Emperor Norton

Born 1819, in London.

1849 he came from south africa to san fransisco, with a 40,000 dollar cash supply. He lost all of it a few years later trying to corner the san fransisco rice market.

"At the pre-emptory request 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 nine years and ten moths past of San Fransisco, California, declare and proclaim myself the Emperor of These united states." --September 17, 1859(my birhtday is that date another year btw)

He made many proclamations in his reign, including banning the use of the short "frisco" by threat of a fine of 25 dollars, and newspapers both printed his proclamations and invented some of their own.

In 1869 he abolished the democratic and republican parties:
" Being desirous of allaying the dissension's of party strife now existing within our realm, I do hereby dissolve and abolish the Democratic and Republican parties, and also do hereby degree the disfranchisement and imprisonment, for not more than ten, nor less than five yeras, to all persons leading to any violation of this our imperial decree."

He also called the leaders of the world to form a League Of Nations, where disputes might be discusssed and resolved peacefully.

He is perhaps most known for issuing his own money. These notes are worth real money today, if you can find them.

Emperor Norton died on January 8, 1880, and was buried in the Masonic Cemetary on january tenth.

The funeral cortege was two miles long and between 10,000 and 30,000 people where reported to have attended.

Further activities of Emperor Norton:

Norton dismissed gov. Wise of Virginia for haning John Brown, and appointed his replacement December 2, 1859.

In 1860, on July 16, norton dissolved the united states of america.

January 21, 1867 - Armand Barbier, a police officer, detained Norton for involuntary treatment of a mental disorder. Creating a major civic uproar. The police chief apologised to Norton and ordered his release. There was much writing in the press about this. After it, all police officers began saluting him when he passed them on the streets.

1870, august the first, Norton was listed by the census taker as living at 624 commercial street with the occupation "emperor".

MORE american history:

I am unsure how the people of san fransisco initially felt about their emperor, but they did get used to his presence fast enough.

He was often seen patrolling the streets of the city in his somewhat worn uniform, alternating between grey and blue to show his support for union and confederacy, complete with sabre, umbrella, and coloured feathers in his hat. When his uniform was worn out the Board Of Supervisors, with ceremony, presented him with another. This act Norton rewarded with a note of thanks and a patent for nobility in perpetuity for each of the supervisors.

Joshua Norton gained other privelidges by is stations as emperor too:

- He dined without cost at some very good restaurants, places he graciously allowed to put up the sign "By appointment to his emperor, Joshua Norton I".
- He had standing tickets for himself and his two dogs(bummer and lazarus), to any play or concert in the city theatres.
- He was given a means of royal transportation, a bicycle, by the city.
- He had a chair at each police precinct, and was alowed to inspect the poice for proper performance of their duties.
- He marched point on the annual police parade.
- He reviewed cadets at the university of california.
- He printed his own money, which was good at most places in san fransisco(including some banks).

At one point he assumed the title "protector of mexico", but soon abandoned the title witht the explentation that is was "impossible to protect such an unsettled nation".

Books that mention the emperor:

Mark Twain(Samuel Clemens) knew the emperor and based his character "the king" in huckleberry finn on him.

The emperor is mentioned in "the barbary coast" by herbert asbury, and in "the wrecker" by robert louis stevenson, as well as in the illustrious Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson(I recommend that read warmly).

When he died, in 1863, Bummer(one of Nortons dogs) continued to beg for food at his feet until death in 1865. Mark Twain wrote the dogs epitaph.

well he sounds kinda cool, but then I am an Empress

Another literary referance:

Emperor Norton featured in Neil Gaimans fantastically elaborate and engaging comix series "The Sandman". According to story the emperor was blessed with the insanity to keep sane by the lord of dreams, mr morpheus himself.

While I am on the subject of this important, and active, person from american history. Here's a picture of the man himself, and below that you will find his money.

This is an small piece from the principia discordia, that well known tome of knowledge peddled by the fine folks of eiris or whoever feels like it, describing the truth of many things. Amongts them, who Joshua Norton really was:

<--quote-->

Our borrowings from Christianity (well, actually, Christianity is a sect of Discordianism, so I guess we just borrowed from ourselves [and hopefully we aren't charging ourselves too much interest], but that wasn't adequately proven until recently) are so obvious that mention of them is almost insulting to whatever modicum of intelligence you possess. But from that tradition we gained our crafty distrust of the reality principle as well as the rather singular notion of an Only Begotten Son.
We asked Goddess if She, like God, had an Only Begotten Son. She assured us that She did and gave His name as Emperor Norton I -- whom we assumed was probably some Byzantine ruler of Constantinople. Diligent research eventually turned up the historical Norton, as we call Him, in the holy city of San Francisco -- where He walked His faithful dog along Market Street scarcely more than a century ago.
Gregory Hill (better known by his Discordian Holy Name, Malaclypse the Younger) has since become the world's foremost authority on Joshua A. Norton who, on September 17th of 1859, crowned Himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. Just before then, He vanished for a number of days -- perhaps into the wilderness where maybe He was tempted by the Devil, probably to organize His life and get His affairs in order.
Certainly they looked like that's what they needed. For on the day before His disappearance Norton, heretofore little more than a successful businessman, cornered the rice market -- only to be foiled by the unscheduled arrival of a whole shipload of rice from the Orient. A lesser man would have been thrown out of step by that event which for Him became a step to the throne.
When the US Congress failed to obey His Majesty's Royal Order to assemble in the San Francisco Opera House, Norton fired every last member of that rebellious organization. Thus, the people of San Francisco knew better than to incur His Imperial wrath. His Royal Decrees were printed free of charge in the newspapers, the currency He printed was accepted in the saloons, local shopkeepers paid the modest taxes He occasionally demanded and on at least one occasion a tailor furnished Him with a new set of Royal finery.
Although a madman, Norton wrote letters to Abraham Lincoln and Queen Victoria which they took seriously.
One night a gang of vigilantes gathered for a pogrom against San Francisco's Chinatown. All that stood in their way was the solitary figure of Norton. A sane man would not have been there in the first place. A rational man would have tried to reason with them. A moralist would have scolded them. A man as daft as Norton usually seemed would have loudly ordered them to cease and desist in the name of His Royal Imperial authority. All such tacks would probably have been futile, and Norton resorted to none of them.
He simply bowed His head in silent prayer.
The vigilantes dispersed.
Discordians believe everybody should live like Norton.
So write your legislative representatives demanding harsh laws with teeth in them requiring all people of all faiths -- especially Christians and especially on Sunday -- to live as Joshua A. Norton did.
About five years ago I had a dream in which someone was yelling ``SIGNS IN THE SKY!'' When I looked up I saw balloons and blimps carrying aloft big neon letters that said: ``NORTON DIED! WANT NO DEAD!''
But when Emperor Norton died, tens of thousands of San Franciscans flocked to His full Masonic funeral. Pilgrimages to His grave in Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma are still common.
Perhaps occasionally the soul of Emperor Norton descends once more into the world to momentarily inhabit the body of an otherwise undistinguished infidel. One day I was sitting in a hamburger stand in rundown Midtown Atlanta. A burned-out speed freak at a nearby table looked at me with a pleasant smile and said, ``I'm King of the Universe. I don't know what I'm doing in a place like this.''
And perhaps that's the big attraction of our faith. If you want, you can be King of the Universe. Jesse Sump is Ancient Abbreviated Calif. of California. I am Bull Goose of Limbo and President of the Fair-Play-for-Switzerland Committee. Camden Benares is Pretender to the Throne of Lesbos. Greg Hill is Polyfather of Virginity-in-Gold. Sabal Etonia is High Constable of Constantinople. You can declare yourself Archbishop of Abyssinia or Curator of the Moon -- we don't care, but your mailman will be impressed.
<-end quote-->


If you want to, you might think a little about what is said here. If not, well don't ..jeez, stop buggin me about it.

-St Alljive Of The Nth Order Of Naught.

America . . . home of the crazies.

Hey, infidel!

Which is fine, many good folks are infidels I'd say. maybe most. ..

and anyway, this ain't even nearly a purely american movement.
Nuts, or crazies if you will, across the globe disorganize and strangify under various forms of this group.

and discordian spirituality is a true blessing to any who can accept it. comes ready with hot topic of strife too: The sacred Chao. How is it pronounced? cow, or chow, or kao, or what? I deem that a great dissension point. Chaotes abound. You would not belive some of the stuff that goes on. Neither would I. And some of it I've experienced and still ain't sure about. wonderful.

heh. anyways.

wow...my mind hurts . did u just right a paper on him? how do u know all that stuff?

I know heaps of junk you would never have any need for, nor any interest in.

This norton stuff is an ongoing quest of mine, for information and stories and weirdness connected to Emperor Norton the First. Because I find I am amused by it, and some of the philosophy of the discordians is brilliant(if you bother to really look at it.. hard, .. and long.. until the letters dance about a bit, possibly start speaking to you as well. ..).

Perception changes everything.



You make what you want of it, your choice as always.

i thought that the discordians were a joke? [hope im not offending anyone]

but didnt they believe that God was a crazy dancing woman called Eris?

You mean She isn't!

The discordians are real enough.

And they are some kind of joke.

they are both.

and yeah, most discordians do have some relation to a goddess that is called eiris. The philosophy is real enough though, if you let it be. Eccletic and esoteric, as well as purposely weird, word and concept choices. Consider it a mental exercise if you wish, consider it a funny story if you like, consider it not at all if that is how you see the world. discordian magic works, though don't take my word for it. if you want to you can see hindu philosohpy, daoism, buddhism, cleverly hidden between the lines. If you want to you can see nothing but nonsense.