Joshua Norton, An Interesting Character

Joshua Abraham Norton was born in London in 1819, and migrated to South Africa two years later, where he lived until his father's death. Then he moved to Brazil hoping to invest his small inheritance. While there he heard about the gold strikes in California. Thirty year old Norton came to San Francisco on November 23, 1849. He started with $40,000 and began trading in commodities such as coffee, tea, coal, and flour. He dealt in real estate. By 1853, he had about $250,000.

Then he came upon a scheme that would bankrupt him. He noticed that there was a Chinese embargo on rice shipments to California. He predicted that there would soon be a rice shortage so he started buying all the rice he could. But the shortage never came and in fact there was a surplus. He had to sell the rice at a huge loss. He could not meet his depts and was forced to declare bankruptcy.

In order to recover he came upon another scheme. He took out an ad in a local newspaper. The ad read, "At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of citizens of these United States, I Joshua North, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States."

Soon he was walking around the city dressed in "royal attire," which was actually a light blue second hand officer's uniform with gold epaulets, and a tall beaver hat with a green feather. He carried an old saber and wore navy boots.

Fortunately the city of San Francisco was in a generous and tolerant mood at the time of the gold rush. The citizens pretty much left him alone and in fact helped him. He got free meals and drinks wherever he went. His friends paid his rent on a boardinghouse room. He levied taxes of 25 cents on shopkeepers and most of them paid it. He rode streetcars and trains for free. He issued "Bonds of Empire" with his picture on them, each worth fifty cents. He promised to pay the face value plus five percent in twenty years. The people held a fundraiser to pay for his new clothes when his old ones wore out.

He made several decress. He abolished Congress and dissolved the United States. Then when the civil war broke out, he ordered Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln to come to San Francisco so he could get them to reach an agreement. He appointed himself protector of Mexico but withdrew when emperor Maximilian was executed. He gave speeches, inspected

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic