IDENTIFIED US NAVAL OFFICER’S GROUPING OF CHARLES S. NORTON

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Item Code: 766-2056

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An identified US naval officer’s grouping with an old family note and coming from Charles Stuart Norton (1836-1911,) an officer who put in 43 years of service from his graduation from Annapolis in 1855, through the Civil War and postwar eras, eventually retiring as Rear Admiral in 1898. The group consists of ¼ plate full standing tintype of him in uniform with the family note on the reverse, a telescope that he seems to have received from a fellow officer, and his Lieutenant’s shoulder straps, buttons and extra rank bars from his uniform.

A quick search finds him in action as early as Sept. 25, 1861, in command of the USS Seminole engaging a Confederate battery at Freestone Point, Va, along with the USS Jacob Bell; in August 1864 aboard the USSRR Cuyler in the search for the CSS Tallahassee and other CS vessels; in 1865 off the coast of Texas in command of the USS Albatross. His 1911 obituary in the NY Times summarizes his overall service:

“Rear Admiral Norton was born in Albany, New York on August 10, 1836 and was graduated at the Naval Academy in June 1855. He was made a Lieutenant in 1860, a Lieutenant Commander in 1862, Commander in 1870, Captain in 1881, Commodore in 1894 and Rear Admiral in 1897. In the Civil War Admiral Norton served from 1861 to 1862 on the Charleston, South Carolina blockade, the Potomac flotilla and at Hampton Roads, Virginia, participating in several engagements. From 1862 to 1864 he was with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and in 1864 and 1865 with the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.

After the war Admiral Norton commanded several vessels and served on the Board of Inspection and Survey. He was in charge of the South Atlantic Station from 1894 to 1896 and the Washington Navy Yard and Station from 1896 to 1898 when he was retired. Admiral Norton was married twice. His widow was Mrs. Elizabeth Killough of Westfield.”

The photograph is glassed, matted, and framed, but uncased. Norton is shown wearing his officer’s frock coat with sword belt and regulation sword. He stands next to table with red-tinted brocade tablecloth on which rests his officer’s cap showing braid around the base and a small anchor at top center. On the back of the photo is an old pencil note: “Charles Norton / Lieutenant Commander U.S. Navy / Epaulets and buttons / from his uniform.” He shows no shoulder straps and has just three buttons visible on one cuff. The braid on his cap would date the image before 1864 and we take the specific use of Lieutenant Commander in the note to be an accurate reflection of a date in the 1862-64 range. The image is very clear. The photographer just lightly tinted his cheeks. There is a scrape and damage to the emulsion at right, but it does not affect the figure, otherwise just a couple  shallow scratches.

The epaulets referred to in the note are actually his shoulder straps, contained in a small cardboard box. They are single-bordered, embroidered bullion, showing some wear, dust and soiling, with some slight raggedness to the edges and a little thin verdigris on some of the borders but in very good condition overall with jaceron wire and border strands all in place, and bearing the insignia of a USN Lieutenant in the middle of a medium blue ground: a fouled anchor flanked at either end by two rank bars, the anchor in silver, the rank bars gold. The backs are open and lined with white paper. With these is an additional set of four gilt brass false-emboidered rank bars on web strap and two USN officer’s brass buttons with Scovill backmarks. The bars and buttons have nice mellow tones with one of each showing slightly darker.

The telescope is 21” long and 2-1/4” in diameter, with leatherette cover and attached brass label reading “E. HAYDEN.” We don’t find this name as a maker and suspect a maker would have used something more elegant. A potential previous owner, however, might well be Edward D. Hayden, who served as a U.S.N. Acting Assistant Paymaster from 27 Sept. 1862 to 2 Feb. 1866. Some sleuthing might disclose some overlapping duty, though a quick search for Hayden only shows him in the Mississippi squadron in the Vicksburg and Red River campaigns. (Another E. Hayden, with brief later service in the 1880s as an Ensign would seem to be too low ranking to be giving his telescope to Norton at that point.)

This is a nice, intact grouping from an officer with some active service and with room left for further research.  [sr][ph:L]

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