[1] At the end of the American Civil War, Norton returned to Virginia, in their home of York County where he may have had part ownership in the store his brother Robert operated.

Establishing himself as a local leader, Daniel testified before Congress in February 1866 that freedmen were not being paid for their work, and vigilantes were a threat to them in the area if federal occupation ended.

Although elected three times to serve on the Freedman’s Bureau local court, he was barred by the assistant commissioner for Virginia until a white man took his place.

[2] Following the Convention, Norton continued his involvement in Republican politics, unsuccessfully seeking the party’s nomination for U.S. Congress three times.

[1] A moderate Republican, Norton began an unparalleled career as an African-American state Senator, not only serving during the period following Radical Reconstruction over the sessions 1871/72.

By 1894, he not only owned sixty-eight acres in York County, but fourteen and a half lots in Yorktown, including the old customs house.