Isaac F. Norris, ca. 1850 - ca. 1910
Isaac F. Norris
from composite photograph of
Tennessee House of Representatives,
42nd General Assembly, 1881-1882,
TSLA Collection.
Isaac F. Norris was probably born about 1850, but very little is known about his life. In fact, several accounts that mention his name refer to him as Isham Norris, perhaps confusing him with Isham G. Harris, who was governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862. A Memphis businessman, Norris was identified with the coal and wood business (1885) and with a grocery store (1888-1891). Little else is known about his life, except that he apparently accumulated a considerable amount of wealth and, according to Patricia Bradley, moved to North Dakota.
Norris, along with fellow Republican Thomas F. Cassels, was elected to represent Shelby County in the 42nd General Assembly (1881-1883). He was among the elite African American group who saw several of their number elected to public office in Memphis during the 1870s. There were at least ten black members on the city council; other positions ranged from coal inspector to assistant attorney general.
n the 1883 election the Democratic party made a concerted effort to pilfer black votes from the Republicans, placing black candidates on their ballot for the first time, along with General William B. Bate, candidate for governor. Among the African Americans who joined the Democratic fusionist slate were Isaac F. Norris and William F. Price, both of whom were running for seats in the General Assembly. Democrats praised them as “men of fine practical sense and good judgment,” unsullied by “personal political ambitions,” and well able to represent both the interests of their white constituents and “the wants of the 35,000 colored people in Shelby County.” However, the Nashville Banner, in October of 1882, called Price and Norris “unprincipled Republican Negro characters” who could not speak for the “respectable, honest, fair-minded colored man in the state” because they were “too disreputable to do the dirty work of the Republican administration.” As it turned out, many Democrats were unwilling to vote for a black candidate, however reputable or disreputable he might be. Bate was elected by a comfortable margin over Republican incumbent Alvin Hawkins, and the Democrats carried Shelby County, but Norris and Price were both defeated. Ironically, Leon Howard, one of two blacks who remained on the Republican ticket, was the only Shelby County African American elected to the 43rd General Assembly, where he joined John W. Boyd (Tipton County), Samuel A. McElwee (Haywood County), and David Rivers (Fayette County).