joshua abraham norton

Joshua Abraham Norton (February 4, 1818 – January 8, 1880), known as Emperor Norton, was a resident of San Francisco, California, who in 1859 proclaimed himself “Norton I., Emperor of the United States“. In 1863, after Napoleon III invaded Mexico, he took the secondary title of “Protector of Mexico”.

Norton was born in England but spent most of his early life in South Africa. Leaving Cape Town, probably in late 1845, he arrived in Boston, via Liverpool, in March 1846 and San Francisco in late 1849. Nothing is known of his whereabouts or occupations in the intervening three-and-a-half years.

12 cents

For the first few years after arriving in San Francisco, Norton made a successful living as a commodities trader and real estate speculator. However, he was financially ruined following a failed bid to corner the rice market during a shortage prompted by a famine in China. He bought a shipload of Peruvian rice at 12 cents per pound; but more Peruvian ships arrived in port, causing the price to drop sharply to 4 cents. He then lost a protracted lawsuit in which he tried to void his rice contract, and his public prominence faded.

Norton re-emerged in September 1859, laying claim to the position of Emperor of the United States. Though Norton received many favors from the city, merchants also capitalized on his notoriety by selling souvenirs bearing his name. “San Francisco lived off the Emperor Norton,” Norton’s biographer William Drury wrote, “not Norton off San Francisco”.

1880

Norton had no formal political power; nevertheless, he was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments that he frequented. His rule was recognized by the Kingdom of Hawaii. Some considered him insane or eccentric, but citizens of San Francisco celebrated his imperial presence and his proclamations, such as his order that the United States Congress be dissolved by force and his numerous decrees calling for the construction of a bridge and tunnel crossing San Francisco Bay to connect San Francisco with Oakland.

On January 8, 1880, Norton collapsed at the corner of California and Dupont (now Grant) streets and died before he could be given medical treatment. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, upwards of 10,000 people lined the streets of San Francisco to pay him homage at his funeral. Norton has been immortalized as the basis of characters in the literature of Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Christopher Moore, Morris and René Goscinny, Selma Lagerlöf, G. S. Denning, Neil Gaiman and Charles Bukowski.

The Life & Legend of Emperor Norton

Emperor Norton (1818-1880) is both a legend and an historical figure. It’s not always easy to tell where one begins and the other one ends.

This much we know about his birth: Joshua Abraham Norton was born to Jewish parents, John and Sarah Norton, in the Kentish town of Deptford, England, which now is part of London. The precise date has been trickier to pin down. Most likely, though, he was born on 4 February 1818. (For much more detail on this, see our essay, “Joshua Abraham Norton, b. 4 February 1818,” part of our Emperor Norton’s Birth Date Project.)

Two years later, in February 1820, young Joshua and his family — parents, older brother Louis and younger brother Philip (who was born en voyage) — set sail from London to South Africa, where his father established a successful ship’s chandlery.

Nine more siblings were born over the next decade. But, while John Norton’s family had grown by leaps and bounds, his business fortunes started heading south around 1840. By the time he died in 1848 — preceded by his wife, Sarah, and his two sons, Louis and Philip — Joshua’s father was insolvent, if not bankrupt.

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As the only surviving son, Joshua in theory would have been the primary heir of his father’s estate. Whether this came to pass and, if so, how much left once the creditors had paid — perhaps by liquidating the businesses — is uncertain. Partly, this is because there are indications that Joshua’s relationship with his father strained.

1845

Perhaps more important: It appears that Joshua left Cape Town by November 1845 — well before the deaths of his parents and his nearest siblings, Louis and Philip, between May 1846 and August 1848.

This is certain: In Liverpool, in early February 1846, Joshua boarded the Boston ship Sunbeam, which sailed for Boston on February 10th, arriving on March 12th. Joshua was on the ship when it landed in Boston. (For documentation, see our May 2021 essay here.)

1879

In November 1879, two months before Emperor Norton’s death, the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed the Emperor and penned a profile reporting — apparently from the Emperor’s own lips — that, “[i]n 1849, on the fifth day of November…Norton arrived in San Francisco from the Cape of Good Hope via Rio Janiero [sic] and Valparaiso.” Most accounts written since then have followed this narrative. According to his obituary in the Daily Alta California newspaper, he dropped anchor in his new home with $40,000.

This last point is undocumented. And sources differ as to whether the “original nest egg” — whether $40,000 or some other number — was composed solely of Joshua’s residual inheritance or whether perhaps he paused for several months, or a few years, in South America and engaged in business activities that enabled him to build on a smaller amount.

At 21, with help from his father, Norton opened his own ship supplies business, but it went bankrupt within 18 months. Things went from bad to worse over the next few years, and by 1848, both of Norton’s parents and two of his siblings had died.

The following year, Norton left South Africa, and after a short stop in South America, landed in San Francisco in late 1849.

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Norton arrived in a lawless, Wild West version of San Francisco. The Gold Rush transformed a small town of a few hundred people to a bustling metropolis of 25,000 within a few years.

It was also a town of constant rebirth. People were making and losing their fortunes in the blink of an eye. The city almost destroyed by fires seven times between 1849 and 1851.

Norton, who had already built and lost a business in South Africa, fit right into this boom-and-bust town. He established himself as a successful businessman selling commodities like rice and flour. He invested in real estate, erecting buildings on three of the four corners of Sansome and Jackson streets — one of the most popular intersections in town — plus plots in North Beach and a lucrative waterfront property.

Emperor of the United States

After all, Norton spent the next 20 years of his life slowly becoming an icon and widely loved mascot of San Francisco. He lived an oddly dignified life, participated in the daily life of the city, appeared at numerous theatrical and operatic openings, lived very frugally in his various rooms, and caused no one any harm. In fact, as William Drury argues in Norton I: Emperor of the United States (Dodd, Mean & Co., New York: 1986), Emperor Norton brought wealth to San Francisco far beyond what he derived from the city himself. Emperor Norton was San Francisco’s first and foremost tourist attraction!

When the Transcontinental Railroad opened in 1869, San Francisco merchants could taste the money to made from luring tourists to the city. Emperor Norton, a “bummer” in many eyes (a pejorative term for homeless or vagabond at the time), adopted and turned into a wildly popular local character by the local press. It started with the Bulletin, where Norton I appeared one day late in 1859. He hand-delivered the first imperial declaration to George Fitch, the Bulletin’s editor.

1860

When Lincoln won the November 1860 election and the south seceded over the following months, men all over the country were acquiring uniforms, and Emperor Norton was no exception. He never seen again without his uniform of bulky epaulets, a plumed hat, and a large sword on his hip.

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Gold Rush and Bust

Norton’s first business misstep came at the end of 1852. He bought a rice shipment from Peru for $25,000 during a famine in China, hoping to corner the market. After several more rice shipments from Peru arrived in town, the market flooded and he refused to make good on the bill. His three-year dispute with the rice merchant resulted in huge legal fees. Meanwhile, the gold rush ended and the San Francisco economy crashed.

1856

Norton lost some property to foreclosure, sold some businesses and properties at a huge loss, and filed for bankruptcy in 1856. Although he advertised himself as a commission agent in 1857 and 1858, selling coffee and barley, he had gone from living in fine hotels to renting a room in a workingclass boarding house.

American businessman and professional eccentric Joshua Norton (1818–1880) proclaimed himself the first emperor of the United States, Emperor Norton I, and “Protector of Mexico.” Living in California, Norton issued madcap satirical proclamations in San Francisco newspapers, created his own currency, and became one of the most famed characters of the American West.

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