bh32

NORRIS, JAMES R.,    railroad contractor, Fairfield, was born September 6, 1838, in Kennebec County, Me.

He is a son of G K. Norris, also a native of Maine. where he farmed. When the war cloud of the rebellion overspread our beautiful country, he volunteered to protect the stars and stripes of the Union, and as Captain of the Seventh Maine Regiment of Infantry Volunteers, Company K, he rendered valuable service to his country. He died, 1883, in the house of his birth. His father, James Norris, was a native of New Hampshire; he died in Monmouth, Me. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war; was made a prisoner by the Indians, allowed one grain of corn a day for rations, but finally made good his escape. After the war, he went to Maine, where he engaged in farming and the lumber business. When the war of 1812 broke out, he raised a company, and as its Captain did some valuable service, but died at his home before the close of the war. He was married to Ruth Dearborn, a native of New Hampshire. She died in 1848, in Monmouth, Me. , aged eighty-four years. She was a niece of Maj. Gen. Henry Dearborn, of Revolutionary fame.

The mother of our subject, Hannah E. (Judkins) Norris, was a native of Monmouth. Me., where she died in 1875. She was a daughter of Jonathan and Sylvia (Fairbanks) Judkins. He was a native of New Hampshire, and she of Maine. Ten children called her mother, of whom eight reached maturity, viz., George W., also a railroad contractor; Emma and Hannah and Henry K. are deceased. James R., our subject, Charles D., Superintendent of the C. H. V. & T. R. R. in Ohio; Augusta M. and Greenleaf D., deceased.

Our subject was educated in Monmouth, Me., and Baltimore, Md. Early in life, he turned his attention to railroading, which has been his vocation in life, doing his first work for the M. & C. R. R. Company, of Ohio. Since then he has done contractor's work in Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois. In December, 1861, he enlisted in the Second Regiment District of Columbia Volunteer Infantry, Company G, serving one year, after which he was honorably discharged by the Regimental Surgeon for disability.

He was joined in matrimony, September 15, 1874, in Wayne County, III., to Miss Melvina A. Brach. born in 1854, in Beaver County, Penn. She is a daughter of Albert and Barbara Brach, the former a native of Prussia, and the latter of Lorain. Three children are the result of this happy union, viz., Edith A., deceased; Greenleaf A., born October 14, 1877; and Mabel A., born October 26, 1881.

Mr. and Mrs. Norris are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. fraternity, Blue Lodge, Royal Arch, Council and Encampment, also G. A. R.