Norris, Geil J., collector.

Family History

Geil J. Norris of Salinas, California, was a descendent of the Cota, Pico, Castro, and Sanchez families, prominent Mexican American families who settled in California, mostly in the Monterey area, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Members of these families, among them Pío Pico, Manuel Castro, Juan B. Castro, and Rafael Sanchez, were important figures in the military and political life of California in the Spanish and Mexican periods.

Geil J. Norris' earliest Mexican Californian ancestor, Pablo Cota, accompanied Junípero Serra on his expedition to California in the eighteenth century. Cota's daughter Maria Isabel married José Maria Pico; among their children were Pío Pico (governor of California, 1832 and 1845-1846), Andrés Pico, and Maria Antonia Pico. Maria Antonia married Simeon Castro, with whom she had several children, including Manuel Castro (prefect of Monterey and Mexican War general), Juan B. Castro, and Maria Antonia Castro. The latter married Rafael Sanchez (secretary to Governor Manuel Micheltorena), becoming Maria Antonia Castro de Sanchez. They had three daughters: Dolores Sanchez, Eduvigues Bache, and Josefa Castro Sanchez. Josefa married Monterey attorney Samuel F. Geil; their daughter Erlinda Geil Norris and her husband Walter E. Norris were the parents of Geil J. Norris, who owned the collection until his death in 1979.