Edwin Emerson Jr.

Edwin Emerson Jr., American spy in 19th century Puerto Rico

Edwin Emerson Jr. (January 23, 1869 - October 3, 1959) was a noted German-born American journalist and war correspondent. His father Edwin Emerson Sr (1823-1908) was a literature professor, poet and photographer and his mother Mary Louisa Ingham (1829-1883) was the daughter of former Secretary of the Treasury, Samuel Delucenna and Deborah (Hall) Ingham. The family has six children (Harrington, Edwin Jr., Alfred, George, Samuel, and Margaret). Born in Dresden, Germany, Emerson graduated from Harvard University in 1891. He worked as a correspondent for the "Boston Post," the "New York Evening Post," and other periodicals. During the Spanish-American War, Emerson worked as a spy in Puerto Rico and joined the Rough Riders, serving as regimental clerk to Theodore Roosevelt.

Emerson covered the Russo-Japanese War on the Russian side and was taken prisoner by Japanese forces until he was released by US authorities. In World War I, he wrote dispatches from the German side of the conflict. Emerson established the Society of American Friends of Germany in 1933, and, at one point, he met with Adolf Hitler. Emerson published several books, includinig "A History of the 19th Century" and "Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt." Edwin A. Emerson, Jr. died in San Francisco in 1959 at the age of 90 years old.