1844-1907

De­cem­ber 4, 1844, West Cowes, Isle of Wight.

Sep­tem­ber 23, 1907, Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois.

Norris at­tend­ed school in Ca­na­da, and was or­dained a Meth­od­ist min­is­ter in Osh­a­wa, On­tar­io, Ca­na­da, in 1868. Over the next de­cade, he pas­tored at church­es in Can­a­da, New York, and Wis­con­sin. He switched to the Con­gre­ga­tion­al­ist de­nom­in­a­tion in 1878, serv­ing church­es in Mon­do­vi, Shulls­burg and Hix­ton, Wis­con­sin, Grand Ra­pids, Mi­chi­gan. From 1882-1901 he held pas­tor­ates in Ames, Web­ster Ci­ty, Park­ers­burg, Pe­ter­son, and Tri­po­li, Io­wa. His works in­clude:

  1. Church of the Liv­ing God, Awake
  2. Empty Me of Self, Dear Sav­ior
  3. From Cen­tral Throne of Dazz­ling White
  4. Grant Me Thy Spir­it, Dear Sav­ior
  5. Helpless, O Lord, I Cry to Thee
  6. I Long for the Full­ness of Bless­ing
  7. I Will Try to Do the Right
  8. Jesus, Make My Heart Thy Home
  9. Jesus, Sav­ior, Dear to Me
  10. O Suf­fer Lit­tle Child­ren
  11. O the Bless­ed Bi­ble, What a Trea­sure
  12. Sabbath Bells Are Ring­ing, The
  13. Sometimes Our Hearts Are Bur­dened with Grief
  14. There Is No Name So Sweet as Je­sus
  15. There’s a Land That En­rap­tures the Sight
  16. Though I’m but a Lit­tle Child
  17. Voice of Christ to Thee Is Cry­ing, The
  18. We Are Hap­py Child­ren, Walk­ing in the Light
  1. Where He Leads Me