Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/548

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512
KEMPER
KEMPT

KEMPER, Jackson, P. E. bishop, b. in Pleas- ant Vallev. Dutchess co., N. Y., 24 Dec, 1789; d. in Delafield, Waukesha co., Wis., 24 May, 1870. He was graduated at Columbia in 1809, studied theology, was ordered deacon in 1811, and or- dained priest in 1812. He was the assistant of Bishop White in the rectorship of St. Peter's church, Philadelphia, until 1831, when he was called to be rector of St. Paul's, Norwalk, Conn. In 1835 he was elected the first missionary bishop of the Prot- estant Episcopal church, his jurisdiction compris- ing what was then known as the northwest. Out of it have since been formed the dioceses of Mis- souri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kan- sas, and Nebi'aska. Early in the winter of the lat- ter year Bishop Kemper reached St. Louis, where he took up his residence until he removed to Wis- consin in 1844. Meanwhile (about 1838) he had been elected bishop of Maryland, but preferred the more burdensome office he then held. In 1847, Wis- consin having been organized into a diocese, the pri- mary convention elected Bishop Kemper diocesan. He again declined, but, on being unanimously re- elected in 1854, he accepted on condition that he should still remain missionary bishop. The latter office, however, he finally resigned in 1859, and from that time until his death confined his labors entirely to the diocese of Wisconsin. He had been active in the establishment of a theological semi- nary within the bounds of his episcopate, and when it was founded at Nashotah, Wis., he took up his residence on an adjoining farm. In 1868, notwith- standing his great age, he attended the general council of bishops in London, and received from the University of Cambridge the degree of LL. D. That of S. T. D. had already been conferred upon him by Columbia in 1829. — His sister, Sophia Cornelia, lived to be over one hundred (b. in 1777 ; d. in Easton, Pa., 19 Jan., 1879), and mar- ried Samuel Sitgreaves, minister to England under President Adams.


KEMPER, Reuben, adventurer, b. in Fauquier county, Va., in 1770 ; d. in Natchez, Miss., 10 Oct., 1826. He emigrated to Ohio in 1800 with his father, who was a Baptist preacher. Reuben and his two brothers subsequently went to the Mississippi ter- ritory, engaged in land-surveying, and were leaders in the movement to rid western Florida of Spanish rule. In 1808 they formed an unsuccessful ex- pedition to Baton Rouge from the adjacent coun- ties of Mississippi, and were kidnapped by Spanish authority. They were rescued by the commandant of the U. S. fort at Pointe Coupee, and afterward inflicted severe chastisement on the Spaniards who had been engaged in the capture. Reuben then devoted himself to driving the Spaniards out of North America. He was engaged in an unsuccess- ful attempt to capture Mobile, was one of the organizers of the expedition of Gutierrez and To- ledo against Spanish authority in Mexico, and in 1812 he commanded with the rank of major, and subsequently that of colonel, a force of about 600 Americans that co-operated with the Mexican in- surgents. The expedition advanced into Texas, and several successful battles were fought, but the dissensions that followed between the Mexicans and Americans enabled the Spaniards to put the divided forces to rout, and the Americans, dis- gusted with their allies, returned home. Kemper then joined the U. S. army as a volunteer, served under Andrew Jackson at the defence of New Or- leans, and performed important duties that greatly added to his reputation. At the conclusion of the war, he settled as a planter in Mississippi. He is described as of stalwart and gigantic stature, reso- nant voice, and brusque soldier-like manner, and was celebrated for his " eloquent profanity." — His cousin, James Lawson, soldier, b. in Madison county, Va., 11 June, 1823, was graduated at Wash- ington college, Lexington, Va., in 1842, and was a captain in the U. S. army during the Mexican war. He was a member of the Virginia legislature ten years, during two of which he was speaker of the house, and in 1861 entered the Confederate army as colonel of the 7th Virginia regiment. He was commissioned brigadier-general in May, 1862, was in many battles, and severely wounded and cap- tured at Gettysburg, being disabled for further service. In 1874 he was governor of Virginia, and, since the conclusion of his term, he has been en- gaged in planting in Orange county, Va. While governor he published a volume of messages to the legislature (Richmond, 1876).


KEMPSTER, Walter, physician, b. in London, England, 25 May, 1842. He emigrated to the United States in childhood, was educated in the public schools of Syracuse, N. Y., and graduated at Long Island medical college, Brooklyn, in 1864. Entering the National army as a private, he served throughout the civil war, and in 1865 became acting assistant surgeon. At the close of the war he settled in Syracuse, N. Y., and in 1865-'6 was assistant superintendent of the Asylum for idiots there. He was assistant physician to the New York state lunatic asylum in Utica in 1866-'73, and since that time has been superintendent of the Northern Wisconsin hospital for the insane, at Oshkosh, Wis. From 1866 till 1873 he was asso- ciate editor of the "American Journal of Insanity." Dr. Kempster was the first physician in the United States to make systematic investigations into the pathological condition of the brains of the insane, and the first to photograph, through the microscope, the conditions therein found. He has published several papers on the jurisprudence of insanity, and "Reports of the Northwestern Hospital for the Insane " (Oshkosh, 1873-'87).


KEMPT, Sir James, governor of Canada, b. in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1765 ; d. in London, England, 20 Dec, 1855. He entered the army as ensign, 31 March, 1783, became lieutenant in 1784, and captain in 1794. From June, 1796, till February, 1797, he served as inspecting field-officer of the recruiting-service in Scotland, and was promoted lieutenant-colonel, 28 Aug., 1799.' In June, 1800, he accompanied Sir Ralph Abercromby to the Mediterranean, and afterward to Egypt, and continued with him until that general's death at Alexandria. In 1806 he went to Calabria, and commanded the light brigade at the battle of Maida. In November, 1807, he was appointed quarter-master-general of the forces in British North America, and on 8 March, 1809, became aide-de-camp to the king. He served in the peninsular campaign, attained the rank of major-general, 1 Jan., 1812, and subsequently was on the staff in North America and in Flanders, where he commanded a brigade. After the battle of Waterloo, in which he was severely wounded, he was made a knight grand cross of the bath, and received similar honors from the sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and the Netherlands. In 1820 he succeeded the Earl of Dalhousie as governor of Nova Scotia, and on 10 July, 1828, became governor of Canada, which post he held for over two years. When he arrived at Quebec he found the country in a state bordering on rebellion, but after he had administered the government for a few months tranquillity was restored. While in office, Sir James reinstated magistrates and militia officers who had been dis-