March 24, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Though I’ve loved working on Emmett Wilson’s story for (almost) ten years, I’ve had trouble writing up some of the sections of his story. Most of the problem has been a lack of complete information at any one time. The way the pieces of Emmett’s […]
Estimated reading time: 17 minutes
September 29, 20155 pmPensacola, Florida What: Emmett Wilson and Byrd Kelly’s engagement announcement. Where: Walter Kehoe’s annual summer vacation gathering at St. Andrews, Florida; August 1-14, 1911. Why/how: In June, 1911 Emmett was named (not elected) State’s Attorney for his brother Cephas Wilson’s unfinished term as State Attorney. This was […]
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
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 […]
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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. […]
Estimated reading time: 18 minutes
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 […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
September 29, 2019Chevy Chase, Maryland Two things concern me about this stage in Emmett’s story, three years before he ran for office as U.S. Congressman. First, in 1908, Emmett was drinking alcoholically. I believe he knew (and his family/friends knew) he either drank more and/or could not handle alcohol as […]
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
September 27, 1907306 Brent BuildingPensacola, Florida I’ve done what I’ve been told to do for one year; namely: to keep my head down, to work hard, to follow directions (specifically, of Kehoe, and my Uncle Evelyn Maxwell), to be serious. So far, their advice has paid off handsomely. The directions […]
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
August 23, 2021Chevy Chase, MD I have a follow-up from my inquiries with experts who research newspaper coverage specific to society sections in the early 20th century. All agree with my theory that Emmett Wilson used the society sections as a way to promote himself, but other people did as […]
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
May 22, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland In early June, 1906, it was probably a tough call for Emmett on what he would do after Nicholas Van Sant had discovered what was actually going on with their law practice. I sincerely doubt Emmett went to rehab, even through the generosity and circumspect-ness […]
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
May 11, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland Even though I’ve been writing Emmett Wilson’s chapters on and off since I found him back in 2013, and I feel like I know him fairly well, there’s still new things I’m discovering about his story that trickle in now and then. I feel pretty […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes