S. Bailey Norton Jr., a 10th generation Islander and widely-admired Edgartown elder who was descended from a family of fishermen, sea captains and yachtsmen, died Thursday. He was 95.

A familiar figure on the streets of Edgartown, the town he loved, Mr. Norton was a naval veteran of World War II, author, retired business executive, past commodore of the Edgartown Yacht Club and lifelong chronicler of Island history.

His 2006 memoir, My Long Journey Home, A Life Worth Living, documents the people and scenes of the town.

“From day one my whole family was involved in fishing,” Mr. Norton told the Gazette in a 2014 interview. “I think that’s really all we knew.”

He was born in Edgartown and was the oldest living descendant of the first captain of the Charles W. Morgan whaleship — Capt. Thomas Adams Norton, who was his great-great uncle. He grew up in a house on Daggett street that is today the Anchors, home of the Edgartown Council on Aging. His father Samuel B. Norton, was a sailor and yachtsman who captained the Manxman, the largest cruising yawl in the world of its time.

About life growing up in town, he said: “The main thing here, when school let out at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, everyone immediately went to the waterfront. Either you were opening scallops, catching fish or selling fish.”


After a long career in business on the mainland, Mr. Norton returned to the Island permanently in 1981. He was active in civic affairs, especially in the areas of maritime history and historic preservation, including at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum and Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust.

In the Gazette interview, he recalled the joy of coming home.

“All my working years I looked forward to coming home and having my own boat and being able to get on the water. It’s the best place of all,” he said.

A graveside service will be held Sunday at noon at the New Westside Cemetery in Edgartown, with a reception to follow at the Edgartown Yacht Club.