Yep, it’s Saturday in September, so that means it’s college football day! My alma mater was Mississippi State University. MSU has never really had what I’d call an exceptional football team or program, and has not made it to the top of the NCAA heap, but it certainly hasn’t been […]
I believe that everyone deserves the occasional mulligan. Because second chances are rare, if you’re smart, you use that opportunity to your best advantage. That’s what happened with Emmett when he was about 20 years old, and had basically flunked out of West Florida Seminary (what is now Florida State […]
Readers, I had been planning another trip to Pensacola to get information on Emmett’s career as an attorney, District Attorney, and State Attorney during 1906-09. However, that second trip may be delayed. I found this today: Uh oh. I’ve kvetched about hitting roadblocks before, but this barrier is a significant […]
The blogger Michael Segal asks an interesting question: Is ambition an addiction worth having? As some of you know from a few earlier posts, Emmett Wilson essentially drank himself to death at age 35 on May 29, 1918. Behind the drinking, I think, was another addiction: Ambition. Part of a […]
This last week I’ve been tracking down an elusive document in Emmett Wilson’s research; specifically, a copy of a eulogy given for him at the annual Elk’s Lodge memorial service, held on December 2, 1918. It’s obscure, folks. So what else is new? LOL! All these obscure leads I’ve been […]
Readers, one thing I’ve noticed in doing Emmett’s research is that back in the early 1900s, if your lifestyle or behavior was even the least little bit out of the ordinary, you can be sure that it would at least make it into the local newspapers. Nowadays, for instance, our […]
In my research, I’ve seen Emmett described a lot of ways, but I have to admit, when I first saw the adjective ‘clubman,’ my reaction wasn’t positive. Let me add that I didn’t have my reading glasses on at the time and so, initially, thought it said ‘caveman.’ On second […]
Readers, one thing I have learned in doing Emmett’s research is that the Progressive Movement in which Emmett was an active participant, wasn’t ‘progressive’ in terms of racial or gender equality. For example, today, I found this item about Emmett invited to speak at a meeting for the National Democratic […]
Gang, today’s research has me tracking down whether or not Emmett attended the the 1916 Democratic National Convention, which was held in St. Louis, Missouri from June 14-16. According to an article in the June 5, 1916 edition of The Pensacola Journal, he may have attended, since there wasn’t much […]
In celebration of the solstice, I thought it would be interesting to look at summer in Emmett’s time. First, a look at a typical weather report for Pensacola. The weather report (right) for June 22, 1909, shows an average-looking weather report. Nothing is dramatically different than what one would see […]
Tell my story. 