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MORRIS EMMERSON, editor and publisher of the Mt. Vernon Daily Register of Mt. Vernon, ILL., was born in Edwards County, this state, June 7, 1853. His father, Jesse Emmerson, was born in Indiana in 1813, and with his parents removed to Edwards County, ILL., in 1817, where he spent the greater part of his life. He was a prominent and influential citizen of that community, and served for several terms as County Sheriff and County Clerk, and as Collector for twenty years. His death occurred in Albion, ILL., in 1891, at the age of seventy-eight. His father, the grandfather of our subject, was Allen Emmerson. He was a native of Kentucky and was of English descent. He became a Christian preacher and built the first church of that faith in Illinois, on his farm near Albion, in 1818. He served as Associate Judge and County Judge, and was one of the leading citizens of the community. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Samantha Sperry. She was born in Connecticut, came west in 1840, and died in 1856. Morris Emmerson was then a child of only three years, and the eldest of three brothers. Charles is now living in Albion, where for seventeen years he has filled the office of County Clerk or Deputy. L. L. Emmerson is now in the furniture business in Mt. Vernon, and was a member of the last City Council. Our subject was reared in Albion, and after completing his literary education in its high school attended Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College of St. Louis. In 1869, he entered the employ of Churchill & Dalby, merchants and pork packers of Albion, as a bookkeeper and continued with that firm until 1875, when he went to Red Oak, Iowa, where he served as bookkeeper for a hardware firm and for the Valley National Bank. A year later he returned to Illinois, and was employed as clerk in a store in Fairfield until September, 1876, when he purchased an interest in the Albion Journal, the official Republican paper of Edwards County. Later he became sole proprietor of that paper and continued its publication until 1884. In 1878, Mr. Emmerson was united in marriage with Miss Ida Harris, daughter of George Harris, of the dry-goods house of Harris Bros., of Albion. Four children were bom to them, Annie, aged fifteen; Raymond, aged twelve; George Harris, ten years of age, and Ethel, a little maiden of seven summers. On selling his paper in Albion, Mr. Emmerson came to Mt. Vernon and purchased what was known as the Exponent, a Republican sheet, the name of which he at once changed to Register. As there was a growing demand for a daily Republican paper, he determined to keep abreast with the times and give the people what they wanted, so established the Daily Register in December, 1892. The same year he built his fine office, a two-story brick block, the entire second floor being devoted to the publishing business. By strict and close attention to his business interests by good management he has made the Register one of the leading papers in southern Illinois. It is a well edited family paper and well deserves the liberal patronage which it receives. Mr. Emmerson is a progressive man, and is also connected with other enterprises. He is Secretary of the Mt. Vernon Building and Loan Association, an institution which has done much toward making this place one of the finest cities in southern Illinois, and is a stockholder and director in the Mt. Vernon Car Works. Socially, he is connected with the Royal Arch Masons and is a prominent member of the fraternity.
Source: "Portrait and Biographical Record Clinton, Washington, Marion and Jefferson Counties, Illinois" |
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