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

Filtering by Tag: reign

When Did the Reign of Emperor Norton Really Begin?

October 14, 2024  /  John Lumea

Joshua Norton's Proclamation of 17 September 1859 declaring himself "Emperor of these United States" would appear to settle the question of when Emperor Norton’s reign was inaugurated.

Except.

Except for a line that Emperor Norton attaches to his signature to several of his Proclamations of the 1860s, in which the Emperor specifies that a given Proclamation was issued “in the [X]th year of our reign.”

Assuming, for example, that a Proclamation that Emperor Norton signed “in the 16th year of our reign” was one he issued between the 15th and 16th anniversaries of his reign…

The “math” that the Emperor uses in these little clauses strongly suggests that he may have thought of himself as being Emperor for at least 4 years — and for as much as 7 years — before he declared it publicly in 1859.

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categories / Research, Proclamations, Original sources
tags / reign, year of our reign, 1852, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1859, 1864, 1865, 1869

The Pro-Vaccination Emperor of 1869

January 04, 2023  /  John Lumea

Documentation is elusive for those Proclamations of Emperor Norton that were published in the mid to late 1860s — the period in between (a) the few years after Joshua Norton declared himself Emperor in 1859 and (b) Emperor Norton’s adoption of the Pacific Appeal newspaper as his “imperial gazette” in late December 1870.

So, it’s gratifying to have discovered a “new” Proclamation from this period — especially one that

  • has resonance for our current public health crisis brought on by COVID–19; and that

  • adds to the body of evidence strongly suggesting that Joshua Norton thought of himself as being Emperor long before he declared it publicly in 1859.

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categories / Research, Original sources, Proclamations
tags / smallpox, pandemic, epidemic, Board of Supervisors, vaccine, COVID, reign, Empire, rice, lawsuit, California Supreme Court, Daily Alta California, Oakland Daily Transcript, 1852, 1853, 1854, 1859, 1865, 1868, 1869

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