David B. Emmert1

b. 1 August 1836, d. 10 June 1884
Margaret (Moffett) and David Emmert shortly after their marriage (cropped)
photo courtesy Laura Seielstadt
FatherDavid Emmert1 b. 1804, d. Sep 1857
MotherSusan Price1 b. 5 Dec 1807, d. 8 Jul 1888
Birth1 Aug 1836 David B. Emmert was born on 1 Aug 1836 in Pennsylvania. 
Migration  David's family left Pennsylvania when David was still a young child and settled in Carroll County, Illinois.2 
Migration1860  However, on reaching adulthood David headed west to the Kansas Territory where in 1860 he settled in the community of Auburn in Shawnee County. Auburn was just outside of Topeka, which became the state capital when Kansas was admitted to the Union on Jan. 29, 1861. David quickly became involved in the politics and business of the new state. He published a paper known as the the Auburn Docket. It ran for one year.3,4 
1861  David then moved to Marmaton in Bourbon County from where he served in 1861 as the clerk of the first Kansas State House of Representatives. He also published a newspaper in Marmaton, which he titled the Monitor.3,5 
  Not long before his marriage, David moved his newspaper a few miles east to Ft. Scott and renamed it the Union Monitor. The Dec. 3, 1863 edition included a business directory on page 1. D.B. Emmert was listed as the clerk of the Bourbon Co. District Court, as well as a "land and collecting agent". His offices were in the Union Monitor office on Bigler Street in Ft. Scott.6,7 
Marriage29 Dec 1863 He married Margaret Davis Moffett, daughter of Garner Moffett and Mary Jane Beaty Davis, on 29 Dec 1863 in Carroll County, Illinois.8,9 
  David and Margaret returned to Kansas following their wedding and David returned to the world of frontier politics and newspaper publishing. His newspaper underwent another name change in 1864, becoming the Daily Monitor. David served sporatically as the editor for several years.6 
  David served as chief clerk of the Kansas State House of Representatives in 1865 and then, at the age of about 30, was elected to the state senate representing the 14th district (Bourbon and Cherokee Counties). During this time the family's primary residence remained in Ft. Scott. In early 1865 Maggie, writing from Ft. Scott, noted that David had been in Topeka for several weeks and she was very lonely without him.3,10 
Occupationbetween 1867 and 1871  In April 1867 David began a term as the receiver at the Humboldt land office which was located in Allen County, Kansas. He served through the fall of 1871.3 
Cens-18702 Aug 1870  In 1870 David and Margaret were enumerated in Humboldt. The couple's first child, a son named Elmer, was also recorded. David reported that he owned land worth $6,000. The household included a servant.11 
1874  Following his years with the land office, David returned to politics; in 1874 he served as the assistant secretary of the state senate.3 
Cens-State1 Mar 1875  Apparently this time Maggie and the children also moved to Topeka, or at least were present in March 1875 when the Kansas state census was enumerated.12 
Cens-18803 Jun 1880  However by 1880 David was again employed by the U.S. Land Office, this time as a clerk in the offices in Wichita. He and Margaret were also by then the parents of 4 sons: Elmer, Charles, Robert and Percy [who was born in Wichita in Jan. 1877].13 
  While in Wichita David also put his publishing experience to work by organizing the first city directory. Printed in 1878 it was titled Wichita City Directory and Immigrant's Guide, Containing...Historical Sketches of City and County, Synopsis of Land Laws, and Laws of Kansas.14 
Migrationcirca 1881  David lived in Kansas from the time of statehood (Jan. 1861) until about 1881. By then, perhaps in search of new frontiers, he packed up his wife and 4 sons and moved to Albuerque in what was then the New Mexico Territory. 
Death10 Jun 1884 David died on 10 Jun 1884 in Albuquerque following a short illness. He was 47.1 
Burial Although David was buried in New Mexico, he was remembered on a memorial marker in Oak Hill Cemetery that also bears Margaret's name.15 

Related Links and Images:

Emmert markers at Oak Hill Cemetery in Carroll County. The large stone bears both Margaret and David's names and notes that he is buried at Albuquerque, New Mexico
Find Oak Hill Cemetery on the Carroll County map (also accessible via the Misc. Locations link in the menu bar at the top of any page).

Family

Margaret Davis Moffett b. 21 Dec 1838, d. 7 Dec 1911
Children
  • Elmer Stover Emmert16 (18 May 1868 - )
  • Charles Frederick Emmert16 (21 May 1872 - 18 Jan 1936)
  • Robert Garner Emmert16 (21 Oct 1873 - 25 May 1929)
  • Percival Redfield "P.R." Emmert16 (1 Jan 1877 - 26 Sep 1951)
Last Edited2 May 2011

Citations

  1. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", loose paper 6 (believed to be in the handwriting of Margaret Moffett Emmert Ludwick).
  2. [S1029] David Emert household, 1850 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Mt. Carroll, p. following p. 354 stamped, dwelling 6, family 6, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Jul 2008, image 2 of 11. Household includes: David Emert, 46, farmer, owns land val at $9,000, b. MD; Susan, 43, b. PA; Simon, 21, farmer, b. MD; John, 19, b. PA; Ann P., 16, b. PA; David, 14, b. MD; Thomas, 11, b. IL; Joseph, 9, b. IL; Susan P., 6, b. IL; Wm, 3, b. IL; David __, 26, teamster, b. PA; Thomas Myers, 27, engineer, b. PA; Ancestry.com indexed this family as Ernest.
  3. [S2081] Teresa Lindquist, "Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1911-1912 , Geo W. Martin, ed, Vol XII, State Printing Office, Topeka, KS, 1912", Shawnee County, Kansas Genweb Project Archives (http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/shawnee/library/KSHSvol12/… : Jul 2008), author notes that information on David was originally found on p. 449 of a section titled "Lost Towns of Bourbon County."
  4. [S2084] David B. Emmet household, 1860 U.S. census, Shawnee Co., Kansas Territory, pop. sched., Auburn, p. 42, dwelling 376, family 357, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Jul 2008, image 6 of 15. Household includes: David B. Emmet, 24, editor, b. IL; Oscar Edward, 26, printer, b. IL; Hattiet Brighan, 30, school teacher, b. Mass.
  5. [S2086] "Marmaton", transcription by Carolyn Ward, Frank Blackmar, Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history (Chicago: Standard Pub. Co., 1912) Kansas State Library, Blue Skyways (http://www.skyways.org/genweb/archives/1912/m/marmaton.html : viewed Jul 2008). Marmaton was originally established in 1858 6 miles west of Ft. Scott. On Oct. 22, 1864 it was sacked and burned by part of Price's army during his raid through Kansas. Later the town was rebuilt closer to the railroad.
  6. [S2082] "Bourbon County", transcription, First Biennial Report of the State Board of Agriculture to the Legislature of the State of Kansas, for the Years 1877-8 Kansas State Library, Blue Skyways (http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1878/bourbon.shtml : viewed Aug. 2008).
  7. [S2085] Business Directory from the Bourbon Co. Union Monitor, Dec. 3, 1863, Kansas State Library, Blue Skyways (http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/bourbon/biography/… : viewed Aug. 2008).
  8. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 21.
  9. [S1051] "Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900", Illinois State Archives (http://www.sos.state.il.us/GenealogyMWeb/marrsrch.html). Index as viewed in May 2005 states: David M. Emmert and Maddie D. Moffett marr 12/29/1863 in Carroll Co., citing OMR, p. 141.
  10. [S1060] Laura Seielstad, "Emmert boys birth places," e-mail to Diana Powell, 22 Jul 2008.
  11. [S1061] D.B. Emert household, 1870 U.S. census, Allen Co., Iowa, pop. sched., Humboldt, p. 47 (B) typed, dwelling 36, family 38, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 27 of 52. Enumeration reports: D.B. Emert, 33, receiver at U.S. Land office, owns land worth $6,000, b. PA; Maggie D., 30, keeping house, b. IL; Elmer, 2, son, b. KS; James Brown, black, 19, servant, b. MO.
  12. [S2083] D.B. Emmert household, 1875 Kansas State census, Shawnee County, population schedule, Topeka, page unclear, viewed online at Ancestry.com. Jul 2008, image 44 of 140. Household includes: D.B. Emmert, 37, clerk, b. PA, came to KS from IL; M.D. Emmert, 35, b. PA, came to KS from IL; A. Emmert, 7, b. KS; C. Emmert, 3, b. KS; R. Emmert, 1, b. KS; S. [or L.] Culbertson, 45, male, b. Ireland, came to kS from IL; M. Osten, 16, female, b. MO.
  13. [S1062] David B. Emmert household, 1880 U.S. cens., Sedgwick Co., Kansas, pop sched., Wichita, ED 213, page 253A (stamped), dwelling 97, family 105, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 9 of 28. Enumeration reports: David B. Emmert, 41, clerk in US Land Office, b. PA; Maggie D., 41, wife; Elmer S., son, 12, clerks in store, attends school; Charles F., son, 8; Robbert G., 6; Percy R., 3; all children b. KS; Carrie Wolfe, 21, servant, b. PA.
  14. [S1060] Laura Seielstad, "David Emmert," e-mail to Diana Powell, 25 June 2008.
  15. [S1050] Carroll County Genealogical Society, Carroll County, Illinois Tombstone Inscriptions Vol. 2, p. 54.
  16. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 27.