Alfred Kemp
Sergeant Alfred Kemp was born in Poole, England on March 26th, 1814. Alfred was the 2nd son of Reverend George Kemp II and Elizabeth Miller. The family emigrated in 1828 to the new world and settled at Genesee Flats in the state of New York. The family then moved to Michigan, settling in Kalamazoo County. Alfred was married in Kalamazoo county in 1845 to Miss Mary Jones, a native of Pennsylvania, who was reared in Michigan.
Alfred Kemp enlisted as a private in Co. C Third Michigan cavalry on September 14th, 1861 and served in this regiment until May 1862 when he was discharged by order of the war department owing to an application of his father through General Wadsworth. Alfred’s father George Kemp II wrote in a letter to the family, “I am grieved to inform you that Albert although so young and by no means robust is about to become a soldier. He enlisted and also Alfred's eldest son William and expects to join the company of cavalry raised in our vicinity where our dear Alfred has obtained the office of sergeant. I am hoping and praying that peace may arrive before they are drilled and rescheduled for service. I do not think their health will stand the exposure of a winters campaign. I shall feel it a sad trial to part with them and the only relief from anxiety will be to leave them in the hands of a gracious God.”
On December 18th of the same year, Alfred re-enlisted in Co. H Seventh Michigan Cavalry and served therein as a sergeant until he was seriously wounded in the battle of Gettysburg, July 1863. In this engagement, he was with his regiment in a charge on the rebel position behind a stone fence. The Union troops were repulsed when sergeant Kemp attempted alone to rescue the regimental flag left on the ground in the repulse. But he was overpowered by the great force of the enemy and was struck down by saber strokes leaving gashes in his head and neck, his sister Harriet writes, “The skull bones never knit, although skin closed over the cavity, but the wound was always conspicuous, as I clearly recall.” It was a grievous wound which would trouble him with aches and severe headaches the rest of his life. Alfred was left for dead on the battlefield where he lay until the retreat of the rebel army when he was picked up by the Union forces and carried first to a hospital in Baltimore, and later to St. Mary’s Hospital in Detroit.
Alfred was discharged on account of his wounds on April 30th, 1864, after nearly three years of service.
His two elder sons William and Frederick also enlisted in the 7th Michigan and both survived the war.
Later in life, Alfred Kemp became a member of William A Kent post of the Grand Army on June 7th, 1895. He was also a sponsor of the local church. His reputation in the service was that of a brave and true soldier of the flag and it is told of him that his courage brightened the hopes of his comrades. His theme at post meetings was an old flag he loved so well, and nothing seemed so much to rouse his anger as to read or hear anything disrespectful to the boys in blue who defend the flag.
Alfred traded for several sections of land which he cleared and transformed into a good farm and after gave eight acres of land to each of his sons. Alfred Kemp later sold his property there and removed to Clinton County, where he purchased a place on which was a small house but few other improvements. He began to clear and develop that farm and carried on agricultural pursuits for a number of years, but eventually removed to Greenville, where his last days were passed. He died there on November 26th, 1901. His wife resided in Greenville until her death six years later. Their children are: Corporal William Kemp (1844-1935), Corporal Frederick William Kemp (1846-1917), Ernest Alfred Kemp (1861-1941), Oliver Cromwell Kemp (1850-1936), Mary Elizabeth Kemp (died in infancy), Elizabeth Kemp (died in infancy), and Harriet Constance Kemp Hutchinson (1863-1891).
Obituary
Greenville Independent
November 27th, 1901
Father Kemp did not rally from the paralytic stroke last week. He died Tuesday morning, aged 87 years and 8 months.
Alfred Kemp was born in Poole, England in 1814 and came to America in 1828, settling in Kalamazoo
In 1845 he married, and his wife survives him. Of the union, eight children were born, four daughters passed away, the four sons are living
He was a valiant soldier in the Union army in the war of the rebellion, serving in the cavalry. He received a serious saber cut in the had at the battle of Gettysburg.
He was a Christian serving the Master according to best knowledge and dictates of his conscience. He was a member of the Congregational Church.
He was a member of the Grand Army, and his comrades of the Greenville Post are pall-bearers and escort of honor at his funeral. Services at 2 o’clock on the Congregational church, conducted by Rev A.B Curtis. A brief military sketch will be published later.
The floral offerings were beautiful and profuse. Burial was at Forest Home Cemetery.