KEMPER, Walter Y., St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller
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Louisiana:  Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and
Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 232-233.  Edited by Alcée
Fortier, Lit.D.  Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.

Kemper, Walter Y., civil engineer and resident of Franklin, La., was born on
Cote Blanche Island, Saint Mary parish, La., Sept. 13, 1871, the son of
William P. and Monica (Rogers) Kemper.  His father was southern born, Saint
Mary parish being his native place, and his mother was born in Maine.  The
Kempers came from Virginian to Louisiana.  They were of German origin.  The
great-great-grandfather of Mr. Kemper was the first to come to Louisiana.  He
settled in Saint Mary parish, and there the family has lived for 5
generations, and its members for the greater part have been sugar planters. 
Mr. Kemper 's father was a veteran of the Civil war, in which he served 4
years as a private in a Louisiana regiment of the Confederate army.  He died
in 1890 at the age of 65 years, and his wife survived him 19 years and died at
the age of 74.  They had 7 children, of which Walter Y. is the youngest but
one.  Only one of the children are deceased.  All of them were reared on the
plantation.  Walter Y. Kemper was prepared for college by his sisters and
private governesses, and in 1890 he graduated in mining engineering from the
University of Alabama.  While in this university, Mr. Kemper took a course in
sugar chemistry, and after graduating was for 3 years a sugar chemist, then he
became manager of the parental plantation, and later of other plantations, his
last experience being in Cuba for one year.  He then returned to Louisiana and
located at Franklin, where he has since been engaged in civil engineering, but
in the meantime he has had time for politics, as a Republican, and in 1910 he
was appointed supervisor of United States census for the second Louisiana
census district.  In Oct., 1911, Mr. Kemper became solicitor of United States
internal revenue for the State of Louisiana, a position he now holds.  In
1894, Mr. Kemper and Miss Leonora Barton were united in marriage.  Mrs. Kemper
is a daughter of Mr. E. D. Barton, a prominent sugar planter of Saint James
parish, where she was born.  Five children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs.
Kemper.  They are:  Leonora Barton Kemper (Mrs. Robert H. Collins),  Walter Y.
Kemper, Jr.,  William P. Kemper,  Clarence Barton Kemper, and  Donald Barton
Kemper.