June 27, 1912Hotel CaswellBaltimore, Maryland Walter KehoeKehoe and Wilson700-702 American National Bank BuildingPensacola, Florida Dear Walter: It’s about 2 am here in Baltimore, and I finally have a few moments to write you. I don’t know how much I’ll get down on paper; and yet, members of our delegation are […]
January 10, 2023Chevy Chase, Maryland In 2023, if you think about it, it’s not a big deal planning a trip of about 1,000 miles, compared to travel in Emmett’s day. We have several options, depending on affordability and/or travel time requirements. If a trip is more than six hours, say, […]
June 20, 1912Aboard the L&R trainEn route to Petersburg, Virginia This is the first time since the primary that I have extended time to myself, and I’m savoring it. It has been nonstop since the election — not a day has gone by that I could sit for an hour […]
December 14, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland After Emmett won the primary, the summer of 1912 was a cakewalk. All Emmett had to do, pretty much, was keep up the image cultivated by Frank Mayes and the rest of the Florida Democratic Party leadership: Be positive, stay out of trouble, say nothing […]
November 10, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Emmett Wilson, Congressman-Elect to U.S. Congress, was likely feeling no pain on Wednesday, May 15, 1912. Here’s why: From the Wednesday, May 15, 1912 edition of The Pensacola Journal, page 1. Source: ChroniclingAmerica.gov When Dannitte Mays telegraphed Frank Mayes about his decision to withdraw from […]
October 10, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland On Friday, May 11, 1912, both candidates for the second primary, Emmett Wilson and Dannite Mays, were in Apalachicola for the Florida Democratic Executive Committee meeting. The purpose of the meeting: To confirm the final votes across the district, and to name the two candidates […]
May 9, 1912Pensacola, Florida And so, the race begins again. Three weeks of nonstop activity. Live speeches in fourteen counties. It will be the most compressed, pressured project ever undertaken, and I cannot let on how damned tired I am, nor how my stomach turns over in knots whenever I […]
October 3, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Second primaries, also known as runoff primary elections, were conducted in Florida until 2005, when Governor Jeb Bush signed a bill eliminating the second primary. The reasons for discontinuing them came down to timing and cost of conducting a third contest in an election year. […]
September 1, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Here’s an interesting article about Emmett Wilson’s final speech to the public as he was winding up the Congressional campaign. I’ve transcribed the text from the newspaper, and have included annotations/notes here and there for additional information, in brackets. I liked how the writer (unnamed) […]
August 9, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland At this time in Florida politics, it was customary to hold two primaries for the top two Democratic contestants, even if the races weren’t all that close, which would be decided in late June of the election year. The winner would face the Republican nominee […]
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