September 29, 2019Chevy Chase, Maryland Two things concern me about this stage in Emmett’s story, three years before he ran for office as U.S. Congressman. First, in 1908, Emmett was drinking alcoholically. I believe he knew (and his family/friends knew) he either drank more and/or could not handle alcohol as […]
September 11, 2020Chevy Chase, MD I suppose Emmett could be considered lucky — in his life, he had at least three mentors looking out for him, shepherding him during his career, impressed by Emmett’s intelligence and potential. Emmett had a lot of potential, energy, charm, and those who know him […]
April 29, 1905Marianna, Florida6:10 p.m. The footsteps pounded the hallway; my office door swung wide open; reflexively, I stood. “Emmett!” Walter Kehoe, who’d broken away from Cephas and the other gentleman, leaving them to talk in the hallway. He comes around to my side of the desk, and clasps my […]
I admit I spewed a bit of coffee this morning when I saw this new-to-me clip freshly found in the January 3, 1917 edition of The Pensacola Journal: “Mrs. Emmett Wilson?” GAH. I turned immediately to all of my known and collected documents — and breathed a huge sigh of […]
What’s the first thing most folks would do in an emergency, if you had to let family members know that you were injured in an accident, or seriously ill? You’d call them. And, more likely than not, you’d probably connect with them almost immediately. Thanks to the miracle of modern […]
I like to check on my favorite databases every six or eight weeks, so as not to miss any updates. And — SCORE! — the excellent Chronicling America newspaper database (of the Library of Congress) had added several years of The Pensacola Journal since my last visit! And what an […]
Friends, today I made a random check of historic newspaper databases, and I found a set that has been recently added to the University of Florida George A. Smathers Library Archive. This one: A totally new-to-me source that I haven’t seen either in microfilm or in hard copy to date. […]
In the early 1900s, if you got your name in the newspaper, it was a big deal. It indicated prominence in your community. If you think about it, the community news blurb columns were a sort-of equivalent to our Facebook. In Pensacola, these columns were mostly found in the Society […]
One thing that stands out to me in getting to know Emmett’s closest friends is that his inner circle was consistent and remained close to him all his life. Emmett’s true inner circle were: Walter Kehoe, Big Brother Cephas, Paul Carter. Emmett wasn’t a snob. He seemed to make friends […]
In the past week, I’ve come across what I consider the turning point, the downward slide, in Emmett’s career and life. It’s October, 1914. Up until this point, Emmett was the Golden Boy of West Florida, he was getting appropriations for his constituency, he was serving on important committees, he […]
Tell my story. 