BENJAMIN
BRADFORD NORRIS. About the year 1690,
Benjamin Norris, the elder, settled in Harford county,
(then Baltimore county), and lived at a farm he named Everly
Hills, now owned by the Hon. Herman Stump, and
called by him Waverly. He became possessed of a tract
of what is now the Farnandis estate, to the Little
Falls.
Benjamin Bradford Norris was the first of the
name, being called after his grandfathers, Benjamin
Norris and William Bradford, the Christian name
of one and the family name of the other.
John Norris was the father of a large family,
seven of whom were sons. His eldest son John
married Susanna Bradford. They had the first
house that was ever built at Mt. Pleasant, now the home of
Mr. G. Smith Norris. Part of this house is
still standing. It was built early in the eighteenth
century. John's eldest son was Benjamin
Bradford Norris, who was educated in Harford.
Bradford Norris was one of the signers of the Harford
Declaration of Independence. He was also a soldier in
the Revolutionary Army, and served in a company raised and
commanded by his brother, Jacob Norris, who became a
colonel. They were with Washington in his
campaign in Delaware and Jersey. Jacob Norris
was severely wounded, and received a pension for the balance
of his life. He was buried in the Methodist graveyard
in Bel Air. The headstone bears the following
inscription:DIED
IN MARCH, 1807,
JACOB NORRIS,
AN OFFICER
OF THE 6TH MARYLAND
REGIMENT
IN THE WAR OF THE
REVOLUTION.
TO HIS MEMORY
THIS PILLAR IS RAISED
BY HIS DAUGHTER
SOPHIA.
Benjamin
Bradford Norris was very highly esteemed by the people
of his community, and was appointed to represent them in the
first Legislature that was convened after the State
government was established. Of his sons, one died in
infancy, and the other died of yellow fever in Norwalk at
the age of twenty-one.
Benjamin Bradford Norris died in April, 1790,
and his administrators were Elizabeth Norris and
Jacob Norris.
One of Jacob Norris' sons was a commander in
the United States Navy, and was lost at sea on the Hornet.
John Norris, another of the brothers Norris,
was one of the incorporators, and represented the Church of
England when Union Chapel was built near Wilna.
Source:
History of Harford Co., Maryland - by Walter W. Preston, A. M. Bel
Air, Maryland - 1901 - Page 202 |
