[2] In 1838, Mason appointed Emmons as the Clerk of the Michigan House of Representatives, though he would only stay in that position for a year in order to continue his legal studies.

Although he served on the powerful State Affairs and Ways and Means committees, Emmons resigned within the year, opting to return to private practice.

[2] With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Emmons enlisted in the Union Army, serving in Company K of the 1st Michigan Cavalry.

[7] Emmons, who began as a private and rose all the way to captain, was also part of the Michigan Brigade, which was under the command of Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer.

In 1872, Florida Governor Harrison Reed, another carpetbagger Republican from the Midwest, appointed Emmons as Florida Attorney General following the resignation of Horatio Bisbee Jr. Emmons served in this position until January 1873, when Judge William A. Cocke was officially elected to be Bisbee's successor.