Alexander R. Norton. . . was born on a plantation on the May river in Beaufort district, September 2, 1812. After his early training in the common schools he was graduated from the Charleston Medical College and later from the Savannah Medical College. His entire professional career was spent in Robertsville, South Carolina, where he gave arduous and unselfish service to a large circle of patients throughout many years. His death occurred at the age of seventy-five. (War record) Dr. Norton married Julia Elizabeth Greene, who was born in Sereven county, Georgia, in 1817. Her father, John Greene, was also an active member of the medical profession, was a native Georgian, and in addition to his practice conducted a large plantation. It is also noteworthy that he was a pioneer in transportation business on the Savannah river, owning the first "pole boat" that plied between Savannah and up-river ports. Both Dr. Greene and wife are buried in the Buck churchyard on Brier creek, Sereven county, near their old plantation home. Julia (Greene) Norton . . . died in her sixty-fourth year, and her seven children were named as follows: William B., John G., Robert G. Jr., Alexander C., Mary Eugenia, Susan Tallulah and Joseph S.

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One of the best known men in the medical profession in Savannah, is Dr. George Mosse Norton. His father and other members of his family were of the medical profession, and his ability in this line may be credited somewhat to inheritance. Born of one of the oldest southern families, he has lived up to the reputation for wit, and brilliancy and strength of character which had belonged to his ancestors for generations. Although one of the younger physicians in the city he has attained a success that an older practitioner might envy.

Dr. Norton was born in Savannah, Georgia, on the 29th of November, 1873, the son of Dr. Robert Godfrey Norton and Martha Jane (Edwards) Norton. He is descended from Jonathon Norton, a native of England, who early in life came to America and settled on the Island of St. Helena, off the coast of South Carolina. He was bon in 1705 and died in 1774, his wife being Mary Ann Chaplin. One of his daughters, dorothy Phoebe, became the wife of Dr. George Mosse. The latter was a notable character in the coast country of South Carolina and in Savannah. He was born, reared and educated for the medical profession in the University of Dublin, Ireland. Soon after his graduation he came as a physician to America and settled on the Island of St. Helena, where he subsequently became the owner of a large amount of landed property. In addition to this professional practice he was a large planter and a manufacturer of leather. He became in time a man of considerable wealth, and of prominence in this section of the country. Both the Nortons and the Mosses were originally members of the Protestant Episcopal church, but after coming to America they became devoted members of the Baptist church. Dr. George Mosse, at his own expense, built a house of worship on the Island of St. Helena. The advantages for education on the island were extremely meagre, so in order to better educate his younger children, in about 1799 or 1800, he removed his family to Savannah. He had a large family and one of his daughters, Martha, became the wife of Col. Alexander Lawton. They were the parents of Gen. A.R. Lawton, now deceased, who was one of the most distinguished lawyers in Savannah, a brigadier general in the Confederate army, and for a long time the general attorney of the Central of Georgia Railroad. Members of the Norton family lived on the Island of St. Helena for over a hundred years and have been closely identified with the history of that island, as well as with the near-by towns of South Carolina; Beaufort, Bluffton, Robertville and Black Swamp, and with Savannah.

The great-great-grandfather of Dr. George Mosse Norton was William Norton, son of the original Jonathon Norton. William Norton married Mary Godfrey, and like Dr. Mosse, removed in later life from the Island of St. Helena, to Savannah. One of his sons, the great-grandfather of the present Dr. Norton, was Robert Godfrey Norton, who was a soldier of the Continental line during the Revolutionary war. Robert Godfrey Norton married his cousin, Sarah Mosse, and most of his life was spent at Robertville, South Carolina. One of their sons was Dr. Alexander Norton, grandfather of Dr. George Mosse Norton. For a number of years Dr. Alexander Norton practiced medicine in the city and was the first official port physician of Savannah. He married Miss Julia Green, and after living for a number of years in Robertville, after the close of the Civil war, he again returned to Savannah and died here in 1869.

Dr. Robert Godfrey Norton was born in Robertville, South Carolina, on the 17th of March, 1841, and died in Savannah in 1900. He was a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, and also of the Charleston Medical college, and was one of the leading physicians in Savannah for many years. He was married in 1861 to Martha Jane Edwards, of Effingham county, Georgia, and they became the parents of the following children: Fannie Cone, who is now the wife of Gordan L. Grover, of Savannah; Robert G.; William Edwards; George Mosse, and Walter Abell. The latter is a physician and is practicing medicine in Savannah. Dr William Edwards Norton, who was also a physician of Savannah, died in this city in March, 1911. Dr. George Mosse Norton was reared in Savannah and was educated in the public schools of his home city and in the University of Georgia, at Athens. He studied medicine in the Southern Medical College at Atlanta Georgia, from which he was graduated in the class of 1898. Two years later he went to New York City, where he took post-graduate work in the New York Post-Graduate Medical School. He then began his practice in Savannah and soon became one of the successful members of his profession in the city. He has continued to build up a large general practice, but of late years he has turned his attention more directly to surgery. He is a member of the Georgia and the American Meical Associations, and is a member of the staff of Park View Sanatarium. In his fraternal relations he is a member of the Masons and the Elks. For several years he was an active member of the Georgia Hussars, in which he was surgeon with the rank of lieutenant. He was awarded a medal for horsemanship by the Hussars in 1899.

The city of Savannah is noted for its historic old mansions, and the home of Dr. Norton is one of the most notable. It was originally built by Joseph Waldburg as a home for his family, and after his death it was occupied for many years by his son-in-law, Colonel Clinch, a native of South Carolina. The house is an example of that substantial style of architecture used by men of wealth in a former age, when timber was plentiful, and veneer was unknown. The walls of the house are more than two feet thick, and the brick of which it is built is all rosined as are the hardwood floors. The ceilings, walls, partitions and other inside wood work are all of the costliest and most durable materials. The interior furnishings, decorations and the wonderful chandeliers were all imported from Europe and most of these still remain to add to the artistic beauty of the house itself. A delightful garden on the Barnard street side of the house is in keeping with the rest, and on the west side is another garden which affords a charming playground for the children. The property has one hundred and twenty feet of frontage on Oglethorpe avenue, and from a financial standpoint is one of the most valuable in the city. The house is built with two stories and a basement, containing many rooms of the generous proportions that our ancestors enjoyed. It cost $55,000 and required three years and a half in building.

Doctor Norton was married in Savannah, October 6, 1902 to Miss Leila Exley, daughter of Marquis D. and Emma N. (Grovenstein) Exley. They have four children; Elizabeth Emma, Leila Lucile, Angela Willie, and George Mosse, Jr.