Daniel Sheldon Norton

Norton was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio to Daniel Sheldon and Sarah Sheldon (née Banning). He had a brother, Anthony Banning Norton, who also became a politician.{{cite web|last1=Sanders|first1=Justin M.|title=NORTON, ANTHONY BANNING|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fno09|website=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=January 2, 2018|date= June 15, 2010}} He attended Kenyon College but left school to serve with the 2nd Ohio Volunteers in the Mexican–American War. After returning from the war he studied law under his brother-in-law Judge Rollin C. Hurd. For several years he moved to California and Nicaragua but he returned to Ohio in 1852 and was admitted to the bar shortly thereafter. He practiced law in Mount Vernon for several years before he moving to Minnesota Territory in 1855.{{cite book|editor1-last=Johnson|editor1-first=Rossiter|editor2-last=Brown|editor2-first=John Howard|title=The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans|date=1904|publisher=Biographical Society|url=https://archive.org/stream/twentiethcentury08john#page/91/mode/1up}}

After initially living in St. Paul, Minnesota, Norton eventually settled in Winona, Minnesota. In 1857 Norton was elected to the Minnesota State Senate for its first legislative session. He was reelected in 1860 and 1863 serving four total terms in seven years. In 1865 the state legislature elected him to the US Senate where he served in the 39th and 40th congresses. Initially elected as a Unionist, Norton later aligned himself with the more moderate Republican faction in the senate. He supported President Andrew Johnson's stance on reconstruction and opposed his impeachment. This led to tension with the more radical Republicans of Minnesota who passed a resolution censuring Norton for his actions and calling for his resignation.{{cite web|title=Norton, Daniel Sheldon — Legislator Record|url=http://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail.aspx?ID=14208|website=Minnesota Legislative Reference Library}}{{cite book|last1=Smalley|first1=Eugene Virgil|title=A history of the Republican party from its organization to the present time: to which is added a political history of Minnesota from a Republican point of view and biographical sketches of leading Minnesota Republicans|date=1896|page=364|publisher=Author |hdl=2027/umn.31951002360569k?urlappend=%3Bseq=374|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951002360569k?urlappend=%3Bseq=374}}{{cite book| last = Upham | first = Warren | author-link = Warren Upham | title = Minnesota in Three Centuries 1655-1908 | place = Mankato, Minn. | publisher = Publishing Society of Minnesota | year = 1908 | volume = 3|pages=444–446|url=https://archive.org/stream/minnesotainthree03hubb#page/444/mode/2up}}

Norton died while in office on July 14, 1870, having suffered for several weeks from tuberculosis.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star/167984536/|title=Death of Senator Norton|work=Washington Evening Star|date=July 14, 1870}}

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)

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Category:1829 births

Category:1870 deaths

Category:People from Mount Vernon, Ohio

Category:Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives

Category:Republican Party Minnesota state senators

Category:Republican Party United States senators from Minnesota

Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War

Category:19th-century United States senators

Category:19th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature