Another Emperor of America

I read that Colorado Governor Bill Ritter had a visit from an angry constituent yesterday. The man, dressed in a rented tuxedo, walked into the governor’s office just after 2pm and announced that as the “Emperor Of America” he was there to assume control of the government. A state trooper confronted the man and they exchanged some angry words before additional troopers arrived. They were escorting the man out of the office when he allegedly produced a hand gun. The officers shot him dead. I wasn’t there and I cannot comment on the need to shoot the poor deluded madman. But we were much more understanding toward his predecessor.
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Of course Joshua Norton proclaimed himself to be Emperor not at gunpoint, but at the point of a pencil. On September 17, 1859, he left a proclamation to be published by the San Francisco Bulletin, and the editor, looking for an escape from the oppressive drumbeat of building war news back east, published it. It read;
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“At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last 9 years and 10 months past of S. F., Cal., declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U. S.; …NORTON I, Emperor of the United States”.
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Norton had arrived in San Francisco ten years before with an inheritance from South Africa. He bought a general store and while Levi Straus was making a fortune selling pants and John Studabaker was creating his first fortune selling wheel barrels, Norton was turning his $40,000 into a quarter of a million. Then, in 1852, China was hit by a drought and the price of rice skyrocketed to 36 cents a pound. Joshua bought 100 tons for $25,000, or about 12 cents a pound. But the very next day, before he could cash in, two Japanese transports loaded with rice arrived and the price plummeted back to three cents a pound. His creditors sued. Norton counter sued. The case dragged on for four years, adding legal fees to Joshua’s debt, until the banks foreclosed on his property holdings. Finally, emotionally exhausted, he declared bankruptcy in 1858 and disappeared for over a year, reappearing under the delusion that he was the Emperor of America.
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San Francisco did not shoot their emperor, but honored him. Restaurants, even the finest in the city, gave him tables of honor and never presented him with a bill. In fact they proudly posted brass plaques declaring, “By appointment to his imperial Majesty, Emperor Norton I of the United States.” They proved a boost for business. Every theatre and music hall reserved a seat for him on opening night, and audiences stood respectfully when he entered.
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After he assumed the throne, in October of 1859, Norton I had ordered that Congress be dissolved. And in January of 1860 he ordered Major-General Winfield Scott to “clear the Halls of Congress.” It was a decree that made him instantly popular. He had his own currency printed, and it was honored. He ordered all Protestant and Catholic churches to ordain him. They didn’t, but he didn’t seem to notice. He ordered the democratic and republican parties dissolved. They didn’t do that either. But army officers stationed at the Presidio presented him with a jacket and gold epaulets, which he wore officiously while inspecting city work projects, sidewalks and streets, cable cars and city offices.
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Still there were some without imagination or heart, and in 1867 a bone headed cop named Armand Barbier, arrested the Emperor as a vagrant. Other cops pointed out that he had $4.75 in his pocket and lived in a lodging house, which meant he was not legally a vagrant. So officer Barbier changed the charge to being of unsound mind and a danger to himself and others. Finally the Chief of Police Patrick Crowley ordered Emperor Norton released and publicly apologized. From that day all police officers saluted Emperor Norton, and he saluted back.
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He was called “The Emp”. Perhaps his most noble act came during an anti-Chinese riot. A drunken white mob had cornered a handful of terrified Chinese and was preparing to lynch them when Emperor Norton stepped between them and began to softly mumble the Lord’s Prayer. After a few moments the mob, now thoroughly ashamed, dispersed to sober up.
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Norton I ordered the creation of a League of Nations, but he was not listened to. In 1872 he decreed that;
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“Whoever after due and proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word "Frisco", which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a High Misdemeanor, and shall pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of twenty-five dollars.”
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But again, no one listened. Finally he grew so wearing of issuing decrees for one particular project the he ordered;
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“WHEREAS, we issued our decree ordering the citizens of San Francisco and Oakland to appropriate funds for the survey of a suspension bridge from Oakland Point via Goat Island; also for a tunnel; and to ascertain which is the best project; and whereas the said citizens have hitherto neglected to notice our said decree; and whereas we are determined our authority shall be fully respected; now, therefore, we do hereby command the arrest by the army of both the Boards of City Fathers if they persist in neglecting our decrees Given under our royal hand and seal at San Francisco, this 17th day of September, 1872”
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As work on a replacement for the Oakland-Bay Bridge approaches it 2013 finish date the city of San Francisco has offered an official request that the Bridge be renamed the “Emperor Norton I – Bay Bridge”. But so far the mayor and city council of Oakland have shown themselves to be totally without imagination or heart.
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The Emperor’s official residence was listed as 624 Commercial Street, San Francisco, and you can still see it today, a sidewalk bench located between 608 and 632 commercial street. And it wasn’t far from this spot that the Emperor died on the evening of January 8, 1880, probably from a massive stroke. Thirty thousand lined the streets for his funeral. His cortege was two miles long. All flags in the city flew at half staff. Most business were closed out of respect. He was buried in a new uniform and in a suitably elaborate coffin. His headstone reads,
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"Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico”.
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He died with $6 in his pocket. In his flophouse room were found a single sovereign, a collection of modest walking sticks, some correspondence with Queen Victoria and some shares in a worthless gold mine. But his legacy lives in the words written by his friends Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain. Both created characters based on Norton. And the day after his funeral, San Francisco saw a total eclipse of the sun.
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So this is what we have come to. Our emperors no longer dare to approach the powerful. And the powerful fear the approach of their constituents. It’s just not clear anymore who is really gone mad, us or them.
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