12/23/2025
A man named Norton and a town with his name
By Ben Cox
The Source Newspaper
Photos/Special to The Source
Sometimes, history isn’t found in dusty books or old courthouse records. Sometimes, it walks into a conference room, sticks out a hand and says, “Hi, I’m Dick Norton.”
That is exactly how longtime Morgan County resident Roger True describes the unlikely moment that reconnected the tiny village of Nortonville with the family of the man who founded it.
True, who was serving in aircraft maintenance with the Air National Guard in Springfield, attended a national meeting of maintenance chiefs in the early 1990s. The gathering brought together senior maintenance officers from units across the country, and introductions quickly worked their way around the room.
One officer stepped forward and introduced himself as Richard “Dick” Norton from the Kingsley Field Unit of the 173rd Fighter Wing in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
When Norton asked where True was from, True hesitated.
“I told him I lived by a little tiny village that you’d never heard of,” True recalls. “But I told him, you do have a little connection with your name.”
That village was Nortonville, Illinois.
The reaction from Richard Norton was instant and unforgettable.
“His mouth kind of flew open and his eyes got big,” True shares. “He said, ‘You’re kidding.’ I told him, no, there really is a place called Nortonville.”
True explained that the town had been platted in 1893 by a man named Charles Sherman “Charlie” Norton.
“That’s when he told me, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but Charlie Norton was my granddad,’” True says.
It was a moment that stunned both men—a chance military meeting that unexpectedly reconnected a small Illinois village with the family of its founder.
Nortonville’s story stretches back much further than that chance encounter. The area was first settled in the late 1820s, when William Tabor built the first house in the township and the first sermon was preached by the Rev. Newton Cloud at the home of John Wyatt in 1828.
Early settlers included families such as the Sturgis, Hart, Anterbus, Bryan and Wyatt families. The land, rich and fertile, shifted from prairie and timber to productive farms growing fruit, grasses, clover and grain crops.
The settlement first carried the name “Youngblood,” part of what was known as “Youngblood Prairie.” A post office served that name briefly between 1876 and 1881. The only remnants from that early period remains one of central focus—Youngblood Baptist Church and its adjoining cemetery.
The real turning point came in the late 19th century, when Charles Sherman Norton arrived. Norton, born in Clinton County in 1868, purchased land in the area in 1889 and soon married Sarah Margaret “Sally” Spires of Franklin, Illinois.
Together, they donated 40 acres of land to establish a town. In April of 1893, they filed the official plat, and by 1894, the community was formally recognized on state maps as Nortonville.
Charles Norton served as the town’s first postmaster and operated a general store. Though the Norton family eventually moved west to Montana by the early 1900s, their name remained permanently attached to the village they founded.
Decades later, that name found its way back to Nortonville through Richard Norton.
Once the family connection was discovered between True and Norton, the two kept in contact. Not long afterward, Nortonville prepared to celebrate its centennial. True contacted Richard Norton again, inviting him to be part of the event that honored his grandfather’s legacy.
So, Norton and his wife packed up their travel trailer and made the long trip back to Illinois. During the celebration, they served as grand marshals of the parade, riding at the head in a horse-drawn buggy.
The moment was memorable—almost chaotic.
“Somebody shot off a big firework and it startled the horses,” True recalls with a laugh. “They darn near got a real ride out of the whole thing.” But the bond had been forged.
Since that time, Richard Norton’s involvement with Nortonville has continued. He has donated to the community’s Nortonville Park Military Memorial that honors its veterans and contributed to the memorial brick walkway, ensuring his family’s name remains permanently displayed in the town his grandfather founded. “He checks in,” True says. “He still asks how the village is doing.”
In more recent years, Norton and his wife settled in Eugene, Oregon. Though health challenges have limited their travel, Richard Norton has maintained communication with the community and with True. His wife, whose maiden name was Murray, also discovered family ties to nearby Murrayville, giving the couple an even deeper sense of personal connection to Morgan County.
True, who still keeps a large hand-painted celebration sign in his garage of the village’s centennial celebration, considers the whole experience a reminder of how small the world can be—and how powerful the pull of history can remain.
From a handshake at a military meeting to a parade down the streets of a village founded by his grandfather, Richard Norton’s unexpected reconnection with Nortonville remains one of the community’s most remarkable modern chapters.
And for Roger True, it all started with a simple introduction.
