Embler, Paul E. (Paul Elias), 1877-1953

Paul E. Embler (1877-1953) was a member of the Marine Guard that served aboard the U.S.S. Alabama, which began the voyage of the Great White Fleet in 1907, but after sailing around South America, had to remain in San Francisco for repairs.

Paul Elias Embler, son of James H. Embler and Sophronia Redmond Embler, was born on 30 January 1877 in Asheville, N.C. He enlisted on 16 June 1906 in Columbus, Ohio, and he served in the Marine Guard aboard the U.S.S. Alabama in 1907 and 1908, when it participated in the voyage of the Great White Fleet. The Alabama began the voyage with the fleet in December 1907. However, after sailing around the South American continent, the ship had to remain in San Francisco for repairs. Embler's diary is one of the few accounts of the U.S.S. Alabama 's Marine Guard during the voyage. Embler was honorably discharged at the New York Navy Yard on 4 June 1910, and he received a Good Conduct Medal.

After leaving the military, Embler married Eliza Louise Willis of Morganton, N.C., and the couple had two children, Vreeland Ross and Edna Sophronia. Embler had a lifetime career as a florist, and, during the 1920s, he worked as an assistant horticulturalist at Ohio State University. During the Great Depression, he worked at various greenhouses in West Virginia and Detroit, Mich. Paul E. Embler died on 24 June 1953 at the age of 76.