Ad from June 1874 isue of "American Builder"

This maker of diagonal planers used patents spanning 1874 through 1885. He was perhaps the first to successfully combine a planer and sander in a single machine.

Information Sources

• Ad in June 1874 issue of American Builder: "Norris' Door Planing Machine".
• Listed in a work published by the United States Centennial commission, Official Catalog of the 1876 International Exhibition, as a maker of a "diagonal planing and polishing machine".
• Article in 1878 Manufacturer & Builder. The article describes Norris's planer with cylinder that can be set at any angle between 45 and 90 degrees to the direction of travel; disk and drum sanders are integrated, to "polish" the planed surface. The article indicates that "several" years before, Norris, had introduced "the first successful diagonal planers."
• An 1882 Rowley & Hermance catalog shows, on page 30, a Norris Patent 36-inch Diagonal Planing and Polishing Machine. The illustration shows a machine clearly labeled as made by W. R. Norris, although the rest of the label is obscured, presumably to prevent readers from trying to contact Norris directly. The following patent dates are given: Mar. 24, 1874; May 5, 1875; March 26, 1878.
• From Lineage and Biographies of the Norris Family in America from 1640 to 1892, we have the following information (forwarded to us by Mark Conley):

  1415. William Rust Norris, b. Glens Falls, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1839; m. Jan. 12, 1870, Frances Elizabeth, dau. of Rev. Edward Tozier, pastor of the Baptist church in Fort Ann, N. Y. She was b. in Naples, N. Y., and d. Feb. 19, 1873. He m. 2d, Dec. 29, 1883, Margaret Josephine, dau. of John Doughty, of Washington, D. C. ; she was b. in 1850, at Knightstown, Ind., and d. Feb. 11, 1892. Mr. Norris has lived in Glens Falls, N. Y., fourteen years ; in the Adirondack mountains one year ; at Fort Ann, N.Y., ten years ; for twelve years in New York city ; and has lived in Schenectady and Buffalo, N. Y., and for a time in Michigan. He has been a farmer, a cooper, a manufacturer of lime, and a manufacturer of machinery ; res. Kansas City, Mo., in 1892, and is engaged in manufacturing school supplies. Children : 1, Edward Josiah Norris, b. Fort Ann, N. Y., July 1, 1871 ; d. there April 18, 1880. 2, Infant son, d. March 1, 1873.