Florida History

Henry Lee Bell Photograph Collection

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In the University of West Florida Archives, there’s a wonderful collection of more than 20,000 photographs of everyday Pensacolians between 1911 and 1949.

Henry Lee Bell opened photography studio in 1911 in Pensacola Florida. Used to be partnered with George Turton. Was Turton & Bell around 1900 to about 1911, when they separated into their own businesses. Bell’s studio operated until around 1949. Both considered excellent photographers, ability to capture the real person on film.

And, surprise, I found these photographs:

Francis C. Wilson Jr. Source: Bell Photograph Collection, University of West Florida Archives

Francis C. Wilson Jr. Source: Bell Photograph Collection, University of West Florida Archives

May McKinnon Wilson. Source: Bell Photograph Collection, University of West Florida Archives

Two separate poses of Emmett’s older brother, Frank Jr., and one of his wife, May McKinnon Wilson, of Pensacola. There’s a strong resemblance between Frank Jr. and Emmett, if you compare their photos.

I have a few photographs of Emmett’s father, as well as Emmett’s twin brother Julian in his later years. There’s strong resemblance among the Wilson menfolk, and so we get a hint of what Emmett might have looked like as an older man.

So, in five years of compiling research and artifacts to tell Emmett’s story, the only family member I don’t have a photograph of is Emmett’s older brother Percy Brockenbrough Wilson. Percy was a physician who lived in Sneads, Jackson County, Florida. I have reached out to a few of Percy’s descendants, but unfortunately, they do not have any photographs of him. Perhaps one may turn up as the search (and the writing) continues!

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Evelyn C. Maxwell in 1890 Pensacola

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In today’s edition of ‘Where are they now?’ we search for one of the original office buildings and residences of one Evelyn Croom Maxwell, distinguished jurist and lawyer of Pensacola, Florida.

Justice Evelyn Croom Maxwell. VIP in bar and bench circles. Source: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/47155

In 1890, Emmett’s uncle, Evelyn C. Maxwell was the law partner of Stephen Mallory II, who served as U.S. Senator and Representative from Florida, and was the son of Stephen Russell Mallory (the law partner of Augustus Emmett Maxwell, Evelyn’s father, and Emmett Wilson’s grandfather).

Evelyn C. Maxwell in 1890 Pensacola, according to Webb’s Pensacola (City) Directory. Source: Ancestry.com

According to Webb’s Pensacola Directory, Mallory & Maxwell’s office was located at 204 1/2 South Palafox.

The address of Mallory & Maxwell’s law firm, from Webb’s Pensacola Directory for 1890. Source: Ancestry.com

The original Mallory & Maxwell office building still exits.

The block where Mallory & Maxwell’s original office stood in 1890. Source: Google maps

More good news: Evelyn Maxwell’s 1890 residence at 317 North Barcelona Street exists as well.

Evelyn C. Maxwell’s one-time residence at 317 N. Barcelona in Pensacola.

New-to-me background on U.S. vs. Penton

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When I last visited Florida in 2015, I spent most of the time going through courthouse archives in search of testimony and notes for the cases Emmett was prosecuting.

Although I didn’t find much in the way of notes, I did uncover a load of paperwork with Emmett’s signature, which (at least) confirmed some of the details of the cases he prosecuted while serving as District Attorney from 1907-1909, then as States’ Attorney from 1911-1913.

But one of the major cases Emmett prosecuted was U.S. vs. Frank Penton, and today, I lucked upon the blog Judging Shadows, which has excellent background about the principals in the case.

The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune, December 9, 1910, page 13.

The Pensacola Journal, January 8, 1911, page 1. Source: ChroniclingAmerica.gov

In the third paragraph of his essay on Frank Penton, the blog’s author wasn’t sure about Frank Penton’s sentence in the murder of George Warwick Allen: Although Frank Penton was not charged, his father Abner Penton was sentenced to four years in prison.

Abner Penton would later appealed his sentence to the Florida Supreme Court, but the December 13, 1912 issue of The Pensacola Journal reported Florida Supreme Court upheld Penton’s original sentence.

I’m hoping that perhaps the descendants of the Corbins or Pentons would have something about their ancestor’s interactions with Emmett from this and other cases (it turns out that Emmett prosecuted Frank more than once). If the information exists, I’d love to see it.

Following the Money

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One of the things I’ve always found curious about Emmett Wilson’s life was why he never lived on his own, never owned a house, never had his own apartment in which he was responsible for everything (food, furniture, utilities and the like).

Emmett was a bachelor with an active and upscale social life and a good job. According to an interview in the Sterling (Illinois) Daily Standard in 1905, Emmett said he was always anxious to be on his own, to prove himself in the legal profession, to be his own man as soon as he could, because he was ready for it.

But according to different editions of the Pensacola City Directory, the U.S. Census for 1900 and 1910, and several articles in Florida contemporary newspapers, Emmett never really was on his own in the true sense of the word.

908 N. Spring Street, Pensacola. Source: Google Maps

In the 1900 U.S. Census, Emmett was enumerated at his father’s home in Chipley, then he moved that same year to his brother Cephas’ house in Marianna. Emmett had roommates both in college dorms and boarding houses while a student at Stetson University; when he moved to Pensacola, he lived with friends at a boarding house, then with the Kehoe family from 1911 onward. Obviously, he paid rent at the boarding houses (In 1908, 124 W. Belmont, today an office building, and in 1909, 908 N. Spring Street, still standing).

Was it money? Couldn’t Emmett afford it?

Sure he could.

Source: Who’s Who in America, Volume 4, 1906, p. 1201

It wasn’t that Emmett didn’t make enough money to live on his own. For example, in 1906, when Emmett was a clerk, then temporary Assistant District Attorney (a part-time position while he also worked in his uncle Evelyn Croom Maxwell’s law office). Emmett eventually became Maxwell’s partner in 1908. But in 1907, Emmett’s salary was $1,500 a year (the average salary for a family of four in the U.S. was about $600 in 1907), in addition to whatever he was making as a private attorney.

Emmett was named to the clerkship, then temporary assistant district attorney in 1906, which terminated in 1907. The image is hard to capture, but you can see the original at this link.

Source: Annual Report of the Attorney General of the United States, 1907.

Emmett also lived with the Kehoes from 1911 onward — he may have paid something towards rent or household costs, but it probably wasn’t substantial, and because Jennie and Walter Kehoe considered Emmett a member of their family, I doubt they would have accepted much, if anything from Emmett towards rent. He made good money, and he had plenty of opportunities to save it.

In 1908 Pensacola, the average rent at a good boarding house was $5 a week, which included room, board, electricity and laundry services.

According to the Inflation Calculator, $5 a week in 1908 has the same purchasing power as $124.56 today — about $500 a month in rent. That was a bargain, considering Emmett’s rent included board and laundry services. Try finding that kind of rent package deal today.

I know that Emmett had to spend a lot of his own money on his political campaign in 1912. He complained in a speech after he won the primary in June, 1912, about how expensive it was — campaign spending records for 1912 show that he spent over $2,000 of his own money leading up to the primary — which is the equivalent of $50,074.14 in today’s dollars, according to the Inflation Calculator. Expensive, indeed.

So, although Emmett certainly would have been able to afford a home of his own by 1912, it seems he put his money towards his political ambitions. It was a gamble, but it makes sense.

But it is too bad that Emmett didn’t invest in real estate, or have something to call his own. Real estate ownership was considered a solid, sound investment. Also, owning a home conveyed the appearance of reliability, consistency.

Even sobriety.

And perhaps the last point was the other stickler.

By 1913, we know Emmett was a full-blown alcoholic, and booze was costly: For example, ONE gallon of nine year old Kentucky whiskey cost $9 in 1913. In 2018 dollars, that’s $225. I doubt Emmett limited his drinking to a gallon a week. It was likely SEVERAL gallons.

Emmett was also a member of two prominent men’s clubs in Pensacola: The Osceola Club and the Elks. The Osceola Club was a fancy society club where one could read, meet and socialize with select and prominent Pensacolians, and drink (although that was not publicized). Membership in The Osceola Club was approximately $500 a year, not including your bar tab, if you had one. And Emmett had one, for sure.

Yes, that’s $500 a year.

In 1913 dollars.

Or, $12,518, according to the Inflation Calculator in 2018 dollars.

I don’t have Emmett’s receipts, of course, but it seems obvious to me that spent most of his money on his political campaigns in 1912 and 1914, and booze.

And when Emmett died in 1918, he was in financial trouble. Emmett’s brother and executor of his estate, Cephas Love Wilson, stated in a letter that Emmett didn’t have anything of value in his belongings except a life insurance policy worth about $13,000, and that Emmett had already borrowed $3,000 against it (that he knew of). In the end, there wasn’t much, if anything, left of Emmett’s estate.

 

 

 

Papist or Protestant?

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The big question I’m exploring with one of J. Walter Kehoe’s descendants is this:

Was he once Catholic or wasn’t he?

A few days ago, I found Walter’s obituary, which mentions a Presbyterian funeral. I reached out to his grandson and asked about it. Walter’s grandson replied that he wasn’t aware of any Catholics in the family, which was a surprise — I’ve always thought Walter was Catholic, because Walter’s father John Kehoe was Catholic.

Chipley Jones. Emmett’s campaign manager, and somewhat jackass.

This is an important detail in telling Emmett’s story — and in case you’re wondering why I’m focused on this, it’s because of something Emmett — or, rather, Emmett’s jackass campaign manager — did during the 1914 reelection.

Briefly:

  • Emmett’s lack of experience and alcoholism were huge indicators that he was in over his head as a U.S. Congressman, and,
  • Woodrow Wilson’s popularity was slipping, as was the Democratic party’s popularity. Every Democratic seat in the Senate and Congress was precious.

In 1914, Emmett was being primaried by John P. Stokes, lawyer, statesman and Roman Catholic. This was a political handicap in Florida — 22nd governor, Sidney Catts, who ran on the Prohibition ticket and won in 1922, largely campaigned as an anti-Catholic.

Days before the primary election in Florida, on May 31, 1914, the word got out:

Stokes claims Emmett’s campaign using religious prejudice. Source: The Pensacola Journal, May 31, 1914, in ChroniclingAmerica.gov

Here’s the problem:

Stokes and his wife were married by a Catholic priest. That was the problem. Source: The Pensacola Journal, in ChroniclingAmerica.gov

This was Emmett’s campaign; ergo, the behavior of Emmett’s campaign staff reflects on him.

Here’s Emmett’s response to Stoke’s charges in the next day’s paper:

Emmett doesn’t say so directly, but his ad states *he* didn’t do anything wrong. This was written by Chipley Jones, by the way. Source: The Pensacola Journal, via ChroniclingAmerica.gov

Emmett was probably telling the truth — he, himself, didn’t actually do anything — but you can bet someone in his campaign (*cough* Jones *cough*) did. The damning thing about the whole situation is that Stokes wasn’t favored to win. Stokes wasn’t even close! Emmett was hugely popular at this point, and his ineptness in office, and alcoholism, were not visible to the general public.

Emmett may not have actually been the one to ‘ok’ this campaign tactic, but the fact it happened indicates Emmett was hands-off with the management of his campaign. That’s not good; essentially, Emmett gave tacit agreement to do whatever it took to win, even when the nearest competitor wasn’t close; saying his campaign was run on a ‘high and dignified plane’ rings hollow.

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Meanwhile, I think the issue of Walter Kehoe’s Catholicism is important, because the Kehoes considered Emmett family. Emmett lived with the Kehoes for several years; he was much loved, and trusted.  The idea that Emmett’s campaign went after Stokes because he was Catholic might not have sat well with the Kehoes. I wonder what Walter said to Emmett about all of this when it finally played out, if he said anything at all.

Maybe, by this point, Walter had joined the Presbyterian Church.

In the end, Stokes conceded gracefully.

Stokes concedes gracefully. Source: The Pensacola Journal, June 7, 1914, p4, via ChroniclingAmerica.gov

Stokes would go on to have a long, successful career in law and Florida politics. He was well respected; well remembered.

John Stokes died April, 1939. Source: The Miami Herald, via GenealogyBank.com

 

And we know what happened to Emmett.

Death Came As He Slept

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Here’s another fantastic find whilst conducting the every-other-month database sweep:

Source: Miami Herald, August 21, 1938, via GenealogyBank.com

Great details in this article — first, based on some other clips that I’ve found around this date, Walter was working and politically active up until the end, so there may not have been any clue anything was amiss. (I’m still looking for the actual cause of death.)

Second, the residence, 928 Bird Road, still exists. It’s an apartment four-plex, built in 1926. It may have been converted to apartments later.

Third, great details about the funeral and service. Most interesting: Walter, who was born and raised Catholic, had a Presbyterian service.

Finally, in the list of honorary pall bearers, there’s John P. Stokes, Sr., an old political/legal frenemy, and Judge Worth Trammell.

Source: The Pensacola Journal, February 27, 1910 from ChroniclingAmerica.gov

Walter was a man who made and kept friends, despite political and professional differences — a great quality, one which seems to be missing in the political scene these days.