When I was growing up, I used to go to New Orleans with my family to visit cousins and friends, and to celebrate Mardi Gras. My cousin’s house was on a street where two large parades would pass every year. The parades were on different days, of course. Occasionally, on […]
Last night as I was trolling through the 1895 microfilm of The Chipley Banner, I discovered that Emmett’s brother, the Hon. Cephas L. Wilson, Esq., had not only a legal license, but a poetic license. Truth. Here’s more info about the poem from the same issue: I wonder why Ceph’s […]
The more I dig into Emmett’s family, the more incredible back stories I find about those who loved him best. For instance, his sister-in-law, Lula, was a poet and musician. She had a song published in 1928, which was similar to having a tune go viral via social media today. […]
It has been a really good year. I’m thankful to be here, thankful you are here, and thankful for Emmett finding a way into my life, because I (for sure) was not looking for him. I have to admit that I thought I’d be a lot further along in the […]
Here’s an interesting item I found on the wonderful DC history resource, Ghosts of DC. It is a pocket directory of apartments, as printed by The Washington Times paper, from 1914. Emmett lived in the Congress Hall Hotel, which catered to congressmen, and was an easy commute. It was right […]
Friends, I have 80 pages — a very rough draft — of a chapter finished. It needs editing, but I’m setting it aside for maybe a week. After the distance of a few days, I’ll be able to take a look at it with fresh eyes and a renewed writing […]
I am thrilled to see this. Check this out from the WWOZ (New Orleans) blog: “Local preservationist Joseph Makkos is the recipient of 30,000 tubes filled with Times-Picayunes (and its predecessors The Daily Picayune and The Times-Democrat) from 1885 to 1930. Originally a part of the British Library’s collection, these […]
Do you have any off-limit topics in family gatherings? Sure you do! We all do! And when you have a big family (like I do), you know there are several key topics you just don’t discuss, unless you want to have a meltdown on a holiday. I’ve been a witness […]
It occurred to me yesterday while I was at the Pohick Cemetery that Emmett had been there. A little background: Emmett’s uncle, Everard Meade, was the rector of Pohick Episcopal Church. His aunt, Lucy, had been very close Emmett’s mother, and she likely remained in close contact with her nieces […]
When conducting research on obscure people, you encounter plenty of informational brick walls. These can be frustrating, but you don’t have to let them stand in your way. My most recent information barrier centers on Emmett’s boyhood home. The Wilson family lived in two houses during the late 1800s. The […]
Tell my story. 