Norton Family of Grant and Pendleton Counties of Kentucky

John Norton Family of Grant Co., KY

 

 

 

      The Norton families of northern Kentucky (Grant, Pendleton, Bourbon, and Fayette Counties) are somewhat confusing.  There are at least three John Nortons in the area by the end of the 18th century. It has long been thought that John Norton of Pendleton and Grant Counties (b. 1762 in Loudoun Co., VA) and David Norton of Bourbon and Pendleton Counties were brothers, probably the sons of an older John Norton (John Sr.), b. ca. 1740, in VA. Extensive evaluation of known records has shown that although there is much intermingling of these two men in northern Kentucky records, that they are not currently known to be directly related. David does indeed have a brother, John Jr., who comes into the area, but he is deceased by 1810. John Sr., (of Fayette and Bourbon Cos.) likewise has died by 1814. John Norton of Pendleton and Grant Co. does not die until the mid-1840's, after two unsuccessful attempts to obtain a Revolutionary War Pension. That these two Norton families are someway connected is highly speculated, but unproved. Both claim links to England in the not too distant past.

      John Norton of Pendleton and Grant Cos. was married three times, having children by the first two wives. He first married Ann Ruddle about 1789 in VA, second married the widow Elizabeth Glaves in 1801 in KY, and finally married the widow Nancy Hemmingway in 1813 in KY. He first came to KY about 1790, where his first child was born most likely in the area of current day Grant Co. Based upon the birth records of his subsequent children, they could all have been born on the same homestead, that of the Grassy Creek area of NE Grant Co. This area was part of the following counties during the 1790's: Woodford, Scott, Campbell, and Pendleton Co. In 1820, the Norton lands in Pendleton Co. became part of the new (and current) Grant Co. Evidence suggests that John Norton of Pendleton and Grant Co. had only one homestead, and that the changing boundaries of the counties during the early years of Kentucky history placed the Norton land in each of the above counties as the years went by.

     These pages reflect the results of my ongoing research into various aspects of my paternal grandmother's family.

 

Copyright � 2001 by Ben N. Benson, M.D.

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