James E. Norris
| James E. Norris | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 10, 1879 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | December 4, 1952 (aged 72) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Occupation | Commodities dealer, sports team owner |
| Board member of | Norris Grain Company, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Chicago Stadium, Madison Square Garden, New York Rangers |
| Children | James D. Norris, Marguerite Norris, Bruce Norris |
| Parent(s) | James S. Norris, Eleanor Waud |
| Honors |
|
James E. Norris (December 10, 1879 – December 4, 1952) was a Canadian-American businessman, operating companies in the grain and cattle industries, and owner of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. He also had significant ownership interests in the Chicago Black Hawks and the New York Rangers. He is often referred to as James Norris Sr., to distinguish him from his son, James D. Norris. Norris is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, as are his sons James and Bruce Norris.
Norris was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of James Sylvester Norris 1850-1914 and Eleanor Waud. James Sylvester Norris was involved in a grain trading company, Norris and Carruthers. Norris lived in Montreal where the company owned an office and a warehouse and Carruthers lived in Toronto, where it rented premises in the Board of Trade building. His grandparents were Captain James Norris 1820-1891 and Sophrinia Neelon. Norris Place in St. Catharines, Ontario is named after Captain James Norris who was a sea captain, businessman, mayor of St Catharines and MP. His great grand parents were James Norris 1793-1839 and Nancy Ann Black. They left Scotland and settled in Caledon East, Peel, Ontario, Canada with their family about the year 1834. His first cousin, one time removed was Peter Blair Norris, named after his grandfather Peter Blair, of Belfountain, Ontario. His first cousin Captain Charles H. Norris settled in Maitland, Nova Scotia and by 1852 owned Norris & Sanderson, a large shipbuilder on Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie River and one of the world's largest sailing fleets. James Norris was not directly related by blood to Dr. John Knox Blair, 1873–1950, a Member of Parliament for the Wellington North Riding, Ontario. He was an accomplished athlete in his youth, playing hockey, squash and tennis. He was a defenceman at McGill University,[1] won the 1897 intermediate championship with Montreal Hockey Club, and later played in 3 games in 1898 for the Montreal Hockey Club senior team.
Norris' family had amassed substantial wealth in the 19th century, owning mills and a fleet of ships, along with several tracts of land. His father moved Norris Grain Inc. to Chicago when Norris was 18 years old. Norris also moved to Chicago and became president of Norris Grain at the age of 28 in 1908. He began buying grain elevators in the 1910s and was the largest cash grain buyer in the world in the 1930s. He also ran Norris Cattle Company, which operated three of the largest cattle ranches in the U.S. His net worth was said to be over $200 million by 1940. Norris became a U.S. citizen in 1919.
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