RECENT RESEARCH — A newly unearthed photograph showing the north side of the 600 block of Commercial Street, San Francisco, in the aftermath of the earthquake and fires of 1906 reveals, for the first time, visual evidence of the fate of the building that housed the Eureka Lodgings, where Emperor Norton lived from 1864–65 until his death in 1880. Our analysis of the photo sharpens the focus on the identities and locations of the buildings along this stretch — and exactly what each building suffered in 1906. Includes our highly researched new infographic that can be used as a tool for understanding the history of this location.

The Emperor Norton Trust

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

RESEARCH • EDUCATION • ADVOCACY

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Emperor Norton's Sister, Aficionado of Anemones

Pull up a chair for the fascinating and enigmatic story of Emperor Norton’s younger sister, Selina Jane.

Born on the Cape of Good Hope in 1824, when Joshua, the future Emperor, was 6 years old, Selina “married Scottish” and married well — twice.

Selina had moved to England by age 20. She had four daughters with her first husband, a MacLeod, living first in Kent, then near Glasgow, then back down in Devon.

Shortly after her first husband died, Selina married a Mackenzie, whose prominence as a Scottish lawyer brought her to Edinburgh.

Two years later, this second husband died. A few years after that, Selina moved from Edinburgh to the North Sea cloister of St. Andrews and was gone herself within a year or so — at 45. But, her three surviving daughters continued to live in, and next door to, the St. Andrews house for another 20 years.

Along the way, Selina in 1861 wrote and published a lovely, finely observed article about her sea anemones — whom she called her “drawing-room pets.”

The article — and many, many other details — are documented here thoroughly, if not very deeply.

It’s tantalizing evidence that makes me want to learn more of the Emperor’s little sister.

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