Although George William Emerson always referred to his birthplace as West Point, the official record of his birth says that he was born in King and Queen County. George’s World War I draft registration list his birth place as “Centerville, Va.” which is a section of  King and Queen County across the Mattaponi River from West Point.  His World War II registration lists King and Queen as his birthplace.  The date of his birth was January 1, 1887.   George said that his family moved to South White Marsh farm when he was three years old; other sources confirm that the Emerson family [Big George, Ida, Edgar, Johnny, and Little George (Frank was born later.)] moved to South White Marsh around 1890.

Below is a preteen picture of Little George in which his hair was cut as close as clippers could cut; George explained that this hairstyle was a result of his mother’s discipline.  It seems that Ida cut her children’s hair whenever they misbehaved.  Since Ida was a very religious woman, one wonders if she derived this punishment from the biblical story of Samson and Delilah.

The census records of 1900 state that George had been in school for 6.5 years which seems reasonable for a boy 13 years old.  However, George said that boys only went to school during the months that they were not needed for work on the farm which meant they went to school the four months between harvest in the fall and the planting season in the spring.  George said that he walked to school and that his lunch usually was molasses poured into a lunch pail with a piece of corn bread floating on top.  Educational opportunities were limited at the turn of the century; neither was education considered as important as it is today.  Although George’s intellectual potential was never fully developed, he had a very keen mind [as was demonstrated in his astuteness in playing checkers] and gained respect for his knowledge of the farm operations.

At the turn of the century in Gloucester County, it was customary for young men to work within the family’s livelihood until they became 21 years old. The rule of 21 being “legal age” was taken very seriously; at least this was a custom adhered to in George Emerson’s family.  So Little George worked on South White Marsh until he became 21.

Upon reaching “legal age,” George found a job as a laborer on a neighboring farm.  The working hours were from sunrise to sunset for five days and from sunrise to noon on Saturday.  George’s first employer would be waiting in the barnyard every morning as the workers arrived; if he could see the slightest glimmer of the sun, he told the workers to go back home and return the next day on time.  After George’s first week’s work, he received his first salary, $3.25.  For quite a while, George had been admiring a derby at Newcome’s Store (White Marsh); derbies were the height of fashion in 1908.  On reaching Newcome’s Store, George was gravely disappointed to find that the derby cost $3.50; however, Mr. Newcome let him have the hat anyway upon the promise to pay the remaining 25 cents on the following Saturday.

George did not “hire out” very long.  Dr. Spencer owned a farm called Five Gables on Ware River which he offered to rent to George.  This was the time of land poor absentee landowners, and many farms could be rented cheaper than owning and paying taxes.  Sometimes the landowner would rent the farms “dirt cheap” in order to keep the real estate from deteriorating; many times the renter would improve the property value by cropping the rundown farms.  Such was the relationship between Dr. Spencer and George Emerson; later in the 1930s, Dr. Spencer and George would have the same arrangement with Airville Farm. The above oral tradition is confirmed by the 1910 census listing George Emerson (head of household) as living in the Ware District with his cousin Zach Emerson living with him as a farm laborer.