Martha's Vineyard Museum

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biography/Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

Collection Inventory

Descriptive Summary

Repository	Martha's Vineyard Museum Gale Huntington Research Library 59 School Street P.O. Box 1310 Edgartown, MA 02539 (508) 627-4441
Call Number	RU 492
Creator - creator	Norton, Peter, 1718-1792
Title	Peter Norton family papers
Date [inclusive]	1737-1848
Extent	2 boxes + 1 oversize folder (0.780 cubic feet)
Language	The materials are in English.
Abstract	The collection contains bills, correspondence, deeds, legal documents, receipts, and other material belonging to Peter Norton (1718-1792), Town Treasurer and Sheriff of Edgartown, Massachusetts and Major of the county militia. Also included is material relating to Norton's descendants, including his sons, grandchildren, and other family members.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions to access.

Use and Reproduction Restrictions

Requests to reproduce this collection should be directed to museum staff. Reproduction fees may apply.

Acquisition Information

"Commission to Ebenezer Norton to be Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in the County of Dukes County, signed by Gov. John Hancock " gift of Mrs. Clarissa Flint in September 1960 (Accession no. 1960.026). The immediate source of acquisition and date of accession for the rest of the material is unknown.

Bibliography

Banks, Charles Edward. The History of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, In Three Volumes. Boston: Press of Edward Leodore Smith, 1925.

Publication Information

Martha's Vineyard Museum

Gale Huntington Research Library
59 School Street
P.O. Box 1310
Edgartown, MA 02539
(508) 627-4441

Revision Description

 Revision to the Collection; Extension of date statement [CJ], August 2015

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Lara J. Ullman in September 2014. Finding aid machine-encoded by Nathaniel Janick in October 2014.

 Creation of this finding aid was sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Related Materials

Related Materials

See also, RU 493, Ichabod Norton Papers.

Biography/Historical Note

Peter Norton was born in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on September 9, 1718 to Ebenezer and Deborah (Mayhew) Norton. Around 1740, Peter married Sarah Bassett (1720-1804). The couple resided in Edgartown and had 13 children: Ebenezer (1741-1801), Samuel (1743-1801), Martha (1744-1816), Cornelius (1746- ), Lydia Bassett (1747-1815), Eliakim (1749-after 1790), Mehitable (1750-after 1790), Ephraim (1752-1839), Zachariah (1754-1830), Joseph (1756-1819), Andrew (1758-1758), Ichabod (1761-1847), and Peter (1763-1763). Norton held various positions throughout his life including Edgartown Town Treasurer from 1762-1764, Edgartown Sheriff from 1776-1779, deacon of the Baptist Church, and Major of the county militia. Peter Norton died on February 13, 1792.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains bills, correspondence, deeds, legal documents, promissory notes, receipts, and other material belonging to Peter Norton (1718-1792). There is also material related to Norton's duties as Major of the county militia, including documents relating to the American Revolution.

Also included in this collection are appointments, deeds, a ledger, letters, and a receipt relating to Norton's descendants, including his sons, grandchildren, and other family members. Of note is the commission appointing Ebenezer Norton to be Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in the County of Dukes County, signed by Gov. John Hancock. For material concerning Peter's son, Ichabod Norton (1761-1847), who known as the wealthiest man on Martha's Vineyard in his lifetime, see RU 493.

Arrangement

Peter Norton's material is arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically therein. Material concerning Peter Norton's descendants can be found at the end of the collection in box 2. The material is organized in loose chronological order with notes following each folder title explaining how the individual is related to Peter Norton. Box 2 also houses RU 493, Ichabod Norton Papers.