Edwin L. Norris

Norris was born in Cumberland County, Kentucky in 1865, and graduated from the Southern Normal School, now Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He moved from Kentucky to Montana in 1888, studied law and was admitted to the Montana bar on October 8, 1889.[1][2] He married Elizabeth June Wilkins. He practiced law in Dillon, Montana and was city attorney there for five years.

Norris was elected to the Montana State Senate in 1896 and served until 1900, serving as the Senate President in 1899.[2] He served as the state's fifth Lieutenant Governor from 1905 to 1908.[2]

He became Governor on April 1, 1908 upon the resignation of Joseph K. Toole, and was elected in his own right in the November 1908 election, serving until 1913. Norris is credited with signing state laws prohibiting discrimination by life insurance companies and making mine operators liable when employees became disabled.

Norris died in Great Falls, Montana in 1924, where he had lived since leaving the Governor's office.[1] He was first buried in Fairview Cemetery and later moved to New Highland Cemetery where he is still interred.

• State of Montana profile
• National Governors Association biography