John Wesley Emerson

Last updated
John Wesley Emerson
JW Emerson.png
John Wesley Emerson was a Lawyer, Civil War Major, Company Founder, and Author/ Historian.
Nickname(s)J.W.
BornJuly 26, 1832
Pepperell, Massachusetts
DiedJune 20, 1899
Ironton, Missouri
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch Union Army
Years of service3
Rank Major
Unit 47th Missouri Volunteer Infantry
Commands held 47th Missouri Volunteer Infantry
Battles/warsBattle of Pilot Knob
Awards Purple Heart (2)
Alma mater University of Michigan
Other workLawyer, Company Founder, Historian

John Wesley Emerson (also known as J. W. Emerson) (1832-1899) was an American lawyer, American Civil War commander, Missouri Circuit Court judge, and the founder and principal investor of the Emerson Electric Company.

Contents

Early life

Emerson was born to William and Rosannah Ellen (Young) Emerson on July 26, 1832, in Pepperell, Massachusetts.

He attended Iron City College in Pennsylvania, and later graduated from the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He studied law under William M. Moffatt, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania attorney, and was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1857. He practiced law in Ironton, Missouri for the remainder of his life.

On September 12, 1855, Emerson married Sarah Maria Young, in Oswego, New York. Sarah was descended from the Young and Elsworth families of Revolutionary war fame.

Military service

He was a volunteer aide (without rank or commission) on the staff of William "Bull" Nelson at the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky in 1862, where he was reportedly wounded.

In 1863, he was commissioned by Missouri Governor Hamilton R. Gamble. He was given the rank of colonel in the 68th Enrolled Missouri Militia, which was subsequently disbanded.

In 1864, he enlisted in the 47th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. His initial rank was Private. Soon he was commissioned major of the regiment.

Detachments of the 47th Missouri were involved in the Battle of Pilot Knob in September 1864. In October, he was tasked by General Rosecrans to reopen the Iron Mountain Railroad from St. Louis, Missouri to Pilot Knob. In this mission he was again wounded in battle.

In December 1864 Emerson's regiment was ordered to assist General George Thomas, at Nashville, Tennessee. His regiment pursued General Hood as far as Alabama, capturing more than 1000 prisoners. Emerson was in command of the regiment through the end of the war.

After the war

Emerson resumed his law practice at Ironton, and was appointed to the Judgeship of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court, which he eventually resigned. After leaving the bench, he was appointed by President Grover Cleveland to the United States Marshall for the Eastern District of Missouri. He served in this capacity for four years.

Emerson Electric Company

In 1890, Emerson met two Scottish orphans, Alexander and Charles Meston, who wanted to manufacture electrical and mechanical devices. He provided $50,000 start-up capital and lent his name to a new corporation creating the "Emerson Electric Manufacturing Company", and served as the company's first President from 1890 to 1892.

In 1892, Emerson retired, selling his interest in Emerson Electric to Herbert L. Parker, a former railroad executive.

Later life

Emerson became a Civil War historian. He joined the Missouri Commandery of Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and wrote a history of General Grant's campaign in the Mississippi Valley.

Emerson died on June 20, 1899, in Ironton, Missouri. His gravesite is in Star of the West Masonic Cemetery on Russellville Road in Ironton, Missouri.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisha Hunt Rhodes</span> Union Army general

Elisha Hunt Rhodes was an American soldier who served in the Union Army of the Potomac for the entire duration of the American Civil War, rising from corporal to colonel of his regiment by war's end. Rhodes' illustrative diary of his war service was quoted prominently in Ken Burns's 1990 PBS documentary series The Civil War, read by Chris Murney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loyd Wheaton</span> United States Army general

Loyd Wheaton was a United States general who fought in the Philippine–American War and in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or, simply, the Loyal Legion, is a United States military order organized on April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Union Army. The original membership was composed of commissioned officers of the Regular or Volunteer Army, U.S. Navy, or U.S. Marine Corps who served during the American Civil War, or who had served and thereafter been commissioned and who thereby "had aided in maintaining the honor, integrity, and supremacy of the national movement" during the Civil War.

The Battle of Fort Davidson, also known as the Battle of Pilot Knob, was a battle of Price's Missouri Expedition fought on September 27, 1864, near Pilot Knob, Missouri. Confederate troops under the command of Major-General Sterling Price had entered Missouri in September 1864 with hopes of challenging Union control of the state. On September 24, Price learned that Union troops held Pilot Knob. Two days later, he sent part of his command north to disrupt and then moved towards Pilot Knob with the rest of his army. The Confederate divisions of Major-General James Fagan and Brigadier-General John Marmaduke drove Union troops under Brigadier-General Thomas Ewing and Major James Wilson from the lower Arcadia Valley into Fort Davidson on September 26 and on the morning of September 27.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry A. du Pont</span> Union Army officer, United States Army Medal of Honor recipient, politician

Henry Algernon du Pont was an American military officer, businessman, and politician from Delaware. A member of the du Pont family, he graduated first in his class from West Point shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War and served in the U.S. Army, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Cedar Creek in October 1864.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Henry Patterson (Medal of Honor)</span> American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient

John Henry Patterson was a Union officer during the American Civil War and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for courage under fire at the Battle of the Wilderness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Baldwin</span> US Army general and Medal of Honor recipient

Frank Dwight Baldwin, a resident of Constantine, Michigan, and born in Manchester, Michigan, is one of only 19 servicemen to receive the Medal of Honor twice. Baldwin received his first award for his actions during the Atlanta Campaign where he led his company in battle at Peachtree Creek and captured two commissioned officers in the American Civil War. He received his second for conspicuous bravery in 1874 during the Indian Wars. Baldwin holds the distinction of being a recipient of the Medal of Honor in different conflicts. He also fought in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War and rose to the rank of major general before retiring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufus Dawes</span> American congressman and Union Army Officer

Rufus R. Dawes was a military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He used the middle initial "R" but had no middle name. He was noted for his service in the famed Iron Brigade, particularly during the Battle of Gettysburg. He was a post-war businessman, Congressman, and author, and the father of four nationally known sons, one of whom, Charles G. Dawes, won the Nobel Peace Prize and served as Vice President of the United States, and of two daughters. He was himself a great-grandson of William Dawes, who alerted colonial minutemen of the approach of the British Army prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the outset of the American Revolution, and a maternal great-grandson of the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, who was instrumental in adoption of the Northwest ordinance of 1787, led the formation of the Ohio Company of Associates, and became "Father of Ohio University".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Clement Fletcher</span> Governor of Missouri (1865–1869)

Thomas Clement Fletcher was the 18th Governor of Missouri during the latter stages of the American Civil War and the early part of Reconstruction. He was the first Missouri governor to be born in the state. The Thomas C. Fletcher House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Thomas (Medal of Honor)</span> American Medal of Honor recipient and politician

Stephen Thomas, manufacturer, politician, jurist, and Union Army officer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for gallantry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John P. S. Gobin</span> American politician

John Peter Shindel Gobin was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War, as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 17th district from 1885 to 1898 and as the seventh lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil Clay</span> US Army general and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient (1842–1903)

Cecil Clay was captain of Company K in the 58th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He performed gallantly while wounded, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions during the assault and capture of Fort Harrison, Virginia in the Confederate defenses of Richmond, Virginia, on September 29, 1864. He was later chief clerk of the United States Department of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard W. Johnson</span>

Richard Woodhouse Johnson was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George K. Brady</span> American politician

George Keyports Brady was an officer in the United States Army who served as the second commander of the Department of Alaska, from September 1, 1870, to September 22, 1870.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska Territory in the American Civil War</span>

The present-day state of Nebraska was still a territory of the United States during the American Civil War. It did not achieve statehood until March 1867, two years after the war ended. Nevertheless, the Nebraska Territory contributed significantly to the Union war effort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James S. Casey</span>

James Seaman Casey was a US Army officer who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Indian Wars. He was born in Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus B. R. Sprague</span>

Augustus Brown Reed Sprague was an American businessman, politician, and military figure who served as the mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts, the sheriff of Worcester County, Massachusetts, and as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War.

Captain William Parkinson Wright was a veteran of the American Civil War. He was an officer in the 156th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the war. He was the 25th commander-in-chief, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) (1931–1933) and the 66th commander-in-chief, Grand Army of the Republic (1932–1933).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus P. Davis</span>

Brevet Major Augustus Plummer Davis was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He is best known as the founder of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mason Loomis</span> American lumber tycoon

John Mason Loomis was a nineteenth-century American businessman and lumber tycoon from Chicago who was known for developing the city of Ludington, Michigan. He was involved with the Pere Marquette Lumber Company, which also operated salt distilleries that in turn influenced the salt industry of northern Michigan. The village of Pere Marquette benefited from these local industries and developed into the city Ludington.

References