George W. Norris

George Norris married Pluma Lashley in 1889 from whom he had three daughters. Post Pluma’s death, he remarried Ellie Leonard in 1903.

He passed away at the age of 83 on September 2, 1944 in McCook and was cremated at the Memorial Park Cemetery.

George William Norris was born on July 11, 1861 in Sandusky, Ohio, into a family of underprivileged Scots-Irish farmers.

His childhood was tough as he lost his father at the tender age of four. His mother, Mary’s support and encouragement motivated George towards some serious education so that their financial miseries could be abated.

He started attending district schools and his exemplary debating skills supported his choice of law as a career. He did work on farms and also taught in school while studying at the Baldwin University, Berea, in order to support his mother in running a family of 11 children.

He completed graduation from the law School of Valparaiso University in 1883 after which he returned home where he taught and worked as a clerk in a local law office simultaneously.

After spending two years at the local law office, he finally started practice in Beaver City, Nebraska, and in 1899 inaugurated his own office in McCook.

George Norris was appointed the Furnas County prosecutor in 1892 and the district judge in 1895.

He became a member of the Congress in 1902 and remained so for another four years in a row.

He led a revolutionary group in 1910 that worked on combating the autocracy of the Speaker, Joseph G. Cannon in the House.

The National Progressive Republican League was created in January 1911 under his leadership.

By opposing the privatization of the hydroelectric set ups in 1920, George Norris became a leader of the farm relief legislation.

In spite of severe opposition to the bill for governmental holdings in 1928, the Tennessee Valley Authority was created in 1931; post which he became the “father of the TVA” and the very first dam under this project was named as the Norris Dam.

One of Norris’ greatest achievements was in the form of the Twentieth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which was proposed and passed in 1923 and 1933 respectively. It is also famous as the “Lame Duck” amendment. This amendment eradicated the lameness of the Congress by changing the President’s inauguration date.

The twentieth Amendment played a pivotal role in introducing an exclusive non-partisan, unicameral legislature in Nebraska in 1934.

George Norris became the first person to be placed in the ‘Nebraska Hall of Fame’ in 1961.