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� 2008, Mount Mora Burial Records |
| Record Last Updated On:
6/4/2021 |
| Name: SIMEON KEMPER |
| Death Date: MAR/11/1883 |
Interment Date:
MAR/13/1883 |
Birth Date: FEB/5/1799 |
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| Sex: M |
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| Child of: William Kemper & Sally Rogers |
| Spouse of: Jane Anne Shortridge |
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| Father of: Sarah Ann Kemper, Mary Mildred Kemper, John William Kemper, Samuel Thompson Kemper, Henry Clay Kemper, Susan Jane Kemper, Simeon Love Kemper, Charles Shortridge Kemper, Laura Kemper, Anna Eliza Kemper |
Other Known Relatives: The Kempers had ten children. Their oldest son, John W. Kemper, born in
Clinton Co. MO, attended Kentucky Military Institute in 1859 and became a
captain in the Army of the Confederacy, participating in the battles of
Lexington, Pea Ridge, Iuka and Corinth. He was wounded at Corinth and died
in the hospital at Coffeyville KS, on 10/31/1862. He was 23 years old and
was buried in the Coffeyville Cemetery beside his commander Colonel
Pritchard.
Another son, Charles S. Kemper, was active in the mercantile business in St
Jo...and was a partner in Kemper, Hundley & McDonald. Charles' daughters,
Mary Lee Kemper and Mrs George U. Richmond, are living today (1975).
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Brief Biography: Source:
"Old Saint Jo: Gateway to the West" by Sheridan A. Logan, 1979, John
Sublett Logan Foundation
Simeon Kemper, 1799-1883
Simeon Kemper was born 2/5/1799 in Montgomery Co. KY. His grandfather,
Henry Kemper, was a resident of Fauquier Co. VA and his father, William
Kemper, was born in that county in 1765. He moved in 1783 to Bryant's
Station KY. He died in 1846. The families of both Henry and William Kemper
were large ones and there are many descendants.
Simeon Kemper taught school in Montgomery Co. In 1835 he met Jane Ann
Shortridge of Baltimore MD, who was visiting relatives in Kentucky, and on
12/17/1835, they were married in Montgomery Co. Two years later they
decided to move to Missouri. On 11/5/1837, the left with their first child,
a daughter, proceeding to Maysville KY, where they embarked by steamboat
down the Ohio River. Changing boats at Cincinnati, they continued down the
river, through the canal at Louisville and on to St. Louis. There they
embarked by steamboat up the Missouri River to Liberty Landing, arriving
11/27/1837. They spent a year in Clay Co. where their second child, their
first son, John W. Kemper, was born. They then spent a year in Clinton Co
and decided to move to the land near Blacksnake Hills.
They arrived at Blacksnake Hills on 12/22/1839, and preempted 160 acres of
land, the NW quarter of Section 9. In February 1840 Simeon built a double
log house at the approximate location of the present 22nd and Calhoun
Streets.
Simeon Kemper became the first city and county surveyor, and in October
1848, at the direction of State Senator (later Governor) Robert M. Stewart,
he made a preliminary survey for the route of the Hannibal & St Joseph
Railroad. This was followed two years later by his final survey of about
1/3 of the line.
In 1860 Simeon Kemper built the house on the NW corner 19th and Clay
Streets...This was on the land he had developed as Kemper's Addition. He
had named the street in honor of Henry Clay whom he admired. In 1862 his
son, Charles, a boy of 14, saw a troop of federal soldiers going past the
house. [St Joseph was occupied by the Union Army for most of the war] The boy,
reflecting the influence of his family, shouted at them, "Hurrah for Jeff
Davis." He was promptly arrested and confined for a brief time.
Financially, Simeon Kemper was badly injured by the Civil War, and never
fully recovered from these reverses. He died 3/11/1883 and it was said of
him: "Few men have lived in the County as long as Mr. Kemper and no one has
enjoyed in a greater degree the respect, esteem and confidence than this
sturdy pioneer. He has long been an earnest and consistent member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South and his sterling qualities of mind and
heart will long live in our memories. As one of the foundation builders of
St. Joseph his name will stand." |
Epithet: Kemper followed his profession of surveyor and in May 1843 was
invited by Joseph Robidoux [founder of St Joseph] to prepare a town plan for
Robidoux's land - the SW quarter of Section 8. He staked out his grid of
streets twice, once north and south, and once diagonally to fit the contour
of the land. Robidoux had also asked Frederick W. Smith to prepare a town
plan. Kemper's plan provided wide streets and parks, while Smith followed
the European custom of narrow streets. Robidoux chose the Smith plan which
provided more lots to be sold. |
| Tombstone Material: N/A |
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Tombstone Condition: N/A |
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Burial Number: 1529 |
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| Lot Owner: KEMPER |
| Lot Location: 1 |
| Block Location: 17 |
| Section/Range Location: 7 |
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| Cost of Interment: $0.00 |
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| Photo(s): |
Simeon Kemper
Courtesy Of:St. Joseph Public Library Digital Archives
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