Readers, imagine my great surprise to find this item in my comb-through of the 1915 Pensacola Journal today: Naval aviation had only just been established at Pensacola as an attempt to re-open the base (which was closed during President Taft’s administration); hell, human aviation had only just been established a […]
One of the best parts about Emmett’s research trip was a visit to Chipley, Florida. This is where Emmett lived from about 1884 to 1900. The US Census (dated April, 1900) reveals Emmett was enumerated in his father’s household, but that summer, Emmett moved to Marianna, where he studied law […]
Readers, imagine you are Emmett Wilson, seated in the VIP viewing stand with others of similar importance, at the 1915 Pensacola Mardi Gras parade. All is well; suddenly, the following float drifts by, and pauses in front of the viewing stand: Yes, people, someone actually designed and built a FLOAT […]
Friends, today’s entry is about family. Although my relationship to Emmett is distant — in fact, I’m Emmett’s 15th cousin — our common relative can be proven and shown in genealogical records. Our common ancestor, actually, is William Sinclair, First Earl of Caithness (circa 1405-1480); he had several daughters. My […]
Readers, one thing I’ve always wondered about as I dig through Emmett’s life is the people he chose as advisers; then, the people he chose as managers as his campaign took off. Who were these people, and why did Emmett think he could trust his career to their advice? After […]
Readers, now that I’m back from the research trip to Pensacola, I can catch up on what I saw. I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the buildings where Emmett lived and worked still exist, and are in good repair. This photo (right) of downtown Pensacola from 1910 […]
Friends, I made it back to Washington, DC from Chipley, Florida in one day — I drove 15.5 hours to do it. I don’t recommend it; however, I do like road trips and because it is Memorial Day weekend, I didn’t want to spend several days on the road along […]
I’m headed out this morning for the trip back to Washington. There is a lot of new and interesting info to share about my look into Emmett’s world as it was. It has been a great trip. I should be back for another update tomorrow.
About two weeks before I made the trip to Pensacola, there was a hurricane-strength storm that blew through and created all kinds of damage. Buildings were flooded and roads were washed out. There are still a number of repairs going on around the city. There is a lot of storm-related […]
Readers, I knew a while back when planning this research trip that the first thing I would do when I got to Pensacola was to visit St. John’s Cemetery and to pay a call, in person, on Emmett. I wasn’t sure what I’d find. But, that’s OK. In my grand […]
Tell my story. 