1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:08,160 Speaker 1: and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Miinki listener. Discretion is advised. 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: What makes someone a royal? This isn't a loaded or 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,280 Speaker 1: a trick question. I'm actually asking trying to come up 5 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:26,479 Speaker 1: with a common sense, non dictionary definition. Maybe it's easier 6 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: to start by asking how somebody becomes a royal? Well 7 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: blood right, Certainly, that's the first and easiest way to 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: get into the aristocracy. You are literally grandfathered in if 9 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: your ancestors are nobles in a certain country. Barring a revolution, 10 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: you'll also be a noble. Although even after a revolution 11 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: there were plenty of Russian aristocrats who fled the country 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: and settled in various European manners and hotel rooms and 13 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: still called themselves dukes and duchesses. What have you without 14 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: a country? So blood there it is. But you can 15 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: also be granted a title by a royal for an 16 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: act of service or greatness, or you can marry a royal. 17 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: Those are two ways for a commoner to insert his 18 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: or herself into an already existing system of nobility. You 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: probably won't be the main monarch, but you'll still get 20 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: a title, And then there's the coup strategy. If you 21 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: can overthrow a king, then you become the king so 22 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: long as the military and certain foreign powers will accept you. 23 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: So what is the actual common denominator then that unites 24 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: the cousins, the spouses, the usurpers, what makes them all 25 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: real royals? That then diagram becomes even harder to reckon 26 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: with when you add in a country like Belgium, which 27 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: imported in a semi random Bavarian prince to be their 28 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: king in eighteen thirty one because they figured that any 29 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: self respecting independent European country needed a king. It's not 30 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: necessarily money that makes a king. There are plenty of 31 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: royals who are history rich and cash poor, and it's 32 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: certainly not actual power. Just ask any of the present 33 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: day royals whose days consist more of charity events and 34 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: ceremonial displays than declarations of war. I suppose, at its 35 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: most basic core, if you strip away the factor of 36 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: historical precedent and focus only on any given moment actually 37 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: in the present, A monarch is a figure supported by 38 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,519 Speaker 1: the people or government financially or otherwise, who can offer 39 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 1: opinions or proclamations, who attend the needs of the people 40 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: to the best of their ability, who serve as a 41 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: uniting symbol, someone that the government and the people have 42 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: decided is a monarch. With that in mind, and only 43 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: semi ironically, in honor of A Berl Fool's Day, I 44 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: ask you to consider the curious case of Emperor Norton 45 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: the First, the man who in eighteen fifty nine declared 46 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: himself to be the Emperor of the United States. Most 47 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: contemporary accounts saw him as an eccentric if they were 48 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: being polite, insane if they weren't. But today, now that 49 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: we've moved past fiefdoms and protectorate, maybe the entire notion 50 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: of royalty, of someone being born more worthy of power 51 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: than somebody else, is a little bit insane. And there's 52 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: certainly nothing more American than a man who decided what 53 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: he wanted to be and then lived it. I'm Danis Schwartz, 54 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. The man who would eventually 55 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: style himself as Emperor. Norton the First was born in Deptford, Kent, 56 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: present day a part of London, on November fourth, eighteen eighteen, 57 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: to English Jewish parents. There's actually some historical disagreement as 58 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: to the actual year that Norton was born. Even his 59 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: obituary when he died gave his age as quote about 60 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: sixty five. But from what I've read, eighteen eighteen seems 61 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: to be the year with the most documented supporting evidence, 62 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: and that evidence includes the record of Norton being two 63 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: years old when his parents moved from England to South 64 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: Africa in eighteen twenty. After the Napoleonic Wars, England was 65 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: facing an unemployment crisis, and the government responded by encouraging 66 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: their citizens to move to England's African Colony. The promise 67 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: was wealth and opportunity. Those who traveled there eventually came 68 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: to be known as the eighteen twenties settlers, and though 69 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: the eastern border of the colony never became the densely 70 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: populated metropolitan are area that the British governor in South 71 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: Africa no doubt envisioned, it seems that the land provided 72 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: at least enough stable income for Norton's parents to go 73 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: on to have six more children. Norton's mother died in 74 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: eighteen forty six and his father died just two years later, 75 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: leaving Norton as an orphan. In his early thirties. Without 76 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: an anchor, he had no real connection to South Africa, 77 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: and though we don't have this specific date to confirm 78 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: when it happened, most of his siblings didn't make it 79 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: past infancy. He was his father's sole surviving son, which 80 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: meant that he inherited whatever property was left over after 81 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:45,679 Speaker 1: they passed. Norton was an ambitious man. Like his parents, 82 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: he was willing to cross oceans to chase opportunity. He 83 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: took his inheritance, stopped briefly in South America, and then 84 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: made his way towards that mythical land of gold, the 85 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: American West. There was a gold rush happening in California 86 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty nine, and Joshua Norton was going to 87 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: San Francisco in almost no time at all. Norton became 88 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: a semi prominent businessman. Now, this part of Norton's life 89 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: when he first arrived in America is another major point 90 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 1: of contention amongst those who study and write about Norton's life. 91 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: Right after Norton's death, an obituary asserted that Norton had 92 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: arrived in San Francisco with forty thousand dollars an inheritance 93 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: from his father. That number has been almost endlessly duplicated 94 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: in other sources. You find sometimes by more sensationalist accounts, 95 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: which also go on to declare that Norton quickly parlayed 96 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: that forty thousand dollars using his business acumen, into two 97 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But there's not a ton 98 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: of evidence for those claims, although they do paint a 99 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:08,039 Speaker 1: compelling picture of a man catapulting himself from obscurity to 100 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: wealth in less than a year in the land of opportunity. 101 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: More detailed biographies imply that Norton's father was actually in 102 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: debt in South Africa. Still, it's possible that after liquidating 103 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: his father's business and paying off debts, Norton still had 104 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: a decent inheritance, and it's more than possible that he 105 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: turned that inheritance into a hefty profit once he reached California. 106 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: Although to me the two d and fifty thousand dollar 107 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: amount seems a little nebulous, it's probably more accurate to 108 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: say that by eighteen fifty two Norton was a member 109 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: of the San Francisco well to do by Association, perhaps 110 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: not as wealthy as most of the other social elite, 111 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: but well liked and certainly well respected. But that was 112 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: a status that wouldn't last long. In December of eighteen 113 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: fifty two, China banned the export of their rice in 114 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: response to a famine, so that its own citizens could 115 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: afford to eat. As you might imagine, that band of 116 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: Chinese exports caused the price of rice to skyrocket around 117 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: the rest of the world. The staple, which usually cost 118 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: four cents a pound in San Francisco, was going for 119 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: as high as thirty six cents a pound. That's when 120 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: a business acquaintance came into Norton's office. The man pulled 121 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: a handful of rice from his pocket. Excellent quality. Where 122 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: did you get that? Norton asked. There are two hundred 123 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: thousand pounds of it on board the ship the Glide, 124 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 1: sitting in the harbor right now. The acquaintance said, the 125 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: rice came from Peru. It's the only rice San Francisco 126 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: is going to get for a while, and definitely the 127 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: only rice of this quality. I'll take the entire shipment, 128 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: Norton said. He bought all two hundred thousand pounds of 129 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: Peruvian rice for twelve cents a pound. He would control 130 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: the entire market, and if all went according to plan, 131 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: he would make a massive profit. It's probably not a 132 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: surprise if I say things didn't go according to plan. 133 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: Norton was all set to make a tidy profit until 134 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: several more shipments of Peruvian rice arrived in Port over 135 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:44,560 Speaker 1: the next few days. By the very next week, there 136 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: was so much rice from Peru in San Francisco that 137 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: the price was lowered to two cents a pound. And 138 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: to make matters worse, the two hundred thousand pounds of 139 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: rice from the Glide that Norton had purchased was small, hard, 140 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: terrible quality, nothing like the beautiful handful of rice that 141 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: had glimmered like pearls in his acquaintance's hand, the rice 142 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 1: that had tempted him into what was promised to be 143 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: a sure fire investment. Norton was ruined. He claimed that 144 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: he was misled by the business associate and tried to 145 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,960 Speaker 1: avoid his contract and began a lengthy legal battle. Norton 146 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: one in lower courts, but eventually the California Supreme Court 147 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: ruled against him. If the payment for the two hundred 148 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:38,439 Speaker 1: thousand pounds of low quality, overpriced rice hadn't already been 149 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 1: enough to ruin him. The legal fees took what was left. 150 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: Norton's holdings were foreclosed on. Norton declared bankruptcy, fed up 151 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: and exasperated by the American judicial system. In eighteen fifty eight, 152 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,160 Speaker 1: he was living as a pauper in a cheap San 153 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: Francisco boarding house, paying by the week, alongside degenerates and 154 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: the impoverished. There's no record of what Norton did while 155 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: he was licking his wounds, hiding from the society, folks 156 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: who had up until so recently been his friends. He 157 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: was a proud man, and he remained in seclusion until 158 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:30,559 Speaker 1: he was ready to be reborn. On September sevent eighteen 159 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:34,439 Speaker 1: fifty nine, a proclamation was printed in the San Francisco 160 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: Daily Evening Bulletin. It read, at the peremptory request of 161 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:44,439 Speaker 1: a large majority of the citizens of these United States, 162 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: I Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, 163 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: and now for the past nine years and ten months 164 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of 165 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: these Us, and in virtue the authority thereby in me 166 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: vested do hereby order and direct the representatives of different 167 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: states of the Union to assemble in the Music Hall 168 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,680 Speaker 1: of this city on the first day of February next 169 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,319 Speaker 1: then and there to make such alterations in the existing 170 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 1: laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under 171 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: which the country is laboring, and thereby caused confidence to exist, 172 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: both at home and abroad in our stability and integrity. 173 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: That meeting of all the states at the Musical Hall 174 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 1: it never happened, But Norton wasn't entirely wrong about the 175 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 1: troubling direction that the American political system was heading into. 176 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: We were a year away from Abraham Lincoln being elected president, 177 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: and it would be a year after that that the 178 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: Civil War would begin. Norton saw the fractures in this country, 179 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: the deep roots of racism and division amongst its people. 180 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: He figured an emperor would be just the thing to 181 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: fix us. He had delivered his typewritten proclamation to newspaper 182 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,439 Speaker 1: offices around the city. In person, he was a large man, 183 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: more stocky than tall. Behind his thick mustache and full beard, 184 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: he had small, sharp eyes and a complexion that verged 185 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: on ruddy. His hair was dark and curly, but almost 186 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: always hidden beneath a beaver hat, although eventually he would 187 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: take to wearing the sunken, flat soft cap of a 188 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: Union soldier along with the rest of a blue Union uniform. 189 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: Norton purchased these uniforms from pawn shops, usually left behind 190 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:47,440 Speaker 1: by Union deserters. Over time, Norton's uniform gradually became more elaborate. 191 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: He was gifted gold plated epaulets that he affixed to 192 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: his clothing whenever he wanted to look particularly regal, and 193 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,680 Speaker 1: his hat would come to house a peacock feather and 194 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: a rosette. Sometimes Norton walked around the San Francisco streets 195 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: with a cane. His politics were progressive. His first proclamation 196 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: after announcing himself, of course, was to dismiss the governor 197 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: of Virginia for hanging the abolitionist John Brown. Norton would 198 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: go on to demand that African Americans be permitted to 199 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: attend public schools and to ride public street cars, and 200 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 1: that Chinese people be permitted to testify in court. Quote, 201 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 1: the eyes of the Emperor will be upon anyone who 202 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: shall counsel any outrage or wrong on the Chinese Emperor, 203 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: Norton wrote and with respect to Native Americans, Norton wrote 204 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: that any parties connected with frauds against the quote Indian 205 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: tribes were to be punished before a council of as 206 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,840 Speaker 1: many Native American chiefs as could be assembled. Though his 207 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: words didn't make much of a polite to call impact 208 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: in San Francisco, at least, it didn't take long for 209 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: Emperor Norton to gain massive attention as a popular figure, 210 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: a figure who captured the public imagination and became something 211 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: of a citywide mascot. Just two years after Norton appeared 212 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: on the scene, a new theater in San Francisco opened 213 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: with a comic opera written and staged about him, called 214 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: Norton the First or Emperor for a Day. Citizens delighted 215 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: at seeing him in public, especially if he happened to 216 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: be accompanied by two of San Francisco's other most famous citizens, 217 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: beloved street dogs Bummer and Lazarus. Industrialist Leland Stanford, who 218 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: was the president of the Central Public Railroad, clocked Norton's 219 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: popularity and saw an opportunity to gain some good pr 220 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: to help dispel his robber baron reputation, Stanford gave Norton 221 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: a free pass for all of his train routes in California, 222 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: Norton lived off of goodwill donations and good deals throughout 223 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: the city. Most pubs offered a free lunch with the 224 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: purchase of a drink, but Norton typically ate at the 225 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: Bank Exchange, where you could get a free lunch of soup, salmon, roast, beef, potatoes, bread, 226 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: and cheese, all with the purchase of a brandy smash 227 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: for just twenty five cents. His clothes were shabby, visibly secondhand, 228 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: and if friends from his former life tried to help him, 229 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: Norton would be willing to take fifty cent pieces, but 230 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: only because he referred to them as taxes and recorded 231 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: them dutifully in a notebook that he always carried with him. 232 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: He's actually secretly incredibly wealthy, went the gossip on the streets. 233 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 1: Didn't you hear he's a millionaire. He only accepts charity 234 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: and lives the way he does because he's very cheap. 235 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: It's all a ruse. Yes, I've heard that, came the 236 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: typical sponse. Did you know he's actually the secret son 237 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: of Louis Napoleon. When Napoleon invaded Mexico, Norton gave himself 238 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: an additional title Protector of Mexico, despite the fact that 239 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: there's no evidence that Norton ever set foot in Mexico 240 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: at any point during his life. One brief side note, 241 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 1: if you happen to have listened to my Noble Blood 242 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: episode about Maximilian and Carlotta of Mexico, you'll know that 243 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 1: Norton um didn't do such a great job as Protector. 244 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: All the while, Norton continued to issue decrees that were 245 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: published by newspapers. A proclamation that the Democratic and Republican 246 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: parties were to be abolished, a demand that Sacramento clean 247 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: up the mud on its street and installed gaslight on 248 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,120 Speaker 1: the street leading to the Capitol Building. And a very 249 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,679 Speaker 1: forward thinking idea that a bridge or tunnel should be 250 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:03,439 Speaker 1: built to connect Say and Francisco to Oakland. When norton 251 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: second hand uniform began to fall apart, the San Francisco 252 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: Board of Supervisors bought him a new one. In response, 253 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: Norton sent a formal thank you letter and issued every 254 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: member of the board quote a patent of nobility in perpetuity. Newspapers, 255 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: particularly the Daily Alta California, recognized what a boon umper 256 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:31,439 Speaker 1: Norton was to circulation numbers. He was a central comic 257 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 1: figure to the tapestry of the city. People loved him, 258 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: and so in short time, certain newspapers began using Norton's 259 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 1: name and notoriety to make editorial jokes about political situations, 260 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:52,360 Speaker 1: writing phony proclamations supposedly by him. It's under these circumstances 261 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: that one of the most widely shared proclamations supposedly by 262 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: Norton was issued in eighteen seventy two. Quote whoever, after 263 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: do and proper warning, shall be heard to utter the 264 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: abominable word frisco, which has no linguistic or other warrant, 265 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall 266 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of 267 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: twenty five dollars. Charming and a good reminder never to 268 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: call San Francisco frisco, but probably not actually written by 269 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: Emperor Norton. Because Emperor Norton was almost from the outset, 270 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: a figure larger than life, a living myth, it can 271 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,159 Speaker 1: be difficult to parse out the truth in his history, 272 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: as opposed to stories that were merely urban legends that 273 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: cast a colorful folk hero in the leading role. There's 274 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: also the question as to whether well Emperor Norton was 275 00:19:55,520 --> 00:20:00,239 Speaker 1: mentally unwell. He seemed to genuinely believe that he was 276 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: the Emperor of the United States. The eighteen seventy census 277 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 1: lists his occupation sensibly as emperor, but also added the 278 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: note that he was insane. The famous writer Mark Twain 279 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: was living in San Francisco for several years during Emperor 280 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: Norton's reign, and in Twain's column for the Daily Morning Call, 281 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: he wrote of Norton, quote, Oh, dear, it was always 282 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: a painful thing for me to see the Emperor begging 283 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: for Although nobody else believed he was an emperor, he 284 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:45,640 Speaker 1: believed it. In eighteen sixty seven, a man named Armand Barbier, 285 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: who was working as part of a civilian security policing force, 286 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 1: arrested Norton and tried to have him involuntarily committed to 287 00:20:54,160 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: a psychiatric facility. The outrage was loud an instant. The 288 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: Daily Alta wrote an article with the headline arrest of 289 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 1: the Emperor, which read quote Special Officer Barbier yesterday arrested 290 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,919 Speaker 1: the Emperor Norton the first and took him to the 291 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: calaboost to be examined by the Commissioner of Lunacy. Norton was, 292 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: in his day a respectable merchant, and since he has 293 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: worn the Imperial purple, he has shed no blood, robbed 294 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: and nobody, and despoiled the country of no one, which 295 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:31,480 Speaker 1: is more than can be said for any of his 296 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,879 Speaker 1: fellows in that line. Within a day, the San Francisco 297 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 1: Chief of Police himself personally granted Norton's release and issued 298 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: a formal apology, which Norton graciously accepted. Norton also graciously 299 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: granted an imperial pardon to Barbier, who Norton understood was 300 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: only trying to do his job. The Dailyalta's article about 301 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: his release read honorably discharge urged his Imperial majesty. Norton, 302 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: the first who was arrested as a lunatic on Monday night, 303 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: as stated in The Altar, was promptly discharged from custody 304 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: as soon as the facts of the arrest were made 305 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: known to the proper authorities. Yesterday, he called the property 306 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: Clerk's desk, received back the key of the palace and 307 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: the imperial funds amounting to four dollars and seventy cents 308 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: of lawful money of the United States. From that day on, 309 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: whenever police saw Emperor Norton walking through the streets of 310 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: San Francisco and his uniform and hat, they saluted. Norton 311 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 1: was a fixture of the city, riding trains, trolleys, and ferries, 312 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: attending sessions of the state legislature, university lectures, and occasionally 313 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 1: traveling across California to inspect military troops. Norton also issued 314 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: his own currency from fifty cents to ten dollars, which 315 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: was happily accepted by the restaurants that he frequently patronized. 316 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: Norton was so famous and beloved in the city that 317 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: businesses would gleefully declare themselves as the Emperor's favorite to 318 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 1: gain publicity. Emperor Norton reigned for over twenty years, traveling 319 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 1: the city, writing his proclamations on typewriters at the city library, 320 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: greeting any small dogs were children who came his way 321 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,640 Speaker 1: with a smile, and declaring any child who met him 322 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: to be king or queen for a day. But then, 323 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:41,480 Speaker 1: on January eight, Norton was on his way to a 324 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: lecture at the California Academy of sciences. When he collapsed 325 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 1: on the corner of what is now California Street and 326 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: Grand Avenue. A policeman happened to be nearby, and he 327 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: rushed to get Norton a carriage to the hospital, but 328 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,679 Speaker 1: it was too late. Norton had a stroke and he 329 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: died almost instantly. As it turns out, all of the 330 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:09,880 Speaker 1: rumors of the Emperor having secret wealth were unfounded. When 331 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,159 Speaker 1: the authorities went through his belongings, they found only six 332 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,119 Speaker 1: dollars in small change and no personal belongings of value, 333 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: although there was one fake letter from Alexander the Second 334 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 1: of Russia congratulating Norton on his impending marriage to Queen Victoria. 335 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 1: Over the years, Norton had sent numerous letters to the 336 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:34,800 Speaker 1: Queen of England proposing that they unite their empires through matrimony, 337 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: although rudely Victoria never responded. Norton was going to be 338 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 1: buried in a simple redwood box until the people of 339 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 1: San Francisco decided that he deserved a proper burial. The 340 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: Pacific Club issued a subscription list two sponsors who would donate. 341 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: That list supposedly is still available to see in their 342 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: club room. Norton was buried in a rosewood casket, and 343 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: his funeral procession was over two miles long, with as 344 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,879 Speaker 1: many as ten thousand people lining the streets to pay 345 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:17,200 Speaker 1: their final respects. Norton lived on in literature. Mark Twain's 346 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: most famous novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, includes two 347 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: con artists who call themselves the Duke and the King, 348 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,160 Speaker 1: the latter pretending to be the descendant of the dead 349 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:33,200 Speaker 1: Dauphin Louis, the seventeenth of France. Although those characters are 350 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:39,440 Speaker 1: antagonists wildly not merely eccentric but actually nefarious, they were 351 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: nevertheless inspired by the Emperor. But I find a more 352 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,680 Speaker 1: fitting literary description of Emperor Norton in Young gay Men's 353 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: graphic novel series The Sandman in the story Three Septembers 354 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: and a January. If you haven't read Sandman yet, please 355 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:03,680 Speaker 1: put it on your list immediately. In the series, Despair, Dream, Delirium, Desire, 356 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:08,159 Speaker 1: and Death are all semi living characters, immortal siblings called 357 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:13,040 Speaker 1: the Endless. In the comic, after Norton fails as a businessman, 358 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: he is a victim of despair until Dream arrives and 359 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: gives him the dream of him being an Emperor. It's 360 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: that dream that keeps him from going mad. He ought 361 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,360 Speaker 1: to be mine, but he isn't. Is he delirium asks 362 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: He's so sane except about being the Emperor. Of course, 363 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:39,160 Speaker 1: his madness keeps him sane. At the end of the issue, 364 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: when death comes for Emperor Norton, the two of them 365 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: walk away side by side. I've met a lot of 366 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 1: kings and emperors and heads of state in my time, 367 00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 1: Joshua Death says to him, I've met them all, and 368 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: you know something I think I like to you best. 369 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,640 Speaker 1: That's the story of Emperor Norton. But keep listening after 370 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more 371 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: about the Emperor's legacy in San Francisco, And just a 372 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: quick reminder if you want to support the show, we 373 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:25,159 Speaker 1: have a Patreon, Patreon, dot com slash Noble Blood Tales 374 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:29,199 Speaker 1: where you can get access to scripts, episode bibliographies, and 375 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: other behind the scenes information. Eventually, after Norton's death, there 376 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: was a bridge built between San Francisco and Oakland, the 377 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: Bay Bridge, built in fifty six years after Norton's death. 378 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 1: Since then, there have been multiple campaigns to rename the 379 00:27:55,320 --> 00:28:00,440 Speaker 1: bridge in his honor. Another little bit of interesting Norton 380 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 1: comes from Jose Saria, who became the first openly gay 381 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: person to ever run for public office in the United 382 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,919 Speaker 1: States when he ran for the San Francisco Board of 383 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 1: Supervisors in Sarria was also a drag performer who sometimes 384 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:24,399 Speaker 1: styled himself as her Royal Majesty Embrace of San Francisco, 385 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:29,919 Speaker 1: Jose the First the Widow Norton. Sarria actually purchased the 386 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: grave plot next to Joshua Norton, and that's where he 387 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: was buried next to his imaginary husband, the Imaginary Emperor. 388 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of I Heart Radio and 389 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: Grimm and Mild from Aaron Minky. The show was written 390 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: and hosted by Dani Schwartz and produced by Aaron Manky, 391 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is 392 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: on social media at Noble Blood Tales, and you can 393 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: learn more about the show over at Noble blood Tales 394 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: dot com. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 395 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 396 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. M