Originally posted by Charles@Jun 21st, 2004 - 5:17 pm
Norton I is one of the more endearing characters... He was a much beloved man, although he was penniless. Fundraisers were held at various times to provide for him and his dog. Norton was truly treated like royalty.
Charles, I am typing this especially for you and I hope you like it
:flower:
From the book
Royal Misbehavior: Crazy Kings & Kooky Queens by David Randall:
Norton I (1819-1880): The first, last, and only Emperor of the United States. Self-proclaimed he may have been but for some reason the people of San Francisco took a shine to this harmless nutcase and played along with his delusion of imperial majesty. They bowed and scraped, voted him funds and allowed him to lord it over them in his own inimitable way for over 20 years. When he died in 1880, they rounded off the joke by giving him a send-off that would not have disgraced a president. It was a considerable achievement for a man who was not only English but also, until he declared himself royal, nothing more than a failed commodity inspector.
Joshua Abraham Norton, to hive his highness his full name, was born in London in 1819. Almost before he could walk, his family had emigrated to South Africa where his father, a ship's chandler, started a farm and helped found Grahamstown. When Norton Snr. died in 1848, young Joshua sold up and went to Brazil but before a year was out he was on the move again. Gold had been discovered in California and, tempted by the tales of rich pickings, Norton abandoned his South American plans, joined a boatload of fellow opportunists and blew into San Francisco. . . . .
his scheme sounded wonderful in theory. . . all he had to do was buy up every grain of rice he could get his hands on, watch the price soar, wait until the stuff was like gold dust and then sell, ever so slowly, at a vast profit. . . Having bought most of his rice stock at 5 cents a pound and seen its price rise inexorably to 50 cents a pound, the greedy Norton was still refusing to sell in hope of that the price would go even higher when, unknown to him, a fleet of ships docked in the bay. They were laden with rice and within a week the market was swamped and the price was at flat bottom. Norton had failed . . . .
the blow (of the loss) must have affect his brain as well ask his bank balance; for by the time he resurfaced in 1859, Norton had undergone an extraordinary transformation. . . .So, wearing the blue and gold uniform of an army colonel (the best cast-off he could find), he walked into the office of the "San Francisco Bulletin", demanded to see the editor, and when the man appeared, dumbfounded him with the words: "Good Morning, I am the Emperor of the United States." . . .The editor was so delighted with his eccentric visitor that he said he would publish the Emperor's first proclamation to his subjects and, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, he did so in the very next issue. . . (quick to see the joke) as the editor did, the people were pointing Norton out on the street, bowing to him and having wonderful fun addressing him as "Your Imperial Highness." By the time of his second proclamation a week later, the entire city was convulsed. . . .
He assumed the title "Protector of Mexico" deeming the Mexicans clearly incapable of managing their own affairs. . . .
Every morning the threadbare Emperor held court in his royal residence--two lodging-house rooms upon whose dowdy walls hung cheap prints of Queen Victoria and Napoleon. . . .In the late afternoon, accompanied by his two moth-eaten dogs, he made an imperial progress through the streets. . .Each Sunday he made it his practice to worship at a different church lest habitual attendance at any one establishment arouse jealousy among the denominations. . .
When his dog Lazarus died, 10,000 people turned up at the mongrel's funeral, making it the best-attended animal internment on record. . .
(upon being arrested as a common vagrant by an unknowing policeman hurt Norton's feelings), for soon after his arrest, he issued the following proclamation: "Know ye, that we, Norton the First, have diverse complaints to our liege subjects that our imperial wardrobe is a national disgrace." What else could the city do but issue funds for a new uniform??. . . Soon he was levying a tax on the city-20 to 25 cents for shopkeepers and up to $3 for banks. . most paid up with a smile on their face. . . .
So he went on for the duration of his reign. . one wonders if he was really mad or had simply found a way of getting his rice money back at long last. .. Whatever the truth, the San Franciscans gave him the benefit of the doubt and when he died in 1880, it took 2 days for 10,000 people to file past his coffin. . .(on his tombstone) it was chiselled the simple inscription, "Norton I, Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico 1819-1880."
