1892 Biography - G. T. Norwood

That popular gentleman, G. T. Norwood, a farmer and miller, of the Seventh ward of East Feliciana parish, residing near Clinton, La., was born in the house in which he lives, in 1847, a son of Lemuel Hodges and Eliza J. (Winter) Norwood, natives of this parish. His grandfather came from South Carolina with his parents when a boy and settled on the bank of the Mississippi river. His parents were Samuel and Patty Norwood, and his father died the next year after coming South, in 1805 or 1806, his wife surviving him some years. Of their union were born seven children, five of whom were sons: Noel (the grandfather of our subject), Ezekiel, Eli, Abel, John, Martha and Elizabeth. Noel married Elizabeth Hodges, of St. Helena parish, whose parents were from South Carolina, her father, Abel Hodges, having been a native of that state, and settled in East Feliciana parish, where they lived the remainder of their lives, he dying some time during the late war, aged between sixty-five and seventy years, and she some years later. To them were born Lemuel H., the father of our subject, who married Miss Winter; Zacharias, the father of Rev. Noel B. Norwood, of Clinton, La.; John; Eleanor, who married Samuel J. Norwood, a cousin; Abel T.; George; Mary, who married Gen. Thomas F. Collins, deceased, and is yet living in Dallas, Tex.; and Emily, who married Thomas Donalls. All of these children are deceased except Ann and Mary. The father of our subject was the eldest of the family who lived to maturity. He supplemented the knowledge obtained in the common schools with a long continued and most diligent course of reading, which, in fact, may be said not to have yet terminated, and has made himself an exceptionally well-informed man. None of the family received very great educational advantages, except Abel T., who was educated at Centenary college, and graduated as a physician. His descendants all live in Sherman, Tex. Lemuel Hodges Norwood began life for himself as an overseer for his grandmother, and finally settled on the place where his son, G. T. Norwood, is now, living. He came in 1839, and, opening up a large place, operated on a wide scale and became a successful planter. He was born April 12, 1812, and died April 29, 1848. In religion he was a member of the Methodist church, and politically he was a whig. His wife, the mother of our subject, was born May 16, 1818, the daughter of James and Jeanette (Scott) Winter. Her parents were natives of South Carolina and came to Louisiana in 1805, making the journey in flatboats to Natchez, and thence by wagons to this parish. There were several families who came at the same time, among them the Winters, Dunns and Scotts, who settled where the town of Wilson is now situated. James Winter, G. T. Norwood's grandfather, was born July 6, 1770, the son of Robert Winter, a native of Ireland, and his wife, Mary McCants, who lived and died in South Carolina. Mr. Winter was the only one of his family who lived to maturity and married. He was reared in South Carolina, and died in this state, January 8, 1837. During the War of 1812 he was not allowed to become a soldier, being commanded to remain at home to see that the families were cared for whose heads were obliged to be at the scene of battle. He followed farming all his life, and was considered one of the best and most successful farmers of his day, always keeping free from debt and constantly adding something to his worldly store. His distinguishing trait was devotion to his family and his home. He was an old time democrat, but when not suited with the candidates of that party he did not hesitate to vote the whig ticket. His wife, Jeanette Scott, was born in 1780, and was the daughter of Alexander and Margaret (Scott) Scott, natives of the "land of thistles," the third in order of nativity of a family of five children-four sons and one daughter: Alexander, William, James and Thomas, being the names of the sons; she was reared in South Carolina; William came with his parents to Louisiana and was in the battle of New Orleans, where he lost his life; Thomas also received a wound in that engagement, but did not die until some years afterward; Alexander remained all his life in South Carolina. Mrs. Winter died October 8, 1845, having become the mother of eleven children, six of whom lived to be grown, and only one of whom (Mrs. Norwood, later Mrs. Currie) is now living. Their names are as follows: Mary (Mrs. Robbins), Margaret (Mrs. Skipwith), Jeanette (Mrs. Cook), Emily (Mr. L. Courtney), Thomas Winter, who died in Hinds county, Miss., and the following who died young: John, William, Martha, Robert and Samuel. Mrs. Winter was for many years a consistent member of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Currie was first married to Mr. Norwood, the father of G. T. Norwood, on November 2, 1837. Her husband, Lemuel H. Norwood, a native of Mississippi, was born April 12, 1812, the fifth of twelve children, and came to Louisiana when a child with his parents, Noel and Elizabeth (Hodges) Norwood, who had come to Mississippi at a very early day, and settled in what became Wilkinson, afterward Amite county. Mr. Norwood was reared in Louisiana and educated in the common schools. He undertook the responsibilities of life for himself at the age of seventeen years beginning, as before stated, as an overseer for his grandmother Norwood, receiving for his work the first year $75, the second year $120, and in 1838, when his grandmother died, $400. Soon after this he moved to the place where G. T. Norwood now lives. He was a man who led a very quiet life, devoting himself entirely to his family, and following planting to the exclusion of all other pursuits until his death, April 29, 1848. He was, during the last years of his life, a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and as an honest, industrious, public-spirited, Christian gentleman, he was highly respected by all who knew him. To Mr. and Mr. Norwood were born eight children, all of whom died before reaching the age of three years. At the time of his father's death, the subject of this notice was about one year of age, and it has always been a source of sorrow to him that he never knew a father's care. Mrs. Norwood was married, a second time, in 1852, to Alexander F. Currie, a farmer of this parish. He was a native of Mississippi, and was born in 1815, and reared near Fayette, Jefferson county. He was the eldest son of a family of four sons and six daughters of Malcolm Currie, a native of Scotland, moving from South Carolina to Jefferson county, and then to Franklin, where he died. He lived in Mississippi, and in 1852 engaged in farming in Warren county, that state, later coming to Louisiana and settling on the place where our subject now lives, and which he managed successfully until his death, which occurred December 2, 1876. His standing in the community may be inferred from the fact that he was the magistrate of the Seventh ward for some years and was in his official capacity and personally, highly regarded by his fellow-citizens. For many years he was (as is Mrs. Currie) a member of the Methodist church, greatly devoted to all its interests. By her second marriage, Mrs. Currie had four children, two of whom are deceased, an infant and a son named Edward A., who died at the age of sixteen months. The others are Rev. William T. Currie, of the Methodist church, now a resident of Slaughter, La, and Edward Currie, a merchant at Clinton. Mrs. Currie, who has been remarkably active until within the past few years and is exceedingly well preserved for one of her age, makes her home with her son at the old home place. When this beautiful plantation was first settled it was a dense thicket, abounding in game of all kinds. Mr. G. T. Norwood was reared and has always made his home on this place, except for about a year and a half, which time he has spent in Texas. He was educated in the public schools and in the higher schools of Clinton. At the age of seventeen he was employed in the sheriff's office, and afterward he read law, and on going to Texas, practiced his profession for some time in Crockett, Houston county, but on his return to Louisiana he engaged in planting, which he has since followed. He has also been engaged in ginning and running a sawmill, in each of which pursuits he has been successful. He married Miss Stella C. Currie, daughter of Hon. M. M. Currie, of Franklin county, Miss., who was roared in Franklin county, and educated there and at Clinton, Miss, and to their union one daughter, Mary Currie, has been born. Mr. and Mrs. Norwood are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is a member of the Farmers' Union of East Feliciana parish. He also represents the Seventh ward of the police jury and has held this office since the election of Governor Nicholls. Politically he is a democrat, and takes a great interest in the advancement of his party and the measures advocated by its leaders. The father of Mrs. Norwood, Hon. M. M. Currie, now deceased, was a senator from Franklin and Jefferson counties, Miss., in 1876-77, and was one of the leading and prominent men of his part of that state. He is no less successful as a planter and an educator than in politics. His career marks him as one of the self-made men of the South, his education having been acquired principally by his own efforts, and his standing in life through his unaided labors. Mr. and Mrs. Norwood have a pleasant, well-appointed home about four miles north of Clinton, their fine two-story residence located nearly in the center of their plantation being known far and wide for its generous hospitality. They are held in the highest regard in the community and are greatly in demand in the best social circles. Mr. Norwood has the respect of all his fellow-citizens, for having done much toward the advancement and development of his parish by contributing liberally of his time and means to the furtherance of all movements having for their object the enhancement of the general weal A thorough Louisianian, he has at heart the best interests of the state at large, and watches the course of all events affecting its prosperity with the greatest solicitude.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana, published in 1892, volume 2, pages 281-285.