Biography of Daniel F. Kemp (1844-1930)

Daniel Francis Kemp was born on January 29, 1844 in Buffalo, New York to Thomas and Catherine MacDonald Kemp. He was the third of six children. Both his parents had been born in Scotland. His father, Thomas, at 6'4", was a very large man. He worked as a "ship and house joiner" or carpenter. I believe that for some time Thomas had a ship yard in Buffalo, but somehow lost it before the war. From stories my father told me, I know the family was going through financial difficulties in the 1860's. In 1856 Thomas' father, George Kemp, age 71, and two of his spinster sisters emigrated from Scotland and came to live with the Kemps in Buffalo. George worked all his life as an agricultural laborer, so although he was, no doubt, a good thrifty Scot, most likely he placed a certain financial burden on Thomas' family.

According to the 1840 US Census, Buffalo had slightly over 18,000 inhabitants. In a family history, Richard Beyer (Daniel's grandson) wrote,

He was self-educated since his formal education was limited to grammar school. I understand that when he reached the point where he should have gone to High School he was alone in his class and, as there were not others to form a high school class, he kept repeating eighth grade. Then, when he was 14 and his father went brankrupt, he was forced to go to work as a bundle boy for a dry goods store kept by Murray, Cummings, and Grant. His duties included waking old George Innes at 5 o'clock and starting the fires. He was paid $1.50 a week. Later he worked for James Lander in a shoe store for $2.50 a week. After two or three years he went to learn the carpentry trade with Briggs and Martin and was an apprentice when the war broke out.

The Kemps were active members of the First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo and Thomas served as an Elder. He was also a member of the Sons of Temperance. For generations the Kemps were quietly devout Presbyterians. Richard Beyer also noted in this biographical sketch, that Daniel never used profanity and was a life-long tea-totaler. Life in the Navy was certainly very different from the world Daniel knew growing up.

On September 16, 1862 Daniel enlisted in the US Navy. When the war first broke out he wanted to join the 100th New York Volunteers, but his parents refused their consent. When they finally agreed, he entered the Navy at the urging of one of his boyhood friends, Jaime Stewart. He enlisted abord the steamer Michigan that was in port at Buffalo.

He had difficulty getting discharged from the Navy. In a manuscript he wrote that the Navy lost his papers, so he had to send to the steamer Michigan for duplicates in order to secure his release. In the muster roll of the USS Choctaw, dated December 1863 the entry for Daniel reads:

Date of enlistment: September 16, 1862
Term of enlistment: 1 year
Age: 19
Color of hair: Brown
Height: 5'9"
Complexion: Fair
Place of enlistment: Buffalo, NY
Rating: Landsman
Civilian occupation: Clerk
Place of Birth: Buffalo, NY
Color of Eyes: Hazel
Date of Discharge: December 1863

After the Navy Daniel became a very successful manufacturer's agent. As I understand it, a manufacturer's agent served as a middle man between manufacturing companies and hardware stores. He was a very prosperous and well respected merchant. He married Mary Jane Bishop on September 26, 1872. They had two children; a son, Gilbert Scott Kemp, and a daughter, Jessie Kemp, who later married Frank Beyer. Gilbert and his family lived with Daniel and Mary Jane until sometime after 1915. Jessie Beyer and her family lived with Daniel until his death. Gilbert went into business with his father, and eventually moved to Illinois because of the volume of business they did there.

Daniel passed away in Buffalo at the age of 86 on May 28, 1930, 67 years and one day after the sinking of the gunboat Cincinnati at Vicksburg.