In 1844 Mr. "F. T. " Kemper moved with his Aunt Mary Allison and her two sons to the bustling river port of Boonville. Steamboats pushed up and down the Missouri river and the Santa Fe Trail flourished with traders. A native of Virginia, Mr. Kemper had moved to the Hannibal area some six years earlier to study at the Presbyterian College of Marion.

In May of 1844, Professor Kemper and his Aunt started a school for boys with his cousins and three other students. If that number sounds small, the very next month The University of Missouri graduated its first class with four graduates. Within the year Mr. Kemper bought a lot on Third Street, built a brick house and moved the school permanently to that location where it still stands today. As a Professor he wrote a pamphlet for his students to explain his philosophy of teaching, "not to make mere scholars but real men". The pamphlet was entitled "Hoe Out Your Own Row" and was given to each student. In those days everyone had a hoe and garden to raise their own food. Mr. Kemper emphasized "responsibility, respect, community, take charge leadership and setting goals."

In 1854 Mr. Kemper named his school the Kemper Family School. That same year he married Susan Holden Taylor, who had moved here from Vermont to teach in a girls' school established by a Presbyterian minister. Together they would have eleven children, though only four lived to adulthood.

In 1854 Mr. Kemper was ordained an Elder of our Presbyterian Church and served in this church for many years. In 1856 he agreed to teach Greek at Westminster College, a Presbyterian school in Fulton. He held the post for five years before returning permanently to Boonville.

In 1861 at the beginning of the War Between the States (The Civil War), the Presbyterian Synod in Missouri held a meeting at our church to consider which side Presbyterians should take in the conflict. Battle lines were being drawn within the state and the different churches. The meeting was getting out of hand, thus Mr. Kemper moved that "the Presbyterians should stay with the Southern cause". The motion passed! However, those who were not in favor left the meeting, going across the street to Thespian Hall to continue their discussion. When the Synod brought the proposal before the General Assembly for a vote, the motion held. The southern churches united to form a different organization, The Presbyterian Church in the United States. Other denominations were also splitting. It wasn't until 1983 that the Presbyterian churches reunited to form the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Following the end of the Civil War, our congregation was again host to a Presbytery meeting at which Mr. Kemper moved that funds be made available to send African-Americans to seminaries. Our presbytery voted to do so.

Mr. Kemper died in 1881, having chosen Col. T. A. Johnston, also a member of this church, to succeed him as head of the school. Mr. Kemper was a highly respected member who contributed much to our church, to Boonville, to the nation and to other countries through his students. He proved that one person could accomplish a lot.

By Betty Windsor Bowen

Should anyone wish more information about the motion of 1861, or re-union of 1983, please see the Presbytery publication, Presbyterianism Spreads Westward.

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