January 1, 2024Chevy Chase, Maryland By August, 1912, Emmett Wilson’s political campaign against his Republican challenger, Thomas F. McGourin, was strictly pro-forma. It is important to know that Florida’s Republican party was, essentially, powerless 110 years ago; although candidates from several different parties made a valiant effort to challenge Democratic […]
September 17, 2023Chevy Chase, Maryland It’s that time of year again! Happy 141st Birthday to you, Emmett!
May 1, 2023Chevy Chase, Maryland The remaining eight weeks before the general election in November, 1912 reveals that Emmett was primarily in court or out in the district giving speeches almost nonstop. A few items to note about the lead-up to the election from the contemporary media: — Emmett turned […]
April 25, 2023Chevy Chase, Maryland Emmett and Paul Carter had a long, close friendship. They were best friends for most of their lives. Their friendship began in childhood, when Emmett and his family moved to Chipley, after his mother’s death in June, 1891, and his father remarried a wealthy widow […]
April 6, 2023Chevy Chase, Maryland Emmett remained a bachelor to the end of his life, but he wasn’t without affairs of the heart. He knew what it was to fall in love; but he wasn’t a closer, when it came to settling down. And that was a big deal for […]
March 25, 2023Chevy Chase, Maryland Emmett’s summer of 1912, on the surface, seemed low-key, and predictable. According to contemporary media coverage, he went about his business as usual: Prosecuting cases for the State of Florida, visiting or entertaining relatives who stopped over from Marianna, Chipley, or Sneads, contributing to political […]
March 15, 2023Chevy Chase, Maryland In 2014, when I began organizing all the information I had about Emmett into a table, the idea was so that I could have a chronological view of him and his life, so that it would (theoretically) make the writing task flow more smoothly. I […]
July 5, 1912The Raleigh HotelWashington, D.C. Walter KehoeKehoe and Wilson700-702 American National Bank BuildingPensacola, Florida Walter: Our visit to Washington is almost over; we’ll leave on the evening train out of Union Station later this afternoon. Griggs, Crawford, and myself have most of the day to go about town and […]
6:15 am.July 3, 1912The Raleigh HotelWashington, D.C. Walter KehoeKehoe and Wilson700-702 American National Bank BuildingPensacola, Florida Dear Walter: Mayes, Tommie Crawford, and myself are sharing a suite of two bedrooms and a parlor; while everyone is still asleep, I thought to write you a quick letter on our goings-on for […]
February 6, 2023Chevy Chase, Maryland Frank Mayes was on a mission to ingratiate himself into the upper echelons of Democratic party power centers, and Emmett was part of his grand scheme to be come a national political player; though I believe that once Mayes made it big as a behind-the-scenes […]
Tell my story. 