Professor,
Communication, Arts, and the Humanities
The University of Maryland Global Campus
That was the question I kept asking as I dug deeper into this stranger’s — Emmett’s — story. I couldn’t keep calling him a stranger, though. For such an obscure guy who didn’t leave much of a mark while he lived, I was turning up dozens of tiny blurbs about […]
About two weeks after following up with Mike Burke with the proper Wilson ancestor information, and approval from Sacred Heart Hospital’s general counsel, I received this email message: Well, there it was: An official hospital record indicating Emmett was an alcoholic. But was that enough? In research, one has to […]
I dug into the Milligan family genealogy right away. With note-taking, it took two days. It’s basically written as a conversation from the author, John Evans Wilson, to his children and descendants. Emmett’s family story is on the second to last page. Here’s what John Evans Wilson said […]
I remember Saturday, June 8, 2013, as one of those glorious late Spring days in Maryland — the sky was clear blue without a cloud in sight, the temperature around 72, the trees were (finally!) all full with fresh green leaves. The plants I’d set out a few weeks earlier […]
Emmett’s funeral was, apparently, a big deal for Pensacola, particularly since folks were ‘surprised’ and ‘shocked’ that he was in failing health. But I wonder about that — I mean, his family and friends were able to put together a large funeral at a big church within 36 hours of […]
Before I move on to Emmett’s funeral record, I thought I’d share what exactly I learned about the listed cause of Emmett’s death. I don’t want to leave the impression I just ‘Googled’ uremia and took the first hit and ran with it — no. I didn’t become an expert […]
By the end of July, 2013, Emmett’s research was in its third month, and I was reaping the rewards of having mass contacted Wilson family descendants, as well as Emmett’s neighbors, friends, political allies and foes. I reached out to descendants of his congressional office staff, to hospitals where he […]
Early in sobriety I attended AA meetings daily, as prescribed by my temporary sponsor. I was told to listen closely to others with many years of sobriety, especially the women, because eventually I would hear my own story coming out of other women’s shares. It’s important, because we learn that […]
Most of the contemporary articles I found about Emmett were read as they came in, in no particular chronological order. To keep things straight, I cataloged every detail I found into a timeline. After three weeks of reading and documenting articles about Emmett, I took a few days off to […]
Research into Wilson family records continues, even though I’ve started drafting Emmett’s story. This morning, I found a new item courtesy of the Church of Latter-Day Saints database, familysearch.org. It’s hard to read, but these are all the records of Emmett Wilson’s family members with death records recorded with […]
Tell my story. 