In 1934, Emperor Norton was reburied at Woodlawn cemetery, in Colma, Calif., with a new rose granite headstone featuring an inscription whose deeply engraved letters and numbers were hand-gilded with real gold leaf.
It appears that the gilding lasted for several decades. But, eventually, the “illumination” wore off and the inscription mostly was bare, except for the faintest traces of gold and noticeable spots of mossy green film borne of the stone’s years-long exposure to sea air.
The stone still looked this way until very recently. But, in May 2021, Woodlawn quietly brought the inscription back to life.
Includes photo-documentation of the Emperor’s headstone in 1934, 1989/90, 2016, 2019 and today.
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If you know the Emperor Norton story well enough to know that…
When the Emperor died in January 1880, he was buried in the Masonic Cemetery, in San Francisco.
As part of the Great San Francisco Cemetery Eviction of the early twentieth century, the Emperor’s remains were moved to new grave, at Woodlawn cemetery, in Colma, Calif.
The Emperor’s reburial ceremony took place at Woodlawn on 30 June 1934.
…you may have assumed that the Emperor “remained” at the Masonic Cemetery more or less until the time of the reburial ceremony.
In fact, Emperor Norton was disinterred 20 months earlier.
So, where were Emperor Norton's remains located from the time they were disinterred in San Francisco in October 1932 until the time they were reburied in Colma in June 1934?
Here are a few clues.
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Two opportunities to mark the 135th anniversary of Emperor Norton's death on Thursday 8 January 1880.
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