Joseph Kemp, Early Wichita County Resident

Joseph Alexander Kemp was born July 31, 1861 to William T. Kemp (1840 – 1885) and Emma Frances Stinnett Kemp (1839 – 1932) in Clifton, Bosque County, Texas. Originally from Tennessee, by the time of the 1860 census, William was living in Clifton and working as a clerk. He and Emma Frances were married in the fall of 1860 and Joseph was their first born child. Emma came from a large family of at least thirteen children and her father was a merchant in Clifton. W. T. Kemp had served with Company K, 15th Texas Infantry, formerly known as Speight’s Battalion, during the Civil War. After the war, Kemp returned to Clifton to the store he had opened with Allen Stewart Anderson before the war began. Anderson (1830 – 1864) had married Mary Robison (1839 – 1869) and they had one son, Archibald D. Anderson and one daughter, Flora Ann Anderson.

Anderson was serving in the Confederate Army in Comanche, Texas when he was killed on June 15, 1864 by what now would now be called “friendly fire.” An unnamed group of Indians had slipped in and stolen all but one of the horses in the area the night before. Captain Anderson’s horse was the only mount not stolen. The next morning, the soldiers set out to search for the Indians and they were led by Captain Anderson. The goal of the mission was to find the trail of the Indians, try to circle around them and warn other settlements in their path. However, the direction the trail was leading headed away from the known settlements, so the troops turned back. On the way back to Comanche, they came across a lone horse with no saddle and only a rope around its neck. Thinking they might have happened on to the Indians they were seeking, the troops searched for them in a nearby thicket. Captain Anderson had dismounted and was kneeling in the brush. In the confusion, he was mistaken for one of the Indians and was shot with a shotgun by one of the troops and soon died. His body was taken back to his home in Clifton and he was buried there.

Captain and Mrs. Anderson’s daughter Flora later became the wife of William and Mrs. Kemp’s son Joseph in 1882. The couple would ultimately be married for almost fifty years and have five children, four daughters and a son.

Joseph Kemp had lived his early life in Clifton, graduating from high school there in 1878 and began running the family store. About five years later, he sold his interest in the store and moved north to Wichita Falls and opened a mercantile business that serviced the settlers in the area and also furnished supplies to Fort Sill, across the Red River and to the north in Indian Territory. Several years after that, he sold that business to begin a wholesale grocery business which he called J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery which serviced the county and other communities to the west. He operated this business for about fifteen years.

Joseph Kemp had a sister named Lula Kemp (1867-1957) who was about six years younger than him. Lula married Franklyn Kell (1859 – 1941), also from Clifton, in 1885. The couple also settled in Wichita Falls. Frank Kell and Joseph Kemp became partners with others in a railroad venture to link Wichita Falls and run about eighteen miles southeast to Henrietta in order to connect up with the MK&T (Katy) Railroad there. This venture was called the Wichita Falls Railway. It was chartered on June 5, 1894. According to an article by Clark Wheeler in the Texas State Historical Association, the Katy Railroad owned all the rolling stock and built the depot and service buildings just north of the downtown business district as part of its agreement with the new company. It operated for about fifteen years. Prior to that, Kemp, Kell and others founded another railroad company in 1906 with a plan to lay track between three and four hundred miles up into the Oklahoma Territory and on into Kansas. This company was called the Wichita Falls and Northwest Railway Company of Texas. Both companies were acquired by the Katy Railroad in 1911.

Oil development in this area began within a few years of 1910. According to Ginger Birdwell Beisch’s excellent book “KMA: Keeping Memories Alive,” Kemp and two other families, brothers Stephen Ingram and Hamilton McNutt Munger of Dallas and Reece Allen of Electra acquired the Jones Ranch south of Electra. They each brought their varied expertise to this association. In addition to the above rail interests, Kemp and family had founded the Wichita Glass Company and the Wichita Motor Truck Company. The Mungers had numerous agriculture related business interests including cotton gin equipment. The Reece Allen family had been involved in the early development of the Spindletop oilfield and a large farm and ranch operation in Wichita County. Oil was discovered in nearby Burkburnett around 1918 and the three families and other shareholders formed the KMA Oil Company.

The Fort Worth Record-Telegram in its issue of February 1, 1919 reported this, “Black Diamond Munger No. 1, drilling at 620 feet.” According to Mrs. Beisch’s book, the well was completed October 13, 1920 at a depth of 1,600 feet. This discovery prompted a flurry of drilling in the area. The town of Kemp (present day Kamay) sprang up to service the booming oil development. It included grocery stores, cafes, oilfield repair and supply companies, according to Mrs. Beisch. Typical of that day, housing was mostly in tents. The field in that area is still producing after one hundred years.

Kemp was also known for his keen interest in water resources and is considered instrumental to the development of lakes and reservoirs in the North Texas area. He was involved in the creation and construction of Lakes Wichita, Kemp and Diversion. This interest went hand in hand with the expansion of irrigation for farming applications. He is also known for his civic service, serving as county treasurer and was a member of the local school board. He and Flora donated a library building and a number of books to the city.

Kemp died in Austin on November 16, 1930. His body was transported back to Wichita Falls and his funeral was held on the following Wednesday, November 18, 1930 in Memorial Auditorium. The Brownsville Herald posted an obituary a few days later that included this tribute. “If ever a man lived a long life resolutely and nobly and fearlessly in the making of a proud state and a proud and happy people then this builder of the west, who has passed out of the picture, lived it and, dying, left behind him not only the love of thousands of people but their deep gratitude as well.” Mrs. Flora Kemp survived him another twenty-seven years. Both are buried in Riverside Cemetery in Wichita Falls.

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