Reuben Kemper (1771 - 1827)

Born 21 Feb 1771 in Fauquier County, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Died 28 Jan 1827 at age 55 in Natchez, Mississippi, USA

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Col. Reuben Kemper served for Louisiana in the War of 1812
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Biography

Reuben Kemper is Notable.

Born in Fauquier Co Virginia. Went to Cincinnati with his father and some siblings in the 1790s. Worked for Ohio's first senator, Rev John Smith, in Ohio and then in the Missisippi/ Lousiana area. His brothers Samuel and Nathan were with him. All 3 were involved in filibustering against the Spanish government. Served under Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans as a Captain. Kemper Co Mississippi was named for him. FROM AMAZON PAGE OF THE ROGUE REPUBLIC^[1]

Reuben Kemper. Kemper was a flatboatman out for his big opportunity. At the time West Florida was a blend of cultures and populations—French, Spanish, and a large number of Americans, especially in the west, nearer the Mississippi. Kemper came down the Mississippi from the Ohio Territory with a partner, John Smith. With merchandise brought down the river they opened a store in a settlement known as Bayou Sara in Spanish territory. The store struggled and Smith went back to Ohio. Kemper stayed, now joined by his brothers Samuel and Nathan, and began land speculation in the area.

Failure of the store led to a suit brought by Smith in Spanish courts. In August 1803, the territorial government sent a militia of deputized Americans expatriates to seize the store and the Kemper land holdings. This led to Kemper becoming an outlaw and forming a band of men engaged in raids against Spanish interests. According to Davis, "the whole period of militant unrest with Spanish rule in West Florida began with [Kemper] and he, and later his brothers, kept up the agitation that eventually led to armed revolt." In 1804, Kemper and his band issued a declaration of independence from the Spanish, but it was not taken seriously by the US territorial governor of the Orleans Territory, nor by the US Government who considered it fueled more by personal grievances and ambitions than high ideological concerns.

Comments by the author of The Rogue Republic: How Would-Be Patriots Waged the Shortest Revolution in American History, by William C. Davis

One of the things that drew me to this subject was one individual, the man whose involvement provides a skeleton of sorts for the book, and that is Reuben Kemper. All he did was come to West Florida in 1799 intending to run a country store, but within years, events beyond his control and ingredients of his own making made him the spark that eventually ignited a revolution. Electric individuals like Kemper have been the spearheads of many great moments and movements in history around the world, and it is fascinating to observe how they manage--and just often are managed by--the history they make.

... Indeed, Davis stresses that this history is "almost a template for the Texas Revolution … and the Bear Flag Revolt" And it’s easy to see why. In fact, the rebellion bears a shocking similarity to the Texas revolt, except in miniature. A small band of locals, unhappy with restrictions they feel are holding back their attempts at financial improvement, force government action that eventually leads to incorporation of their, in this case small, region into the United States.

Easily the one that will stick in memory is Reuben Kemper. The whole period of militant unrest with Spanish rule in West Florida began with him--all as a result of the failure of his store--and he, and later his brothers, kept up the agitation that eventually led to armed revolt. He is genuinely larger than life--a friend and confidant of Andrew Jackson,^[2]an acquaintance of Jefferson’s and Monroe’s, a dynamic leader in the War of 1812, and more. His is one of those lives that people write novels about.

He was more fortunate than his colleagues, who were seized by the Spanish and sent as prisoners to El Morro, in Havana, Cuba. Nevertheless, the rebellion succeeded and the Republic of West Florida came into existence. However, it would last only 90 days before it was annexed by the United States.

In 1812-13 Kemper took part in the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition into Spanish Texas, fighting to help free Mexico from Spanish rule. He also served as a colonel under Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815.

Kemper then settled down peacefully as a planter in Mississippi. He died in 1826 in Natchez, Mississippi, aged 55 or 56.

Death

Death:

Date: 28 January 1827

Place: Natchez, Mississippi, USA

Object:

File: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=9da090d6-baa8-4e90-938f-bdd953e07596&tid=36864509&pid=1159

Format: jpg

Title: sans progeny

Sources

1. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/The-Rogue-Republic-Would-Be-Revolution/dp/B008SLX5HS The Rogue Republic: How Would-Be Patriots Waged the Shortest Revolution in American History, April 20, 2011 by William C. Davis]
2. ↑ The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory

• Genealogy of the Kemper Family in the United States: Descendants of John Kemper of Virginia; with a Short Historical Sketch of His Family and of the German Reformed Colony at Germanna and Germantown, Va Willis M. Kemper, Harry Linn Wright
• Failed Filibusters: The Kemper Rebellion, The Burr Conspiracy and Western Expansion by Francis Cogliano
• The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory
• Wikipedia