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 […]
January 18, 1906Van Sant & WilsonSterling, Illinois The clock in the outer office chimed 8 pm. I had been reading the newspapers in the package from home for almost two hours. I admit it; I was homesick and lonely. I devoured everything in all of the newspapers from Pensacola, Marianna, […]
Wednesday, January 3, 1906Sterling, Illinois It was breathtaking, the snow, all blinding white, crisp, clean, cold. White fluffy drifts and dunes everywhere. I felt light hearted. “This is wonderful,” I said to Sydney Anning, as I looked around at the blinding whiteness that was everywhere. There had been a fresh […]
November 2, 1905The U.S. House of RepresentativesOffice of Congressman William Bailey LamarWashington, D.C. “Come on, Emmett,” Paul said, smiling at me, holding open the door to the House Chamber. I felt the hairs along my arms stand up as I walked through the door; I gaped. “Desks?” I said, turning […]
The date? March 3, 1908, the day after Mardi Gras. The place? The private dining room in the The Osceola Club, Pensacola, Florida The occasion/connection? Good question. This is another oddball jigsaw puzzle in the life of Emmett Wilson that I like to work out. Not to sound disparaging of anyone sitting around […]
Emmett’s best friend, Paul Carter, was the original valedictorian of the Stetson University Law School Class of 1904. But fate — a job opportunity as private secretary to U.S. Congressman William Bailey Lamar — intervened. It was the opportunity of a lifetime for a smart, ambitious 23-year-old not even out […]
Last time I checked, I realized that I’ve collected over 500 individual newspaper articles about Emmett Wilson. That’s pretty good, considering that when I started this project, I didn’t expect to find more than a few dozen, given his obscurity in Florida politics. Granted, most of these newspaper articles aren’t […]
The Internet says today is National Puppy Day, and with that, I give you a little story about a dog in Emmett’s life, named Grits. While Emmett attended Stetson University from 1902 to 1904, it turns out that he had group ownership of a yellow Labrador Retriever/pit bull terrier mix. […]
There’s Wilson family lore about a silver pocket watch that’s I’d love to prove. I don’t know what it looked like, other than it was smooth, silver, and had Emmett’s grandfather’s initials engraved on it — AEM — for Augustus Emmett Maxwell. It probably had a chain, and maybe a […]
Tell my story. 