspaper, he found time to write important historical items. His interest in education led him to keep records of the happenings in our schools and colleges. Monticello Seminary and its activities appealed strongly to Mr. Norton and he wrote many excellent articles about that institution in the ‘Echo’ and other publications. His ‘Life of Governor Coles’ is a standard work and so are many other booklets and pamphlets which emanated from his pen. His crowning work, however, was a Centennial edition of The History of Madison County in two volumes. This work will be found in the homes and libraries of many of our citizens, also in other parts of the United States. It has been frequently commended by leading critics for its beautiful literary style…In the passing of Mr. Norton, the Madison County Historical Society has lost one of its best friends and advisors…Mr. Norton still lives with us in his books, and his exemplary life will always be a pleasant memory.”
Sources
“Civic Leader of Old Days In City Dies.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), February 28, 1931.
“A History of the Alton Newspapers.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), January 20, 1912.
?Norton, Wilbur T., Norman Gresham Flagg, and John Simon Hoerner. 1912. Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois, and Its People, 1812 to 1912. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co
“Resolutions of Respect Passed for W.T. Norton.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), January 13, 1925.
“W.T. Norton, 80, Historian and Editor, Is Dead.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), January 8, 1925.