Emperor Norton dressed as the Pope at the funeral of the itinerant dog Lazarus.

Norton is now buried in his second grave in Colma, California.

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Norton

Joshua Abraham Norton (c. 1815 – January 8, 1880), also known as His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco who, in 1859, proclaimed himself "Emperor of these United States. more...

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" Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, he was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Norton also wrote to Queen Victoria, and he was referred to as His Imperial Majesty by local citizens and in the newspaper obituaries announcing his death.

Though he was considered insane, or at least highly eccentric, the citizens of San Francisco celebrated his presence, his humor, and his deeds—among the most notorious being his "order" that the United States Congress be dissolved by force (which Congress and the U.S. Army ignored), and his numerous (some claim prophetic) decrees calling for a bridge to be built across San Francisco Bay. Mark Twain was co-resident in San Francisco during part of Emperor Norton's "reign," and the King in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is reportedly modeled after him.

Early life

Norton was born in England. Records vary as to the date and place of birth. His obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle, "following the best information obtainable," cited the silver plate on his coffin which said he was "aged about 65." This suggests 1814 as his year of birth. Other, non-primary sources have his birth on February 14, 1819 in London. According to Drury (1986), immigration records indicate that he was two years old in 1820 when his parents emigrated to South Africa. Southern African genealogies suggest that his father was John Norton (d. August 1848) and his mother was Sarah Norden. Sarah was the daughter of Abraham Norden and niece of Benjamin Norden, a successful Jewish merchant, who displayed his eccentric side by frequently suing family members. This is supported by Cowan (1923) who stated that Emperor Norton I "was of Hebrew Jewish parentage."

Norton emigrated from South Africa to San Francisco in 1849 after receiving a bequest of $40,000 from his father's estate. He enjoyed some highly impressive success in the real estate market and accumulated a fortune of $250,000 by 1853. Norton thought he saw a way to make a financial killing when China, facing a severe famine, placed a ban on the export of rice, causing the price in San Francisco to skyrocket from 4¢ per pound to 36¢ per pound (9¢/kg to 79¢/kg). When he heard that a ship holding 200,000 pounds (100 tons) of rice was coming from Peru, he bought all the rice, hoping to corner the rice market. Unfortunately, shipload after shipload of rice came from Peru, and the price of rice plummeted. There was extensive litigation over the incident amongst Norton and his financial partners between 1853 and 1857. Although Norton prevailed in the lower courts, the cases were eventually settled in the Supreme Court with a defeat for Norton. He declared bankruptcy in 1858, and left the city for a time.