John Norvell (1789-1850)
MSA SC 3520-13914
Biography:
Born in Danville, Virginia (now Kentucky), December 21, 1789. Attended public schools. Studied law. Admitted to the Maryland bar, 1814. Married; had at least seven children, six of whom were sons who fought for the Union during the Civil War.
John Norvell was a lawyer in Baltimore when he enlisted as a private in a company called the Baltimore Fencibles in the War of 1812. From 1813 to 1815 he was editor and printer of the Baltimore Whig, and from 1815 to 1817 he edited the Baltimore Patriot. From 1817 to 1819 he was printer of the Kentucky Gazette in Lexington, Kentucky and after 1819 printed the Franklin Gazette in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He moved to Michigan (probably in the late 1820s) and served as postmaster of Detroit from 1831 to 1836. He was a delegate to the Michigan state constitutional convention at Detroit in 1837. When Michigan was admitted to the Union as a state he was elected to the U.S. Senate where he served from January 26, 1837 to March 3, 1841 and was chair of the Committee on Engrossed Bills. He resumed the practice of law in Detroit and ran for election to the Michigan state senate, serving in 1841. The following year he was a member of the Michigan state house of representatives. From 1846 to 1849 he served as U.S. district attorney of Michigan. He died in Detroit, Michigan on April 24, 1850 and was interred at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit.
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