Thomas Manson Norwood
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's1st district
In office March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1889
Preceded by	John C. Nicholls
Succeeded by	James W. Overstreet
United States Senator fromGeorgia
In office November 14, 1871 – March 3, 1877
Preceded by	Homer V. M. Miller
Succeeded by	Benjamin H. Hill
Member of theGeorgia House of Representatives
In office 1851–1862
Personal details
Born	(1830-04-26)April 26, 1830 Talbot County,Georgia
Died	June 19, 1913(1913-06-19) (aged 83) Savannah,Georgia
Resting place	Laurel Grove Cemetery
Party	Democratic

Thomas Manson Norwood (April 26, 1830 – June 19, 1913) was aUnited States senator andRepresentative fromGeorgia.

Born inTalbot County, Georgia, he pursued an academic course, and graduated fromEmory College in 1850. He studied law under Georgia governorJames Milton Smith,^[1] and was admitted to thebar in 1852, commencing practice inSavannah.

He was a member of theGeorgia House of Representatives from 1861 to 1862 and was apresidential elector on theDemocratic ticket in 1868. He was elected as aDemocrat to the U.S. Senate and served from November 14, 1871, to March 3, 1877.^[2] Norwood was the first Democrat from the South seated in the Senate after the Civil War.^[3] He was a staunch critic of theCivil Rights Act of 1875.^[4] He resumed the practice of law in Savannah, and was elected as a Representative to theForty-ninth andFiftieth U.S. Congresses, serving from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1889.

In 1889 he again resumed the practice of law, and was appointed judge of the city court of Savannah in 1896, serving twelve years.

In his last address before his retirement on December 31, 1907, Norwood called for the execution of Black men who had consensual sexual relationships with White women, accusing them of being violent and abusive. He also called for life imprisonment for White women who were involved, and subjecting Black people to chattel slavery.^[5]

He returned to his country home, Harrock Hall, near Savannah, and died there in June 1913. Interment was inLaurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah. His posthumously published bookA True Vindication of the South argued that the South had been justified in its fight against the North.

• United States Congress."Thomas M. Norwood (id: N000160)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• A true vindication of the South, in a review of American political history Savannah, Ga., Braid and Hutton 1917.
• Norwood, Thomas M.Mother Goose carved by a commentator. Savannah: Morning News, 1900.

• Works by or about Thomas M. Norwood at theInternet Archive
• Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University:Thomas M. Norwood papers, 1859-1874
• Centennial Exposition: Speech of Hon. Thomas M. Norwood of Georgia, in the Senate of the United States, February 10, 1876
• Thomas M. Norwood atFind a Grave

• 1830 births
• 1913 deaths
• Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives
• Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers
• Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges
• Emory University alumni
• People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War
• Democratic Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Democratic Party United States representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Politicians from Savannah, Georgia
• 19th-century Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges
• 19th-century American lawyers
• United States senators who owned slaves
• United States representatives who owned slaves
• Burials at Laurel Grove Cemetery
• 19th-century United States representatives
• 19th-century United States senators
• 19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly

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