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- Lester Philo Norton was born NORTON in Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio, April 27, 1828. His father was Philo L. Norton and his mother was Jane C. Norton, both of whom died when he was quite young. The earlier years of his life were spent in and around Mount Vernon in the employ of his uncle, Daniel S. Norton, who was an extensive real estate owner and who also operated a flour and feed mill and an oil mill. He was also the Mount Vernon agent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company when the line was first built from Newark, Ohio, to Chicago Junction. After some time in their employ he came to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, where he managed the Philo Norton farm, located east of Connellsville, where he re mained for some years, afterward removing to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, entering the commissioner's office as clerk. In 1874 he came to Connellsville again, entering into the public life of the place. Being an intensely public-spirited man and always interested in the betterment of whatever place was his home he immediately became prominently identified with the political life of Connells ville. He served as borough treasurer for a period of nearly twelve years, and was also secretary of the board of education for thir teen consecutive years. As a member of the board of education he bore a material part in the origination of the first graduating class of the Connellsville public schools, which at that time had no high school, and helped to lay the foundation for the building of the present efficient public schools of Connellsville.
During the civil war he was active in the recruiting of troops and delivering them' to the nearest ra1lroad station for transportation to military headquarters. Owing to an acci dent occurr1ng in early youth which crippled his left arm and also his eye, he was prevented from entering the service. He; was a Demo crat in politics and always an active worker for the interests of the party. He was a mem ber of the Christian church (Disciples of Christ), being the treasurer for aj number of years. Mr. Norton died February 24, 1896. In June, 1871, Mr. Norton married Dorcas French, of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Henry Clay, named after his uncle, who was a vet eran of the Mexican war, the only child, was born at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1872, where he lived until he was two years of age, when his parents moved to Connells ville, Pennsylvania, where he was educated and grew to manhood. Immediately after his graduation from the public schools he entered the First National Bank of Connellsville as clerk, and after serving in that position for some years was advanced to teller, and in 1908 was made assistant cashier. In 1909 he served as a member of the board of education, resign ing when he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of tax collector. He is a member of the Christian church and of the Grand Fra ternity. On June 20, 1906, he married Mabel, daughter of Kell and Elizabeth (Curry) Long, of the West Side, Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
[John W. Jordan, James Hadden, Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania: Volume II: (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1912), 611.]
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