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Below is a family biography included in The History of Newton County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Jonathan Norris, proprietor of the Commercial Hotel at Seneca, Mo., was born in Baltimore County, Md., March 11, 1839, and is the son of Edward Norris, who was born in Harford County, Md., of English descent; the mother, Elizabeth (Sietz) Norris, was of German descent, a native of Baltimore County, Md. Their son, Jonathan Norris, was reared in Harford County, Md., after the age of one year, and attended the Norrisville school. He was reared to farm life, and in the fall of 1864 moved to Coles County, Ill., and became a clerk in a store at Etna. He clerked there for nearly three years, and March 12, 1867, he married Miss Ann Bland, a native of Coles County, Ill., and a cousin of Congressman Bland, of Missouri. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Norris removed to Pettis County, Mo., and followed agricultural pursuits for three years. In the fall of 1870 he moved to Seneca, where he carried on farming for six years, and then engaged in mercantile pursuits until the spring of 1888, when he purchased the Commercial Hotel. To his marriage were born the following named children: Clinton, Elza, Edward Daniel, Alta Sophronia, Abbie Elizabeth, Willie Reaves, Rankin Wiley, A. J. (deceased) and Walter John. Mr. Norris enlisted in the fall of 1861 in Pernell Legion, Company A, Cavalry, and served in that command three years and three months. He was in the engagement at Gettysburg, and was employed most of the time in watching blockaders, guarding telegraph lines, etc., under Gens. Lockwood and Butler. At one time Mr. Norris and Sergeant Andrew Duncan were sent to the General with a dispatch which informed him of the presence of the enemy in that neighborhood, and is supposed to have had an important bearing on the result of the battle of Gettysburg. He was a corporal in the army. Mr. Norris is a Master Mason, is a Republican in politics, one of the stockholders of the Seneca Bank, and member of the G. A. R., Seneca Lodge, No. 175.

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This family biography is one of 220 biographies included in The History of Newton County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Newton County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Newton County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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