Emperor Norton of San Francisco
Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico
Just over 150 years ago, on September 17, 1859, a San Francisco newspaper published an unusual announcement: that a certain Joshua Norton, a resident of the city for the past ten years, had proclaimed himself Norton I, Emperor of the United States. The people and press of San Francisco, already well accustomed to eccentrics, accepted the proclamation with little fuss; and for the next twenty years, until Norton’s death in January of 1880, they treated him with the respect due a person of his station. Every restaurant in the city allowed him to dine without charge; he rode free on all the ferries and streetcars; the best theater seats were reserved for him; and in the United States census of 1870, his occupation was listed as “emperor.”
Norton’s Arrival in Gold Rush California
Joshua Abraham Norton was born in Great Britain, around 1818. In 1820 the Norton family were part of a group of about 5,000 emigrants to South Africa, where Joshua’s father became a leader of the Jewish community and a successful business man. Upon his death, Joshua inherited the family estate, worth about $40,000. In 1849 Joshua joined the rush to California and its gold. In San Francisco, he enjoyed considerable success. By 1852 his fortune had grown to about $250,000. But over the next few years, the economic slowdown resulting from the end of the gold rush, combined with a failed attempt to corner the market in imported rice, reduced Joshua Norton to poverty.
The Emergence of the Emperor Norton
It seems likely that Norton’s financial disaster pushed him into madness, giving rise to his imperial delusions. And yet it was said of him that he could talk rationally and intelligently about any topic – except himself and his empire. Many of his proclamations, unrealistic as they may have been, seemed to have a solid basis in sanity. One of his first edicts after his “accession” noted: “that fraud and corruption prevent a fair and proper expression of the public voice; that open violation of the laws are constantly occurring, caused by mobs, parties, factions and undue influence of political sects; that the citizen has not that protection of person and property which he is entitled to … in consequence of which, We do hereby abolish congress....”
In 1863, when Napoleon III, Bonaparte’s nephew, invaded Mexico, someone suggested to Norton (perhaps jokingly) that that nation needed protection. Norton agreed, and added “Protector of Mexico” to his title. As the Mexican situation deteriorated over the next decade, however, Norton dropped the addition, observing quite sanely that “It is impossible to protect such an unsettled nation.”
The End of the Reign of Norton I
On the evening of January 8, 1880, Joshua Norton was on his way to a meeting of San Francisco’s Academy of Natural Sciences when he suddenly collapsed to the sidewalk and died. The cause of death was determined to be “sanguineous apoplexy” – today called a cerebrovascular accident, or stroke. An estimated 10,000 people attended the emperor’s funeral, and the cortege that accompanied the body to the Masonic Cemetery was two miles long. In 1934, Norton was reburied with civic and military honors in Woodlawn Memorial Park, just south of San Francisco.
Emperor Norton I is remembered fondly in San Francisco and beyond, even today, 150 years after his benevolent reign began. One city newspaper said of him at the time that he had never shed blood, had never robbed anyone, and had despoiled no country – a great deal more than could be said for anyone else in his line of work. He visited schools and attended a different church or synagogue every week, believing it his duty as emperor to encourage religion and morality. He defended the rights of the Chinese in San Francisco, and strongly opposed the laws that limited their immigration. He was greatly distressed by the Civil War, and decreed that the churches must stop preaching politics.
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), who as a reporter in San Francisco had known Emperor Norton, modeled “the king” in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn after him. Robert Louis Stevenson made the Emperor himself a character in The Wrecker. And Isobel Field, Stevenson’s stepdaughter, said of Norton: “He was a gentle and kindly man, and fortunately found himself in the friendliest and most sentimental city in the world, the idea being ‘let him be emperor if he wants to.’ San Francisco played the game with him.”
Sources:
Cowan, Robert Ernest. “Norton I: Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.” Quarterly of the California Historical Society. October, 1923, http://www.emperornorton.net/NortonI-Cowan.html (accessed September 28, 2009).
Moylan, Peter. “Emperor Norton.” Encyclopedia of San Francisco, http://www.sfhistoryencyclopedia.com/articles/n/nortonJoshua.html (accessed September 28, 2009).
Nolte, Carl. “Emperor Norton, zaniest S.F. street character.” San Francisco Chronicle, September 17, 2009, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/17/MNA019NGBL.DTL (accessed September 28, 2009).
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