July 20, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland When the mail arrived to Emmett’s office (or, the John Kehoe house where he boarded, depending on where he preferred to receive his mail), I wonder what he thought when he unrolled his alumni copy of the Stetson Weekly Collegiate. This was what Emmett saw […]
June 5, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland Knowing what I know about Emmett’s life, it’s ironic (or maybe, a kind-of foreshadowing) that Emmett moved to Pensacola, Florida, on September 26, 1906, merely one day ahead of one of the most devastating hurricanes in history to hit the Florida Panhandle. I suppose he […]
This application, guys — look at what it does for Emmett’s photo:
May 18, 1906Sterling State BankSterling, Illinois Business was as usual in the pleasant, expensively equipped, and spacious lobby of the State Bank of Sterling, on the corner of Locust and East Third Street. The bright sun streamed through the large plate glass windows of the bank. The lobby was largely […]
March 14, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland At this point in Emmett’s story, he’s been in Illinois three months. Although he’s been Nick Van Sant’s law partner since January 1, 1906, Emmett wasn’t able to ‘practice law’ until he had passed the Illinois state bar examination in February, 1906. That doesn’t mean […]
January 18, 1906Van Sant & WilsonSterling, Illinois … I must admit it. The trip to Morrison didn’t go well at all. The entire train ride home, I tried to be philosophical about it. I’m still new here. I don’t know everyone here. It is going to take more than one […]
January 9, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland Full disclosure: I don’t know for sure if Lila Delp was the stenographer/secretary for Van Sant & Wilson; but, she might have been. She certainly has an interesting back story that would fit the timeline and circumstances around Emmett’s time in Sterling. When I researched […]
May 1, 2015Chevy Chase, Maryland I’ve been reading microfilm for hours. My eyes are dry. But what a freaking goldmine. Not only am I finding long-missing information about Emmett Wilson’s wherabouts during 1905 and 1906, there is a ton of contextual information about Nicholas Van Sant, Emmett’s roommates at his […]
April 30, 2015Chevy Chase, Maryland Apparently Emmett’s visit and interview with Nicholas Van Sant, which took place sometime during the last week of October, 1905, was successful: In the spirit of transparency, I have no idea what kind of conversation went on between Emmett and Nicholas Van Sant during their […]
March 26, 2015Chevy Chase, Maryland Back in the mid-1980’s, when I was a year or so out of journalism school with some experience writing for daily newspapers under my belt, I got the itch to move on to a bigger newspaper market, with a more interesting beat, and more exciting […]
Tell my story. 