Who Was George G. S. Norris?

One of the more intriguing people in my paternal lineage is my great-great-grandfather, George G. S. Norris. Just who was he? Who were his parents? How does he relate to the Norris families of New England? What did he do for a living? How many children did he have? Where is he buried?

Many questions about him have been circulating in my consciousness since learning about him. So, I set about to find some answers.

I knew that George G. S. had married Julia Ann Kennedy in Chelsea, MA, on 29 Nov 1860.

I knew that they moved to Lowell, MA, between 1861 and 1866 with their two children, Annie and George.

I knew that George G. S. had served in the Union Army (1st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Co. I), was incorrectly listed as being a deserter (he was injured, hospitalized in New York and transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps) and had applied for a Civil War pension.

I knew that George G. S. died in Lowell on 24 Sep 1876.

That was all I could learn...until today. I now believe I have a few more answers to the many questions that I've had for so long.

As I often do, I visited the FamilySearch website to search for anything that might give me a clue to George G. S. Norris' life before he first shows up on the 1860 US Federal Census. The records had just been updated, so I thought it was worth another try. What I found has led me to more information than I ever could have imagined!

Listed in the results was the death record of George G. S., naming the parents as George and Susan. Also in the results was the marriage of George G. S. to Julia A. Kennedy with George's parents named as Phineas and Susan. I did several other searches to determine which pair of parents was correct, deciding that Phineas and Susan were probably the parents, as I could not find a George and Susan combination.

Searching Ancestry, RootsWeb and FamilySearch, I began to find the answers to many of my questions.

Here is a quick rundown of what I was able to piece together:

Samuel (b.1828)
+ Lydia Washburn
....Samuel (b. 1751)
....+ Jedidah Swift
........Mercy Ann (b.1773)
........William Ichabod (b.1775)
........Mary (b.1778)
........Benjamin (b.1786)
........Delia Rebecca (b.1789)
........Phineas (b. 1791)
........+ Susan Saunders
............Ida J. S.(b.1831) m. Francis H. Cushing
............George G. S. (b. 1835)
............+ Julia Ann Kennedy
................Anna Maria (1861-1906)
................George F. (1865-1904)
................Walter H. (1869-1870)
................Susan E. (1874-1876)
................Elisa J. (1876-1877)
................(unknown additional child who died young)
....Nathan (b. 1760 - Revolutionary War Soldier)

Two things surprised me more than any of the other discoveries.

First is that I was able to learn the names of three more of George and Julia's children. From the 1900 US Federal Census, I new that there were six children, but only two had ever shown up in the census.

Second is that my initial thought when finding George G. S. living in the home of Ida J. S. and Francis H. Cushing in Chelsea (1860 US Federal Census) was correct. They are brother and sister, which was confirmed by a birth record for Ida J. S. found at FamilySearch.org...12 years later.

There is still much research to be done, but this is a good start.