Emperor Norton,

Emperor Norton, zaniest S.F. street character

Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, September 17, 2009
Emperor Norton proclaimed himself thus 150 years ago today. Emperor Norton reigned in San Francisco 21 years.

(09-16) 19:43 PDT -- Today marks the 150th anniversary of the accession of Norton I, emperor of the United States and protector of Mexico, unquestioned monarch of all the zany characters who have inhabited the streets of San Francisco.

On Sept. 17, 1859, the San Francisco Bulletin published a notice on an inside page announcing that Joshua Norton, formerly a prominent San Francisco businessman, had proclaimed himself Norton I, "Emperor of these United States." He had acted, he said, "at the peremptory request of a large majority of the citizens."

The newspaper notice was the work of an unhinged mind, printed in a moment of caprice by Bulletin Editor George Fitch, but it marked the beginning of the 21-year reign of San Francisco's most beloved character.

Norton followed his first notice with a second proclamation, abolishing Congress because there was too much fraud and corruption. Later, he abolished political parties for the same reason, ordered a bridge to be built from San Francisco to Oakland and carried on a correspondence with other crowned heads.

He reigned over San Francisco as a benign despot, honored everywhere he went.

"Newspapers accepted him as part of the fun of living in San Francisco," wrote John Bruce in "Gaudy Century," a book about San Francisco journalism.
Wined and dined

The emperor dined in any restaurant he chose and was never presented with a bill; the best seats in the theater were reserved for him; he occasionally reviewed the corps of cadets at the University of California; he visited the state Legislature in Sacramento. A general at the Presidio of San Francisco presented him with a uniform and when it wore out, the city supervisors bought him another.

The emperor levied taxes (usually 50 cents) and issued currency and "governmental bonds," all printed by the city's finest printers. Once, he was arrested and nearly packed off to the state insane asylum in Stockton, but he was released with a formal apology and all San Francisco police officers were advised to salute whenever they encountered his majesty.

He had two mutt dogs, Bummer and Lazarus, who followed him about. When Bummer died in 1865, Mark Twain wrote the dog's obituary.

"In what other city," Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "would a harmless madman who supposed himself emperor ... been so fostered and encouraged?"

The emperor's palace was a rooming house at 624 Commercial St., where he paid 50 cents a night for a modest room. He was duly listed in the city directory and in the U.S. census, where his occupation was listed as "emperor."

Norton was not the only street character in San Francisco in the 19th century. There was George Washington II, who wore a Revolutionary War costume; Oofty Goofty, a strange little man who made his living by allowing gents to hit him with a pool cue for 50 cents; the Money King, a celebrated miser; and a mysterious street character who called himself the Great Unknown.
Fortune won and lost

But Norton was the king, the emperor of them all. His story was known to all San Franciscans. He was born in England, came to California in the Gold Rush in 1849 from South Africa, and arrived in San Francisco, where he made a fortune in real estate and business deals and lost it all in an ill-advised attempt to corner the market in imported rice.

Joshua Abraham Norton disappeared for a few years after that to reappear as Norton I.

The emperor dropped dead at the age of 61 one rainy January night in 1880 in front of Old St. Mary's Church on California Street. His funeral cortege was 2 miles long. He was buried at the old Masonic Cemetery and reburied in 1934 at Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma.

Every January, on the Saturday nearest the anniversary of his death, members of E Clampus Vitus, a society that combines a love of drinking with a love of history, makes a pilgrimage to the emperor's grave.

Norton's legacy lives on: There is an Emperor Norton Inn on Post Street and the Emperor Norton Restaurant and Pizza parlor, which features "Bummer's favorite pizza" as its signature dish.

One of the few artifacts of the emperor to survive his reign is his cane, now the property of the California Historical Society. It will be displayed as part of a larger exhibition starting Sept. 25.
Emperor Norton on exhibit

Emperor Norton will be featured in an exhibit by the California Historical Society beginning Sept. 25. The exhibit is called "Think California" and will include seven themes, one of which will spotlight people who migrated to California during the Gold Rush, including Norton, and later.

Where: California Historical Society, 678 Mission St., San Francisco

When: Starts Sept. 25

Admission: $3 adults; $1 seniors, children younger than 6 and students with student identification; free to members.

Hours: Noon to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays

E-mail Carl Nolte at cnolte@sfchronicle.com.

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This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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