Emperor Norton - Early Life

Early Life

Norton was born in England, but scholarly works disagree as to the date and town of his birth. His obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle, "following the best information obtainable", cited the silver plate on his coffin which said he was "aged about 65", suggesting that 1814 could be the year of his birth. Other sources claim that he was born on February 4, 1819 in London. Immigration records indicate he was two years old in 1820 when his parents moved to South Africa. South African genealogies suggest his parents were John Norton (d. August 1848) and Sarah Norden. Sarah was a daughter of Abraham Norden and a sister of Benjamin Norden, a successful Jewish merchant.

Norton emigrated from South Africa to San Francisco in 1849 after receiving a bequest of $40,000 from his father's estate. He enjoyed a good deal of success in the real estate market, and by the early 1850s had accumulated a fortune of $250,000. Norton thought he saw a business opportunity when China, facing a severe famine, placed a ban on the export of rice, causing the price of rice in San Francisco to skyrocket from four cents per pound to thirty-six cents per pound (9 cents/kg to 79 cents/kg). When he heard the Glyde, which was returning from Peru, was carrying 200,000 pounds (91,000 kg) of rice, he bought the entire shipment for $25,000 (or twelve and a half cents per pound), hoping to corner the market.

Shortly after he signed the contract, several other shiploads of rice arrived from Peru, causing the price of rice to plummet to three cents a pound. Norton tried to void the contract, stating the dealer had misled him as to the quality of rice to expect. From 1853 to 1857, Norton and the rice dealers were involved in a protracted litigation. Although Norton prevailed in the lower courts, the case reached the Supreme Court of California, which ruled against Norton. Later, the Lucas Turner and Company Bank foreclosed on his real estate holdings in North Beach to pay Norton's debt. Norton's mental state was severely affected by these financial setbacks. He declared bankruptcy in 1858 and left the city for a time.