Title: Jackson Kemper Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1787-1972 (bulk 1801-1870)

Creator:

• Kemper, Jackson, 1789-1870

Call Number: Wis Mss G; Micro 255; Micro 256; Micro 623; Micro 1094; PH 6048; PH 6584; File 1809 August 2

Quantity: 16.2 cubic feet (14 archives boxes, 50 volumes, and 1 oversize folder), 4 reels of microfilm (35 mm), 24 photographs, 0.2 cubic feet of photographs (1 archives box), 1 lithograph, and 1 piece of ephemera in 1 archives box

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers, mainly 1801-1870, of Jackson Kemper, the first missionary bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church and the first bishop of Wisconsin, together with papers of the Relf-Poyntell family, to whom Kemper was related by marriage. The collection includes correspondence; church minutes; diaries primarily covering the post-1835 years as a missionary bishop; and lists of sermon subjects, marriages and baptisms performed, notes on religious subjects, and fundraising records pertaining to the General Theological Seminary. In addition, the collection includes biographical information about Kemper; photographs of and related to Kemper, Elizabeth Kemper Adams, and the Adams and Relf families; and the papers of Kemper's two wives, Jerusha Lyman and Ann Relf Kemper; his daughter, Elizabeth Kemper Adams; and various in-laws.

Note:

There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis0000g

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Jackson Kemper (1789-1870) was the first missionary bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church and the first bishop of Wisconsin. Kemper also served as assistant to Bishop William White of Philadelphia from 1811-1831; as rector at Norwalk, Connecticut, from 1831-1835; as missionary bishop of the Northwest from 1835-1859, maintaining headquarters at St. Louis until his removal to Wisconsin in 1845; and as bishop of Wisconsin from 1854 until his death.

Papers, 1787-1972 (but mainly 1801-1870), of Jackson Kemper and of the Relf-Poyntell family, to whom he was related by marriage. The collection includes 50 chronologically-arranged volumes of letters received, together with occasional church minutes, reports on special subjects, and miscellaneous material. Letters written by Kemper are documented in books in which he kept digests of his correspondence and by photostat and microfilm copies of Kemper letters in other archives. There are many diaries, dated 1814-1870 with gaps and overlappings, but primarily covering the post-1835 years as a missionary bishop. There are also some miscellaneous ministerial papers and many small notebooks that mix diary and letterbook functions with financial records and memoranda.

For the early years there are letters from his family, classmates at Columbia University, and clergymen in the Philadelphia area, together with occasional reports and notations of his own. From about 1835 to the end of his life there is an exchange of letters with his daughter, Elizabeth Kemper Adams, most numerous during the years he lived in St. Louis; and with the Revered Samuel R. Johnson, for many years a pastor in his diocese.

Records of his missionary journeys, with notations on traveling conditions, personnel, the state of religion, prospect for advancement, and his ministerial services, are contained in his diaries, and are complemented by letters from laymen and clergy describing the progress of the work after his departure. There are references to numerous official visits to neighboring areas during his Philadelphia ministry, across the Alleghenies to Pittsburgh and surrounding regions in 1812, 1814, and 1825; and to Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1834. After his elevation to the bishopric with jurisdiction over Indiana and Missouri, he made frequent visits to parishes in those states, as well as to many other points on the expanding frontier. These visits included Illinois and Iowa in 1836, Fort Leavenworth in 1837, down the Mississippi River in 1838 on a tour that took him into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, and that same fall through the Wisconsin settlements and on a horseback trip to visit the Seneca Indians in southwestern Missouri. There are many references in the diaries and correspondence to his missionary work in Wisconsin, dealing with the organization of the church in the state, parish by parish. There are also records of many visits to Minnesota beginning in 1843, and after 1856, to Kansas and Nebraska. Much attention is devoted to the three colleges that Kemper was instrumental in founding: Kemper College in Missouri, in existence from 1835-1845; and in Wisconsin, Nashotah Seminary and Racine College, which was established in 1852. There are many letters from James Lloyd Breck about Nashotah Seminary, his Indian missions at Gull Lake and Leech Lake in Minnesota, and on the founding of the Seabury Divinity School at Faribault; and from Richard F. Cadle, who opened a mission at Detroit in 1824 and who served the church in many capacities in Wisconsin from 1829-1844.

Kemper's sermons and an index to their subjects are part of the papers of his biographer, Gilbert Doane. Miscellaneous church and religious papers in the Kemper Papers include lists of sermon subjects and marriages and baptisms performed; notes on religious subjects, and fundraising records pertaining to the General Theological Seminary.

In addition to the correspondence, the collection includes papers of Kemper's two wives, his daughter, and various in-laws. Jerusha Lyman, Kemper's first wife (d. 1818), is represented by letters to and from her husband, diary-like “ledgers of conduct,” and information concerning the estate of her father General William Lyman. The family of Kemper's second wife, Ann Relf Kemper, is represented by microfilmed papers including correspondence, 1801-1807, from William Tayler, a London relative, to her father Samuel Relf, editor of the National Gazette in Philadelphia, and by European travel letters from William Poyntell, Relf's father-in-law, to his wife, Anne Wilcocks Poyntell. Taylor's letters concern political, military, and naval developments in Europe, and they were probably intended for publication. There is also biographical information about Kemper and many family members prepared by Samuel Relf Durand. About Elizabeth Kemper Adams, Kemper's daughter by his second wife, there are almanac diaries (1832-1855), a chronological register of her father's career, and photocopied letters to her grandmother and from Helen Griffith, a Philadelphia friend. There is also biographical information about and poetry by Commodore William Bradford Whiting, whose daughter Mary Lee married the Adams' son, Francis Kemper Adams.

The visual materials in the collection include photographs, a lithograph, and copy photographs of paintings, circa 1814 to 1900, of and relating to Bishop Kemper and to his work at the Nashotah Seminary in Wisconsin. Also included are portraits of Kemper and detailed descriptions of his work with the church, along with images of members of the Adams and Relf families. Included are portraits of Kemper's first and second wife, Jerusha Lyman Kemper and Ann Relf Kemper, other family members, and images of his residences, including his birthplace in New York and homes in Nashota, Wisconsin, and Delafield, Wisconsin.

Register and a card index to the correspondence prepared by Gilbert Doane, Kemper's biographer, is in Box 10-11 of the Gilbert Doane Papers (Mss 936).

Kemper's diaries of his first two trips to Wisconsin (November 12, 1837-August 15, 1838) have been published in the Wisconsin Historical Collections (14:394-449) and in the Wisconsin Magazine of History (June, 1925) and are available on microfilm.

Use Restrictions

Micro 256 is available only as positive microfilm. It is not to be reproduced or quoted without the express permission of the Pierpont Morgan Library.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the estate of Greta Best Jackson via Julia Jackson, by Russell Barber (Mrs.) Street, by Elizabeth Kemper Adams, Frederick C. (Mrs.) Best, the Church Historical Society (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Gilbert Doane, Lucia Kemper Durand, Joseph Greene Henshaw, Mary Gorham Henshaw, Rebecca Grene Henshaw, John Johnson, Arthur C. (Mrs.) Miller, and Frank W. Radford. Accession Number: M63-080, M87-172, M87-248, M95-064, M2002-103

Wis Mss G	Correspondence
	Bound correspondence
Volume   1	1787 May-1811 August
Volume   2	1811 September-1812 September
Volume   3	1812 October-1814 May
Volume   4	1814 June-1816 August
Volume   5	1816 September-1820
Volume   6	1821 January-1823
Volume   7	1824 January-1826 March
Volume   8	1826 April-December
Volume   9	1827 January-1828 April
Volume   10	1828 May-1829
Volume   11	1830-1831 June
Volume   12	1831 July-1833 May
Volume   13	1833 June-1835 February
Volume   14	1835 March-September
Volume   15	1835 October-1836 March
Volume   16	1836 April-1837 January
Volume   17	1837 February-August
Volume   18	1837 September-1838 March
Volume   19	1838 April-August
Volume   20	1838 September-1839 February
Volume   21	1839 March-November
Volume   22	1839 December-1840 June
Volume   23	1840 July-December
Volume   24	1841 January-July
Volume   25	1841 August-1842 February
Volume   26	1842 March-October
Volume   27	1842 November-1843 October
Volume   28	1843 November-1844 June
Volume   29	1844 July-1845 April
Volume   30	1845 May-1846 April
Volume   31	1846 May-1847 July
Volume   32	1847 August-1848
Volume   33	1849 January-1850 July
Volume   34	1850 August-1852 March
Volume   35	1852 April-1854 February
Volume   36	1854 March-1855 July
Volume   37	1855 August-1856 September
Volume   38	1856 October-1857 September
Volume   39	1857 October-1858 November
Volume   40	1858 December-1860 February
Volume   41	1860 March-1861
Volume   42	1862 January-1863
Volume   43	1864 January-1865 September
Volume   44	1865 October-1866 July
Volume   45	1866 August-1868 June
Volume   46	1868 July-1869
Volume   47	1870 1884
Volume   48-50	Undated letters Note: Many dates have been added by biographer Gilbert Doane.
Box   1 Folder   1	Unbound original papers, 1818-1917
	Photostat and microfilmed copies
Box   1 Folder   2	Best, Frederick, Mrs. letter, 1821
Box   1 Folder   3	Connecticut Episcopal Diocese letter, 1826
Box   1 Folder   4	Durand, Loyal, Mrs. letter, 1837
Box   1 Folder   5	Episcopal Church, Historical Society, 1847-1869
Box   1 Folder   6	General Theological Seminary, 1811, 1813
Box   1 Folder   7	Harvard letter, 1868
Box   1 Folder   8	Library of Congress, 1812-1832
Box   1 Folder   9	Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856-1865
Box   1 Folder   10	Miller, Arthur, Mrs., 1845, 1849 letters
Micro 255	Minnesota Historical Society, 1858-1866 (Protestant Episcopal Church Records)
Wis Mss G Box   1 Folder   11	Nashotah Historical Society, 1846-1848
Box   1 Folder   12	New York Historical Society, 1812-1844
Box   1 Folder   13	New York Public Library, 1857-1865
Box   1 Folder   14	Pennsylvania Historical Society, 1824, 1855-1862
Micro 256	Pierpont Morgan Library, 1813-1865 Note: Available as positive microfilm only. Use Restrictions: Not to be reproduced or quoted without the express permission of the Piermont Morgan Library.
Wis Mss G Box   1 Folder   15	Slidell, Kemper, 1834-1857
Box   1 Folder   16	Van Vlissingen, Arthur, 1830-1863
Box   1 Folder   17	Unknown sources
Box   1 Folder   18	Wittingham, Bishop W.R., Maryland Diocesan Archives, 1829-1869
	Letterbook digests
Box   14	, 1831 December 14-1835 January 28 (Volume 51) Note: Also includes accounts for 1822.
Box   1 Folder   19	, 1835 September 7-1836 April 13 (Volumes 52-53)
Box   1 Folder   20	1836 May 2-1837 March 21, August 8 (Volumes 54-55)
Box   1 Folder   21	, 1837 August 8-1838 May 9 (Volumes 56-57)
Box   2 Folder   1	, 1838 May 9-April 16 (Volume 58)
Box   2 Folder   2	, 1839 February 27-June 25 (Volume 82)
Box   2 Folder   3	1839 February 18-1853 May 5 (Volume 59, continued by Volume 62)
Box   2 Folder   4	, 1842 February 16-December 3 (Volumes 61-62)
Box   2 Folder   5	, 1853 May 13-1862 September 2 (Volume 62)
Box   3 Folder   1	, 1862 September 4-1869 July 27 (Volume 63)
Box   3 Folder   2	, 1869 July 29-1870 April (Volume 64)
	Diaries
Box   3 Folder   3	Original inventory of diaries
Box   3 Folder   4	Typed diary excerpts
	Early unnumbered diaries and diary pages
Box   3 Folder   5	1812
Box   3 Folder   6	1814, 1819-1820 (Volumes 65 and 67)
Box   3 Folder   7	1822-1824
Box   3 Folder   8	1825-1829
Box   4 Folder   1	, 1829-1832 (Volume 66)
Box   4 Folder   2	1830-1831
Box   4 Folder   3	, 1832-1833 (Volume 68)
Box   4 Folder   4	1834 July 3-August 11, with transcript (Volume 69) This diary is available online.
Box   4 Folder   5	, 1838-1839 (Volume 81)
Box   4 Folder   6	Diary fragments, undated
	Diaries numbered by Kemper
	First series (1-11)
Box   4 Folder   7-9	, 1835 November 13-1837 August (Volumes 70-76)
Wis Mss G/Micro 1094 Box   5 Folder   1-3	, 1837 November 12-1838 August 15 (Volumes 77-80) Note: The frames in this microfilm are not numbered.
Wis Mss G	Second series (1-42)
Box   5 Folder   4-13	, 1839 June 25-1850 February (Volumes 83-111)
Box   6 Folder   1-5	, 1850 February-1859 April (Volumes 112-123)
	Later unnumbered diaries
Box   6 Folder   6-8	, 1859 April-1865 June (Volumes 124-127)
Box   7 Folder   1-2	, 1865 June-1870 April (Volume 128-129)
Box   7 Folder   3-4	Pocket diaries, 1861-1869 (Volumes 145-147, 152, 172, 174-175)
	Ministerial records
File 1809 August 2	Certificates of ordination, diplomas, et cetera
Wis Mss G Box   7 Folder   5	Christ Episcopal Church, Diocese of Lexington, Annotated charges against Rev. B.B. Smith, 1837 (Volume 158)
Box   7 Folder   6	Christ Church, Philadelphia, seating record, undated (Volume 157)
Box   7 Folder   7	General Theological Seminary, Minutes of the Board of Agents, 1821-1826 and subscriptions, , 1821 (Volumes 155-156)
Box   7 Folder   8	Notes on pagan idolatry, undated (Volume 141)
Box   8 Folder   1	Notes on religious subjects, undated (Volume 140)
Box   8 Folder   2	Ordinal book for ordaining priests, circa 1835
Box   8 Folder   3	St. Paul's Church, Norwalk, Connecticut, Baptisms, confirmations, marriages, circa 1831 (Volume 160)
Box   8 Folder   4	Sermon, “Omnipresence of God,” 1811
Box   8 Folder   5	Sermon subjects record and notes, 1869 (Volumes 142, 150)
Box   8 Folder   6	United Episcopal Churches of Philadelphia, Marriages and baptisms performed, 1811-1832 (Volume 144)
	Miscellaneous small volumes
	Mixed function books
Box   8 Folder   7	1838, Diary and letters
Box   8 Folder   8	1847-1849, Diary and letters
Box   8 Folder   9	1850-1853, Notes and letters (Volume 180)
Box   8 Folder   10	1854-1857, Notes and accounts (Volume 181)
Box   9 Folder   1	1859, Notes and letters (Volume 178)
Box   9 Folder   2	1865 May, Diary and letters (Volume 177)
Box   9 Folder   3	Undated, Notes and letters (Volume 176)
Box   9 Folder   4	Account book, 1812-1822 (Volume 138)
Box   9 Folder   5	Addresses (with minimal Wisconsin entries, Volume 162)
Box   9 Folder   6-7	Commonplace books, 1806, 1808, 1812-1817 (Volumes 136-137, 148)
	Notebooks
Box   9 Folder   8	, 1824-1825 (Volume 173)
Box   10 Folder   1	Nashotah funds? (Volume 151)
Box   10 Folder   2	“Memos for a report,” 1838-1840 (Volume 135)
Box   10 Folder   3	Plans and accounts, 1845-1850 (Volume 134)
Box   10 Folder   4	, 1870 (Volume 153)
Box   10 Folder   5	Fancy handwriting and Daniel Kemper obituary (Volume 164)
Box   10 Folder   6	Wisconsin memoranda, undated (Volume 159)
Box   10 Folder   7	Culinary and medical recipe book, undated
	Family Papers
Box   10 Folder   8	Biographical and genealogical miscellany
	Adams, Elizabeth Marius Kemper
Box   10 Folder   9	Church almanacs/diaries, 1832, 1840, 1842-1843, 1846, 1848, 1855 (Volumes 165-171)
Box   10 Folder   10	Register of Jackson Kemper activities covering , 1835-1866 (Volume 143)
Box   10 Folder   11	Bible class notes, 1838 (Volume 161)
	Correspondence
Box   11 Folder   1	From EKA, 1843-1858
Box   11 Folder   2-6	From Helen Griffiths (Mrs. W.T. Griffiths)
Box   11 Folder   7	Miscellaneous correspondence
Box   11 Folder   8	Adams, William, Ordination record among the Oneida, 1824, and Nashotah Socialist
	Durand, Samuel Relf
Micro 623 Reel   1 Frame   106-165	Biographies of the Kemper-Relf-Poynett family, 1972, and portraits of Samuel Relf and William Poyntell
Wis Mss G Box   11 Folder   9	Biography of Jackson Kemper, undated
	Jerusha Lyman Kemper (first wife, died 1818)
Box   12 Folder   1	Letterbook, 1812 (from Liverpool, Volume 133)
Box   12 Folder   2-4	Correspondence to Jackson Kemper, 1814-1817, undated
Box   12 Folder   5-6	Correspondence from Jackson Kemper, 1814-1816, undated
Box   12 Folder   7	Ledgers of conduct, 1816-1817 (Volumes 130-132)
Box   12 Folder   8	Account book-Lyman estate?, 1811, (Volume 149)
Box   12 Folder   9	List of china and glassware, 1816
Box   13 Folder   1	Ann Relf Kemper (second wife, died 1832) Accounts, , 1823, 1829-1930 (Volumes 139, 163)
Box   13 Folder   2	Poyntell, William, Will extract, undated
Box   13 Folder   3	Relf, Sarah, Letters received
	Relf, Samuel
Box   13 Folder   4	Original finding aid for Micro 623
Micro 623	Microfilmed papers
Reel   1 Frame   1	Poyntell, William to Ann Wilcocks Poyntell, 1802-1803
Reel   1 Frame   64	William Tayler to Relf for the National Gazette, 1801-1807
Wis Mss G Box   13 Folder   5	Whiting, William B. autobiography
Box   13 Folder   6	Unidentified
	Visual Materials
	Portraits
PH 6584 Box   1 Folder   1	Bishop Jackson Kemper
PH 6048 Box   1 Folder   1	Bishop Jackson Kemper (continued)
PH 6584 Box   1 Folder   2	Elizabeth Kemper Adams, Adams family, Relf family
Box   1 Folder   4	Unidentified people
PH 6048 Box   1 Folder   2	Jerusha Lyman Kemper (first wife)
Box   1 Folder   3	Ann Relf Kemper (second wife)
Box   1 Folder   4	Lewis Ashurst Kemper (son)
Box   1 Folder   5	Jackson B. Kemper (grandson)
	Residences
Box   1 Folder   6	Birthplace, Pleasant Valley, New York
PH 6584 Box   1 Folder   3	Nashotah, Wisconsin; Nashotah Seminary
PH 6048 Box   1 Folder   7	Residence, Nashota, Wisconsin
Box   1 Folder   8	Residence, Delafield, Wisconsin