The Emperor Norton Trust

TO HONOR THE LIFE + ADVANCE THE LEGACY OF JOSHUA ABRAHAM NORTON

RESEARCH • EDUCATION • ADVOCACY

Filtering by Category: Research

Norton Biographer Allen Stanley Lane’s Presentation Copy Twofer

June 22, 2021  /  John Lumea

Allen Lane wrote the first of only two book-length biographies of Emperor Norton that have been published.

The book hit the shops in February 1939.

Last week, I acquired a very special presentation copy of Lane’s biography. In fact, it’s the copy that Lane gifted to his parents on their anniversary, when the book was published.

Information in the inscription prompted me to do some digging into Lane’s story — something that long has been something of a mystery in Norton circles. What I discovered will be new, I think, to those who know Lane only as a Norton biographer.

Read on to learn more about Lane — and to get the second part of the twofer.

Includes an image of Lane’s inscription and a rare photograph of Lane that he included with the book.

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categories / Research, Original sources
tags / Allen Stanley Lane, book, presentation copy, inscription, San Diego, Santa Rosa, Los Angeles, Sacramento, organist, theater, Tivoli, Metropolitan, Senator, Hippodrome, Caxton Printers, E Clampus Vitus, plaque, William Gordon Huff, George Napoleon Lane, Laura Pearl Brown, postmaster, 1885, 1886, 1889, 1924, 1928, 1939, 1967

Joshua Norton in Occidental Lodge No. 22 of Free and Accepted Masons

June 08, 2021  /  John Lumea

Popular accounts of Emperor Norton — including the respected 1986 biography by William Drury — have Joshua Norton as a “charter member” of Occidental Lodge No. 22 of Free and Accepted Masons.

This is inaccurate. It also is not the point.

For what bears real consideration is that Joshua sought and was granted membership in the Occidental Lodge between May 1854 and May 1855, the very moment when — at every professional, legal, financial and personal level — he was approaching the depths of his instability, vulnerability and failure.

Also documented here: Two illustrious San Franciscans who were members of the Occidental Lodge at the same time that Joshua Norton was.

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categories / Research, Original sources
tags / Joshua Norton, Mason, Masonic, Occidental Lodge, Joseph Eastland, Frank Soulé, 1852, 1854, 1855, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861

Emperor Norton's Un-Final Resting Place

June 02, 2021  /  John Lumea

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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categories / Research, Original sources
tags / burial, reburial, Masonic Cemetery, Woodlawn Cemetery, Pacific Club, Pacific-Union Club, San Mateo County, 1932, 1933, 1934

Joshua Norton First Set Foot in the United States in 1846 — in Boston

May 25, 2021  /  John Lumea

In the United States, the prevailing narrative about Joshua Norton, for 80 years and more, has been that

  • Joshua did not leave Cape Town until late 1848 or early 1849 — prompted by the deaths of both parents and his two nearest siblings between May 1846 and August 1848, and possibly also by news of the California Gold Rush.

  • He sailed directly from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, arriving in Rio early to mid 1849, and from Rio to San Francisco.

  • He may have spent a few months in South America between his arrivals in Rio and San Francisco.

  • His introduction to the United States was his arrival in San Francisco in late 1849.

But a persuasive body of evidence — including a passenger list, a disembarkation ticket and two newspaper arrivals notices — points to a different reality: Joshua Norton initially sailed from Liverpool to Boston, arriving in Boston in March 1846.

This means that Joshua probably left Cape Town no later than November 1845 — and that the reasons for his departure had nothing to do with family deaths or the Gold Rush.

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categories / Research, Original sources
tags / Joshua Norton, Cape Town, Liverpool, Boston, passenger list, disembarkation ticket, Sunbeam, Louis Norton, Sarah Norden, Philip Norton, John Norton, 1845, 1846, 1847, 1848, 1849

Joshua Norton, Auctioneer

May 24, 2021  /  John Lumea

Did you know that, when Joshua Norton was living in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in the early 1840s, he did a stint as an auctioneer? We didn’t!

Every new dot makes the picture a little sharper.

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categories / Research, Original sources, Places
tags / Joshua Norton, John Norton, Henry Benjamin Kisch, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, Cape Town, John Centlivres Chase, Joshua Davis Norden, Marcus Norden, Benjamin Norden, Sarah Norden, auctioneer, 1839, 1840, 1842, 1843, 1844

Joshua Norton of Jackson Street

May 17, 2021  /  John Lumea

Two of the most basic modern assumptions about the locations and business enterprises of Joshua Norton in 1852 San Francisco appear not to bear scrutiny.

The assumptions — that Joshua Norton held forth from facilities that he “built” on 3 of the 4 corners of Sansome and Jackson Streets, and that one of these facilities was a rice mill — were espoused and may, in part, have been created by Norton’s 1986 biographer, William Drury.

But, Drury’s claims were undocumented. A deep-dive into the documentary record points to a different picture.

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categories / Research, Places, Original sources
tags / Joshua Norton, Sansome Street, Jackson Street, Battery, rice, rice mill, cigars, 92 Jackson, 95 Jackson, 113 Jackson, Samuel Hort, James M. Parker, Daily Alta California, directory, newspaper, Hubert Howe Bancroft, William Drury, 1851, 1852, 1853

Rarely Seen Version of Familiar Photo Reveals Clearer Picture of Emperor Norton

May 10, 2021  /  John Lumea

In the mid to late 1870s, the Bradley & Rulofson studio created one of the seven photo-portraits of Emperor Norton the studio is known to have taken of the Emperor during his reign. The seated Emperor is holding his favorite walking stick, and his Chinese umbrella is propped against the chair.

The best-known version of this photograph appeared in a book published in 1964. The photo appears very dark — which adds to the mood but also obscures many details.

Here, we present a rarely seen brighter, more balanced — and more revealing — version of the photo that appeared in 1961.

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categories / Research, Original sources
tags / photograph, photographs, photography, Bradley & Rulofson, Ward Ritchie Press, Calcoin News, Fred R. Marckhoff, Ralph A. Mitchell, 1870s, 1961, 1964

The Other Side of Bagley Place

April 07, 2021  /  John Lumea

In recent years, there have been several claims on social media and elsewhere that Emperor Norton’s funeral in 1880 took place on the northeast corner of Bagley Place and O'Farrell Street, in San Francisco — on (or nearest to) the site of a building, still standing, that opened in 1910 as a bank; that in the last decade has housed an Emporio Armani store; and that today is home to the Museum of Ice Cream.

The temptation to connect this site to the Emperor’s funeral is understandable. The heavy, domed, stone-clad, temple-like edifice that now occupies the site has more than a touch of the funereal. Until very recently, the building had on the O’Farrell Street side medieval-looking, vault-like wooden doors that only added to the effect.

But, most likely, Emperor Norton’s funeral was across the street.

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categories / Research, Places, Original sources
tags / funeral, 16 O'Farrell Street, O'Farrell Street, Bagley Place, Lockhart & Porter, coroner, morgue, Savings Union Bank building, Kohler & Chase building, San Francisco directory, Sanborn Fire Map, Emperor Norton Map of the World, 1879, 1880, 1909, 1910, 1912, 1921

Caveat Emptor

March 26, 2021  /  John Lumea

The informational web pages on Emperor Norton that were created and posted during the earliest days of the Internet are some of the most frequently shared resources on the Emperor. They also are some of the least historically reliable.

Here’s our shortlist of Norton pages that those who care about the Emperor’s legacy should “handle with care.”

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categories / Commentary, Research
tags / Museum of the City of San Francisco, Zpub, NotFrisco.com, EmperorNorton.org, resources

The "Emperor Norton" Disappeared from the Ghirardelli Menu a Decade Earlier Than Believed

February 16, 2021  /  John Lumea

In the 17 years since the San Francisco Chronicle noted in 2004 that the Emperor Norton Sundae no longer was on the menu at the Ghirardelli ice cream shop in San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square, the conventional wisdom has held that 2004 was when the “Emperor Norton” was removed.

But, I always have pointed out that 2004 is when the absence was noticed and reported as news — the removal itself could have happened earlier.

Turns out I was right. But, the cherry on top may be that the Emperor Norton Sundae has been hiding in plain sight at Ghirardelli — under a different name — for 20-plus years.

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categories / Research, Tributes, Original sources
tags / Emperor Norton Sundae, Ghirardelli, Domingo Ghirardelli Sundae, Cammy Blackstone, San Francisco Chronicle, Leah Garchik, San Francisco Examiner, Rachel Gordon, 1990, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2002, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019

Rarely Seen 1876 Photo Offers a Tiny First Glimpse of Emperor Norton's Residence

October 21, 2020  /  John Lumea

From late 1862 / early 1863 until his death in January 1880, Emperor Norton lived at the Eureka Lodgings — a kind of 19th-century SRO located at 624 Commercial Street, on the north side of Commercial between Montgomery and Kearny Streets, in San Francisco.

There is a handful of 1860s–1880s photographs, taken from across Montgomery or Kearny, that show distant views of the 600 block of Commercial Street.

What we’d never seen, though, is a photo of the 600 block of Commercial taken during the Emperor’s lifetime — taken from within the block — and showing the real, intimate flavor of the section of the street where Emperor Norton lived.

Our discovery, hidden in plain sight, is a c.1876 photograph apparently taken by Eadweard Muybridge.

A bonus: The photo appears to reveal a glimpse of the Eureka Lodgings itself.

If we’re right about this, we may have produced the first-ever visual ID of photographic evidence of the Emperor’s residence.

Kind of a big deal.

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categories / Research, Original sources, Places
tags / Eureka Lodgings, Commercial Street, U.S. Sub-Treasury, U.S. Branch Mint, 642 Commercial, 632 Commercial, 624 Commercial, 608 Commercial, Morning Call, Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Samuel Clemens, Eadweard Muybridge, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, 1876

Dating the Earliest Extant Photograph of Emperor Norton

October 08, 2020  /  John Lumea

It appears that the earliest known photograph of Emperor Norton is a little earlier than we thought — and earlier than anyone else has said.

The case for the time frame that we focus on here draws on early artistic depictions of the Emperor and on one of the Emperor’s earliest sartorial choices, which is documented in an easy-to-miss newspaper item from May 1860.

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categories / Research, Original sources
tags / photograph, epaulettes, art, cartoons, T. Grob, Edward Jump, Daily Alta California, 1860, 1859

Author & Journalist Gary Kamiya Cites Emperor Norton Trust in Correction on "Frisco"

October 04, 2020  /  John Lumea

In the Trivia Time feature that accompanied his 19 September 2020 history column for the San Francisco Chronicle, historian Gary Kamiya stated that Emperor Norton imposed a $25 fine for using the word “Frisco.”

In the Trivia Time that ran with his next column, published on 3 October 2020, Kamiya issued a correction and cited Emperor Norton Trust founder John Lumea as the authority for saying that “no primary documents have been found to support this claim.”

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categories / Media coverage, Research
tags / Frisco, Gary Kamiya, Portals of the Past, San Francisco Chronicle

What Did Andrew Smith Hallidie Know About Joshua Norton's Original Funding?

September 29, 2020  /  John Lumea

The conventional “wisdom” is that Joshua Norton arrived in San Francisco in 1849 with a $40,000 bequest from the estate of his father, John Norton, who had died in 1848.

But, if Norton arrived with $40,000, he almost certainly didn’t get it from his father — who had died insolvent and broke.

So, what was the source of Joshua Norton’s original funding — $40,000 or otherwise?

Andrew Smith Hallidie, the “father of the cable car,” knew Joshua Norton as Emperor — and probably before that as well.

In 1888, Hallidie published an article suggesting that Norton had arrived in San Francisco as a “representative and confidant” of English backers.

This is quite different from the account one often hears.

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categories / Research, Original sources, Open Questions
tags / Andrew Smith Hallidie, Overland Monthly, John Norton, South America, Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso

Emperor Norton, the Phoenix and the Branding of San Francisco

September 02, 2020  /  John Lumea

Photographs of Emperor Norton show that, just as the Emperor had a favorite walking stick, he also had a favorite hat pin — in the shape of a spread-winged bird.

Artists in the Emperor’s day painted and drew him wearing this pin.

It’s not surprising that contemporary San Francisco artists have rendered the bird as a phoenix.

Alas — spoiler alert! — it turns out that Emperor Norton did not wear a phoenix in his hat; the Emperor’s bird was a military American eagle.

But, this particular eagle does trace its heraldic roots to a phoenix — albeit it not a San Francisco one.

The fascinating story of how the phoenix of Scottish heraldry was transformed into the eagle of U.S. government iconography traces through the righteous Scottish cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Continental Army coat buttons of George Washington and the design of the Great Seal of the United States.

One could say that Emperor Norton was wearing an eagle and a phoenix all at once: appropriate for an Emperor of the United States whose Seat was in the cool, grey city of love.

Pull up a chair!

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categories / Research, Original sources, Legacy
tags / hat plate, hat pin, photographs, art, phoenix, eagle, shield, three arrows, heraldry, Scotland, Scottish, George Washington, Continental Army, buttons, inaugural buttons, Robert Scot, Great Seal of the United States, U.S. Army, insignia, headgear, bell crown cap, light artillery cap, George Frederick Keller, Oscar Kunath, Michael Morgan, Jeremy Fish, Sam Flores

Charles A. Murdock, Second and Last Printer to Norton I: A Photo Gallery

August 24, 2020  /  John Lumea

Charles Murdock was a friend of Emperor Norton.

He also was a fine printer who created and produced the Emperor’s promissory notes for two years — from January 1878 until the Emperor’s death in January 1880.

Here are four rarely seen photographs of Emperor Norton’s printer and good friend.

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categories / Research, Original sources
tags / Charles A. Murdock, photographs, printers, notes, bonds, Cuddy & Hughes, John Cuddy, Edward C. Hughes

Stereographic Photos of Emperor Norton on a Chinatown Street (Hi-Res Edition)

July 29, 2020  /  John Lumea

Last week, a long-rumored and probably unpublished pair of stereocard photographs of Emperor Norton on a street in San Francisco’s Chinatown appeared on Facebook.

The Emperor Norton Trust is delighted to be able to publish, for the first time, large, hi-res images of the original stereocard, courtesy of the previous owner.

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categories / Research, Original sources
tags / photograph, stereocard, stereoview, stereoscope, Chinatown, street, Thomas Houseworth, 1870s, unpublished

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