The Kemp Family of Note

Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kemp history

In 1672, our grandfather Edmund Webb (8GGF) purchased 400 acres in what is now known as Maryland's Eastern Shore. When Edmund died in 1683 he bequeathed to his daughter Elizabeth Webb Kemp (7GGM) 150 acres of this land which he named Bolton. Elizabeth had married Robert Kemp in 1678.

Although Robert already owned 100 acres of his own on the Eastern Shore, he and Elizabeth made their home at Bolton. When Robert died in 1703, he left the land to his son John (6U).

Below is the approximate location of Bolton on the Eastern Shore of Maryland:

The land called Bolton, later familiarly known as Quaker Kemp Farm, then passed to John's son John Kemp, Jr. (1C7X)

Bolton

John Kemp, Jr. was born in 1706. In 1751, after the passing of his father, John inherited the lands at Bolton. When John Kemp, Jr. died in 1773, the property went, in essence, to his son John Kemp III (2C6X). From John Kemp, Jr.'s will:

I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Magdalene my present dwelling plantation with the Improvements where I now dwell including one half of my land called Bolton, during her natural life and after her decease my will is that the said land descend to my Eldest son John.

In spite of his Quaker faith, John, Jr. owned slaves. He left to his "loving wife" Magdalene "one negro man name Robin and one negro man named Isaac and one negro woman named Judith and one negro woman named Ruth." His son Thomas (2C6X), who married outside the church, was left 1 shilling. Son Joseph (2C6X) received one negro boy named Paris, some furniture and £5.

John Kemp III born in 1737 was the next Kemp to take over the Bolton property. Like his father, John III remained true to the Quaker faith. He inherited his father's entire estate with the stipulation that his mother be cared for.

John III was a Patriot during the Revolutionary War. Instead of fighting, however, he was a sea captain "active in the revolution in transporting troops and supplies." We wrote about his service in the Revolutionary War in our "The War Moves South" post.  Later in the war he was captured and committed to Old Mill prison.

When John III died in 1790, Bolton went to his son John Kemp IV (3C5X) born in 1764. John IV and his family "saw the British ascend the bay in 1814" during the Battle of North Point in the War of 1812. The object in that battle had been Baltimore, but the British also invaded the Eastern Shore where the Kemps lived. According to family lore:

The spy glass used on the occasion was kept in a special niche built in the old home to receive it, but when the British sacked the place on their return, the glass had been removed to safe quarters and so is still in the possession of the Kemps.

When John Kemp IV died in 1829, he left Bolton jointly to his wife and son John Kemp V (4C4X). It was to to pass to son John V at his mother's death. John IV had acquired a considerable amount of property in the town of Easton, about 15 miles east of Bolton. He left a mill in Easton to son John and two pieces of property with homes on them to his daughters Eleanor (4C4X) and Sarah (4C4X).

(1) Bolton (2) Easton, MD

Like many of the other Kemps, John IV owned slaves. He accounted for them in his will and, possibly inspired by his uncle Thomas (2C6X) whose story is below, made provision for their freedom.

Item - There being three black children in my family Viz Sarah, Stanly and Elfred, it is my wish and desire that the said children shall receive their freedom as they shall arrive at the ages following to wit, the Girl Sara at the age of Twenty years, Stanley at the age of Twenty three years, and Elford at the age of Twenty Three. Item I give and bequeath to my Wife Sarah P Kemp the unexpired term of the Boy Stanley, that is to say until he is twenty three years of age.

The children of John IV and Sarah Kemp were duly noted in the Quaker Third Haven Monthly Meeting record book:

John Kemp IV and his wife Sarah's first born, John Kemp V, was the fifth John Kemp to inherit the property that was first purchased by Edmund Webb in 1672. Kemp family members continued to live at Bolton until 1915.

That same account, written after the Kemps no longer owned Bolton said that "Boulton has passed from the Kemps in recent years, but ultimately it may pass into the sands of the Bay through the constant encroachment of the relentless tides."

Thomas Kemp

Thomas (2C6X) was born in 1741, the son of John Kemp II and his wife Magdalena Stevens. In 1771, at age 30, Thomas did the unthinkable. From the February 1771 Third Haven Quaker Meeting notes:

Thomas Kemp, having accomplished his marriage by a priest contrary to the good order used among us, this meeting disowns him as a member and appoints Isaac Dixon to prepare a testimony against him and produce it to next meeting.

Thomas paid for this trangression two years later when his father died. In John II's will, Bolton went, of course, to the oldest son John III. Son Joseph received a negro boy, £5, and various household items. Thomas received only one shilling, the usual Quaker insult for having left the faith. John II, however, did not want his grandchildren to share their father's fate. The rest of his estate was to be sold and divided equally among his children, excluding Thomas, but Thomas' children were to receive his share.

The 1776 Maryland Colonial Census shows Thomas with 2 adults 16-50, 1 male and 4 females under 16 and 2 Blacks.

Thomas died in 1801 at age 60. His will proved that he had done all right for himself even without his father's inheritance. And, as his will shows, Thomas was the first of the Kemps to leave provisions in his will for the freeing of his slaves. John IV, who we wrote about above, may have been inspired in his 1829 will by his Uncle Thomas.

Wife Rachel was "to possess real estate where I now live for her widowhood and no longer" and a "Negro woman 'Rachell' for her widowhood and after that time 'Rachell is to be freed."

Daughter Sary (3C5X) received a few lots of land and "Negro boy 'Joseph' to have until he arrives at the age of 25 and then to be freed."

Son Joseph (3C5X) received "the lot of ground adjoining the one given to Sary Kemp - Negro boy 'Jack' until 'Jack' arrives at the age of 25 and then to be freed."

Daughters Mary (3C5X) and Rebecca (3C5X) had already received their share and son Thomas, Jr., (3C6X) who had already done quite well for himself, received a "Negro boy 'James' who is to be freed when he arrives at the age of 23."

Thomas, Jr. was also named executor of the will, an honor he declined as he lived in Baltimore and the trips back and forth would have been a hardship. We'll have more on Thomas, Jr. in our next post.

Joseph Kemp

Thomas Kemp's son, Joseph (3C5X), was born in Talbot County, MD in 1780. He, like his brother, Thomas Kemp, Jr. (3C5X), became a shipbuilder. It may have been about the time that the town of St. Michael's was incorporated in 1804 that Joseph moved there to begin his shipbuilding business.

(1) Kemp ancestral land (2) St. Michael's, MD

Joseph was involved in shipbuilding in St. Michaels during the peak of its powers, ca.1810, just before the War of 1812 began. During the war, Joseph took part in the Battle of St. Michaels, "commanding a cavalry patrol along San Domingo Creek." When business in St. Michael's began to die out, ca 1820, many shipbuilders moved to Baltimore but Joseph stayed put.

Joseph was married twice. He had two children with his first wife Ann and eight with his secnd wife Alice. It appears that his firstborn son, Joseph Jr. (4C4X), began to experience financial difficulties when in his early twenties. From an 1828 article in the Republican Star, we learn that:

. . .by virtue of two writs of venditioni exponas (you shall expose to sale). . .All of the estate, right, title, claim, interest and demand, of him the said Kemp of in an to the House and Lot on which he at presnet resides situate in the town of St. Michaels. . .will be sold to pay and satisfy the above writs. . .

The article goes on to describe all the property and household items that were seized and sold.

In 1835, seven years after his son's troubles, Joseph, Sr. died "suddenly" at age 55 in the house that he had built in St. Michael's.

After losing everything, Joseph, Jr. evidently turned to the sea for consolation. In October of 1845, he was 2nd mate on the Brig Henry P. Sumner when it went down on a voyage from Porto Cabello, Venezuela to Baltimore. From an article about the tragedy in the Baltimore Sun:

Brig Henry P. Sumner -- We sometime ago noticed the fact that this vessel was missing, and that aprehensions were strong that she had been lost. Since then nothing has been heard of her or her crew, and the belief is now reluctantly entertained that she has been lost, and all on board perished. . .She arrived safe at Porto Cabello, and was left there on the 5th of July to sail for Baltimore in a few days. Since her clearance from there nothing has been heard of her or any of her crew.

Joseph's House

Today, the house that Joseph built is called the Colonel Kemp House. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places which calls it "one of a small collection of large Federal period brick structures in St. Michaels." According to the site, "[t]he Kemp House "is a crucial building that links other buildings with almost the same mantel designs and workmanship," All of the principal rooms in Joseph's house have "a finely crafted Federal mantel."

The house stayed in the Kemp family until early in the 20th century. After the death of Joseph's wife Alice, the house came into the possession of their daughter Mary (4C4X) and her husband Oliver Sparks. Even though Maryland was a slave holding state, it remained in the Union during the Civil War. It appearts that the Sparks, however, were Confederate sympathizers. According the the Historic Places website, General Robert E. Lee spent two night in the Kemp House "as a guest of then owners, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Sparks."

Today, the Kemp House, shown below, is part of the Old Brick Inn complex.

Ferry Bridge House, "a unique waterfront getaway on a private peninsula in Talbot County, Maryland" is a brick replica of the Kemp House. Ferry Bridge is about 10 miles up the Miles River from the Kemp House in St. Michael's:

(1) Kemp House (2) Ferry Bridge House

We haven't been able to find the year that Ferry Bridge House, shown below, was built.

haunted?

From an article in the Easton Star-Democrat from 2004, we learn that the word around town is that the Kemp House just may be haunted:

Pat Evans, manager of the Kemp house in St. Michaels, worked in the house since 1982. The house was built in the mid-1800s by Col Joseph Kemp who has a room dedicated to him on the second floor. . .The Kemp Room has reportedly had strange happenings in it in the past 20 years.

Evans related four incidents reported over the years of possible hauntings in the Kemp room. A mother and daughter left ribbon in the trash can and when they returned to the room, they found the ribbon "strung around the floor." Another incident involved a father and his son:

The father, sleeping in the bed, said he heard his son get up from the trundle bed and go into the batheroom. . .Soon after, the father said he felt the mattress sink as if someone had lain on the bed. He looked over and the son was in the trundle bed. "He just had a feeling that someone else was there," said Evans.

Another person reported a rocking chair rocking back and forth with no one in it and an employee of the Inn said she heard a door slam downstairs when she was upstairs with no one else in the house. Other employees have reported "a blue light flashing up and down the stairs" and "linens and towels had been unfolded and scattered. . ."

Evans herself hasn't "seen or heard anything out of the ordinary," but "the Kemp House workers think of their haunting as a friendly ghost, calling him 'Joseph. . .'"