NORTON I, Emperor of the United States of America and regent of Mexico

JoshuaAbrahamNorton (circa 1819 - January 8, 1880), also known as "His Majesty NORTON I", was a prominent resident of San Francisco, USA, and appointed himself "Emperor of the United States of America and Regent of Mexico" on September 17, 1859. Although he had no office, and his "authority" was recognized only by some amused people, he was treated well in San Francisco, and his "money" was accepted at the shops he frequented.

He wrote letters to Britain's Queen Victoria, and when she died, the local press and the public addressed him as "His Majesty the Emperor." Although he was generally considered insane, even insane, residents of San Francisco in the mid-19th century were amused by his presence, humor, and behavior.

He is best known for ordering the dissolution of the United States Congress by force (which was ignored by Congress and the U.S. military), and for his repeated orders to build a bridge across San Francisco Bay. American novelist Mark Twain was one of NORTON I's subjects during his reign. It is said that the king character in one of Twain's books, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was based on NORTON I. There are even some new religious groups who regard him as a saint.

September 17, 1859, proclaimed himself "Emperor of the United States of America and Regent of Mexico." He wrote to Queen Victoria, and when he died, the locals addressed him as "Your Majesty the Emperor."

On the night of January 8, 1880, Joshua NORTON collapsed at California and DuPont streets on his way to speak at the Academy of Sciences. He fainted and was immediately noticed by a citizen who alerted the police, after which, according to a newspaper, "the police whipped a horse-drawn carriage and took him to the city hospital." However, NORTON I "died" before the coach arrived.

On January 11, 1880, the San Francisco sky was "darkened" by a total solar eclipse. To remind the people of San Francisco of the end of a beautiful dynasty. On June 30, 1934, the city of San Francisco moved his body to a woodland mausoleum and placed a new marble tombstone inscribed "NORTON I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico."

In 1934, again at the expense of the city of San Francisco, NORTON I's remains were transferred to the glorious Living Rolen Cemetery in Goma.

NORTON I was treated as head of state by the state of California, which sent him on speaking Tours. In addition, NORTON I was an anti-slavery hero. He led the people of San Francisco and other Californians in organizing several large demonstrations demanding the abolition of slavery.

NORTON I's actions attracted the attention of Americans, the then American newspaper the New York Times also reported the story of the American emperor NORTON I on a large scale, from then on Americans knew that the American emperor was in San Francisco. Many beautiful women who admired NORTON I drove thousands of miles to San Francisco to find him and offer to marry him as his queen and concubine. However, the king of NORTON I turned down such a spoony beauty on the grounds that the palace had not yet been completed.

NORTON carried the imperial edicts with him on the street, and when questioned by the police, he would take out the edicts, tell the policeman that he was the emperor of the United States, and offer to promote the policeman, which made people laugh and cry. NORTON the First, who patrolled his territory every day, in order to assert himself as emperor.

NORTON I also printed his own money. When he went to a restaurant in San Francisco, he paid with his own printed money. The tolerant SAN Franciscans accepted his money, knowing it was counterfeit, but they chose to forgive the bankrupt businessman. Of course, NORTON was also a thrifty emperor. He did not spend freely just because his money could flow freely. He ate twice a day and paid for the royal notes.

NORTON I

The San Francisco Chronicle obituary of NORTON I, who was born in England, said that "according to the most reliable sources", citing the silver plate engraved on his coffin, he was "approximately 65 years of age". So 1814 was given as his birth year. Other non-primary sources refer to his birth in London on February 14, 1819.

His parents moved to South Africa from England when he was two years old, according to 1820 immigration records. The South Carolina Genealogical Society says his father was John NORTON, who died in August 1848, and his mother was Sarah Nordan.

Sarah was the daughter of Abraham Nordan and the niece of Benjamin Nordan, a successful Jewish merchant. Benjamin had a history of suing family members, which made him seem unusual. This is similar to Robert Gowan's (1923) claim that "the Emperor NORTON I was of Hebrew (Jewish) descent." It matches.

In 1849, after inheriting his father's estate, NORTON sold his father's estate for forty thousand dollars and moved to San Francisco from South Africa. According to Robert Gowan in 1923, by 1853 NORTON's fortune had accumulated to a quarter of a million dollars.

His first business success came from real estate investments. Later, rice prices in San Francisco soared from $4 a pound to $36 a pound ($9 a kilo to $79 a kilo) when famine in China was so severe that exports were banned. When he heard about a ship from Peru carrying 200,000 pounds (100 tons) of rice, he bought it all, hoping to boost the rice market.

Unfortunately, then shipload after shipload of rice from Peru arrived in San Francisco, and the price fell sharply. As a result he and his financial partners filed lawsuits in 1853 and 1857. Although NORTON won one victory in the lower courts, he eventually lost in the Supreme Court. In 1858, NORTON declared bankruptcy.

The death of the emperor

There were many rumors and conjectures about NORTON I at the end of his reign. One popular story is that he was actually the son of the French emperor Napoleon III and claimed to have come from South Africa to prevent persecution. (To be Napoleon III's illegitimate son, he must have been born when he was three; In fact, Napoleon III's only son, Eugene Bonaparte, died in the Zulu War in 1879.)

It was also widely rumored that NORTON I planned to marry Queen Victoria of England. This, of course, has no basis in fact at all, but he did have several letters with the Queen. And he reportedly received a real emperor: Pedro II of Brazil.

The last rumor is that NORTON I was actually very rich and looked poor because he was cheap.

In addition to rumors, part of the "edict" is also likely to be forged. Fake edicts were sent to newspapers and copied. On at least a few occasions, newspaper editors were suspected of drafting their own virtual edits to get their own way. The San Francisco Museum has a list of all the orders it believes to be genuine.

On the night of January 8, 1880, Joshua NORTON collapsed at California and DuPont Streets (Grant Avenue) while on his way to speak at the Academy of Sciences. He fainted and was immediately noticed by a citizen who alerted the police, after which, according to a newspaper, "the police whipped a horse-drawn carriage and took him to the city hospital." However, NORTON I "died" before the carriage arrived.

The San Francisco Chronicle published his obituary the next day, with the front page headlined Le Roi est Mort (The Emperor is Dead). In a mournful tone, it reported reverently: "On the winding road, in the moonlight and the rain of the night, NORTON I, by the blessing of God, Emperor of the United States of America and Regent of Mexico, has died in Heaven." Another major San Francisco newspaper, the Morning Newsletter, ran a front-page article with a nearly identical headline: "NORTON I, by the blessing of God, Emperor of the United States of America, and Regent of Mexico, is in Heaven."

When the funeral was originally planned, NORTON I was laid to rest in a simple coffin made of redwood wood, used by the poor. But members of the Pacific Club, an association of San Francisco businessmen, found this arrangement completely unacceptable. Having quickly raised funds for the funeral, members of the club purchased a luxurious rosewood coffin and arranged for NORTON I to be given a proper farewell. The report shows that "... All strata of society, from capitalists to the poor, from clergy to pickpockets, from the well-dressed rich to those who had been cast out of society "paid homage to him.

The funeral of NORTON I was regarded as a solemn and sad event. Some reports suggest as many as 30,000 people lined the streets to pay their last respects, and the funeral procession stretched two miles (three kilometers). The city of San Francisco paid for him to be buried in the San Francisco Masonic Cemetery. The day after his funeral, on January 11, 1880, the San Francisco sky was "darkened" by a total solar eclipse. To remind the people of San Francisco of the end of a beautiful dynasty. On June 30, 1934, the city of San Francisco moved his body to a woodland mausoleum and placed a new marble tombstone inscribed "NORTON I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico."

Be remembered

In 1934, again at the expense of the city of San Francisco, NORTON I's remains were transferred to the glorious Living Rolen Cemetery in Goma. His story was gradually forgotten after his death, and his place of eternal sleep was only marked by a small stone; However, his legend became widely known again during the 1960s.

His current gravestone reads "NORTON I, Emperor of the United States of America, and Regent of Mexico, Joshua A. NORTON, 1819-1880" (see photo). Political activist drag queen Jose Saria calls herself "She" as "the Great Queen of San Francisco, Jose I, widow of NORTON I," and once a year holds a pre-European breakfast memorial for her long-dead "husband" to bring his legend back to the world.

She also urged the Hololan Cemetery to pay for a stronger headstone. On January 7, 1980, at lunchtime, San Francisco held many events to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of its only emperor.

On Tuesday, December 14, 2004, NORTON I was recognized for his early efforts to promote the construction of a bridge between San Francisco and Oakland. The San Francisco City Council has approved a motion calling for the new SAN Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to be named after NORTON.