Lyman Decatur Norris

Lyman Decatur Norris (May 4, 1823 to January 6, 1894) was a lawyer, member of the Michigan Constitutional Convention of 1867, and a State Senator from Washtenaw County, Michigan from 1869 to 1871. He was involved in Dred Scott Case when it was argued in St. Louis Circuit Court.

Lyman D. Norris

Early life

He was born in Covington, New York to Mark Norris (1796-1862), a businessman, mason, and an anti-slavery Whig, and Roccena B. Vaill (1797-1876).[1] In 1828 Mark Norris relocated his family to Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1841 Lyman Norris enrolled at the University of Michigan. He transferred to Yale University after three years and received a law degree. Norris read law with Alexander D. Fraser in Detroit and was admitted to the Bar in Michigan in 1847.[2][3]

Career

In 1848-1853, Lyman Norris practiced law in St. Louis, Missouri, where he became engaged in politics as Democrat. He co-owned and served as political editor of the St. Louis Daily Times.[3]

In 1849, Norris and Hugh A. Garland represented pro-slavery client in the Missouri's Dred Scott Case, Scott v. Emerson, 15 Mo. 576 (1852).[4][5][6] They were successful in arguing that Dred Scott's free-soil residence did not entitle him to sue for freedom. Oddly, Lyman Norris offered Dred Scott a loan to purchase freedom.[3]

In 1854, Norris returned to Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1867 Norris attended the Michigan Constitutional Convention. In 1871 he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. He ran as a candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court in 1875. He was appointed a Regent of the University of Michigan in 1883.[7] He died at Grand Rapids on January 6, 1894.

Family

In 1854 Lyman Norris married Lucy Alsop Whittelsey from Middletown, Connecticut. Mark Norris (1857-1943) and Maria W. Norris (1858-1938) were their surviving children; Mark Norris became a lawyer and Maria Norris became a physician.[8]

References
  1. Grand Rapids and Kent County Michigan: Historical Account of Their Progress from First Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. 2. Edited by Ernest B. Fisher. Chicago, 1918, p. 279
  2. Norris Family Papers: 1815-1960, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
  3. Janice Anschueltz. A Tale of Two River Street Men: Justus and Lyman Decatur Norris, Ypsilanti History, 13 (Spring 2015).
  4. Walter Ehrlich. They Have No Rights: Dred Scott's Struggle for Freedom. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1979
  5. Missouri's Dred Scott Case, 1846-1857, Missouri State Archives
  6. Scott v. Emerson, 15 Mo. 576 (1852)
  7. History of the University of Michigan, by Burke Aaron Hinsdale and Isaac Newton Demmon. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1906, pp.200-201.
  8. Lucy Whittelsey Norris

Further reading
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