January 25, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland While Nancy and I were still in Pensacola and talking about the adventures of Emmett Wilson in 1911, I found this little snippet from the want-ad section of April 11, 1911 issue of The Pensacola Journal, and I shared it with her: If you’re wondering […]
September 29, 20151:25 pmPensacola, Florida After spending several productive hours with the awesome Santa Rosa Court archivists, Nancy and I went to Denny’s for brunch to review where we were so far with Emmett’s discovery. There’s nothing like a plate load pancakes and pots of coffee to refuel and relax. […]
September 29, 2105Santa Rosa County Court ArchiveMilton, Florida One of the reasons Nancy and I decided to add a side-trip to Milton, Florida, was because of a murder case Emmett was prosecuting in 1910; i.e., U.S. vs. Frank Penton. Although Emmett was the Assistant District Attorney, and of course, it […]
September 28, 20153:45 pmPensacola, Florida Nancy and I made plans to hit the Santa Rosa County archive in Milton the next day; because we were archived out after eight hours with the Escambia County folks, we decided to visit historic St. Michael’s Cemetery. Several of Emmett’s good friends were buried […]
September 28, 20151:30 pmPensacola, Florida It was pouring rain in Old Town Pensacola; coming down in what people describe as sheets — you could see what looked like panels of water blowing sideways across the streets, the wind was gusting hard. But Nancy was steadfast and unflappable as she navigated […]
September 28, 2015Pensacola, Florida Fueled with coffee, maps, and must-have document lists, Nancy and I arrived in her truck at the Escambia County Circuit Court Archives at 120 E. Blount Street promptly at opening time, 8 am. There were few cars in the parking lot. I was jittery — not […]
September 27, 2015Pensacola, Florida I was anxious driving around Pensacola, on my way to the Hampton Inn to meet my friend Nancy for the first time in person; so much so that I was practicing what I would say to her upon meeting. She and I had a wide-ranging correspondence […]
September 20, 2015Pensacola, Florida I first met Nancy Rayburn online, over a year ago, on Tuesday, September 10, 2013. She had posted an extensive biography of Robert Anderson on the USGenWeb website. The text came from an obscure history book, and while the University of Maryland has a great InterLibrary […]
September 10, 2015Chevy Chase, Maryland As of today, I booked my second research trip to Pensacola. It’s time: I’m at the point in his story that I have to know what kind of lawyer he was, and how his political background was developing. What papers I can see online are […]
October 21, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland Because we have very little primary information (letters, journals, scrapbooks, personal testimony) from Emmett, the next best thing is primary information from Emmett’s friends, family, and colleagues, in addition to the secondary information (newspaper articles, books, other research). Emmett spent a lot of time with […]
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