Background
He was born in Hardwick, Vermont, on December 19, 1898, and moved to Barton, Vermont, at the age of 16.
He was born in Hardwick, Vermont, on December 19, 1898, and moved to Barton, Vermont, at the age of 16.
He graduated from Barton Academy in 1917, and served in the United States Army during World War I as a member of the Students" Army Training Corps.
Emerson received an Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University in 1921 and a Bachelor of Laws from George Washington University Law School in 1926. He practiced law in Barton. He was elected as a Republican to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1938 and served two terms.
He was elected Speaker of the House in his second term, serving from 1941 to 1943.
He was elected to the Vermont Senate in 1942, served from 1943 to 1945, and was elected President Pro Tempore. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Vermont in 1944 and 1946, serving from 1945 to 1949.
Emerson"s fellow conservative Harold J. Arthur succeeded Emerson as Lieutenant Governor. When Arthur unexpectedly became governor in 1950 after Gibson resigned to accept a federal judgeship, Arthur served out Gibson"s term but declined to run for a full term himself, clearing the way for Emerson"s comeback.
Emerson was elected Governor in 1950 and reelected in 1952, serving from 1951 to 1955.
As Governor, he recommended that Vermont citizens serving in the Korean War be paid a bonus by the state. He supported studies of the feasibility of building a natural gas pipeline for Vermont and of possible racial discrimination in the state. Also during his administration, legislation known as the Forest Acting was passed, providing assistance for municipalities to establish forests.
Emerson also played a role in "The Novikoff Affair," in which a tenured University of Vermont professor Alex B. Novikoff was dismissed for alleged Communist sympathies that were never substantiated.
In 1958, he ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate, losing the Republican nomination to Winston Prouty. In 1960 Emerson was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Vermont"s lone seat in the United States House of Representatives, losing to incumbent Governor Robert T. Stafford.
Stafford went on to victory in the general election, defeating one term incumbent William H. Meyer, the first Democrat elected statewide in more than 100 years. (Myer had defeated Harold Arthur in the 1958 general election for the United States House seat)
Emerson married Dorcas M. Ball on August 4, 1927.
They had two children, Nancy and Cynthia.
He died in Berlin, Vermont, on May 26, 1976. He is buried in Barton.
God never intended nor desired for a single person to go to Hell. Sin caused a separation between God and man, and that Jesus’ death on the cross is the only bridge to cross from death to life. This bridge, however, is accessible by anyone at anytime.
God seeks to transform relationship with and between people. If politics is about how we choose to live together and to treat one another, there is surely a place for discerning the activity of God in politics.
Some personalities are difficult to manage, especially if they are prone to despair. Do not give up on a search of the paths of God, and the sense of joy and assurances you are looking for will be received.