Samuel Kemp was born about 1772 - in Harbour Island, Bahamas. He may have been the son of Benjamin and Martha Kemp.
He married three times in Harbour Island: first, to Mary Russell 1 April 1798; second, about 1800, to Mary Sawyer; and third, 15 August 1814, to Amelia Russell.
He resided at Harbour Island until some time after 26 July 1818 when he and his third wife Amelia Russell Roberts Kemp sold property and shortly after moved to Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos.
Samuel was a slaveowner and registered 20 slaves at Green Turtle Cay, Abaco in 1831.
Samuel Kemp moved to Key West after the death of Amelia. He and son, Richard, appeared on a January 1837 passenger manifest that listed arrivals at the Port of Key West. Jefferson Browne - in his history of Key West - wrote: "In 1837, among the worthy persons who came to Key West from the Bahamas, was Mr Samuel Kemp..He was a Wesleyan Methodist and worshipped with those who resorted to the Court House.." Waler C. Maloney post humorously recalled him as " "Father Kemp," as he was usually called from reason of his advanced age, and his somewhat clerical demeanor,(Kemp) officiated as the pastor of the small congregation and was often assisted in the devotional exercises at his church or chapel, by Capt. Ogden of the United States Army station here at the time.
Samuel married Mrs. Lavinia Sawyer Singleton, 1 March 1853, at St Paul's, Key West. They divorced three years later.
Samuel Kemp Sr. died 9 January 1860 in Key West, Florida at about 87 years of age.
William Curry Harllee, Kinfolks, A Genealogical and Biographical Record, Special Edition 1998 of Curry and Kemp Sections., (Portland, Oregon: Clefan Publishing, 1998) 1849-1850. Volume 2, pages 1849 -1850.
Marriage Register, Parish of St John's Marriage Records, 1798. Russell-Kemp.
Harbour Island Marriages compiled by Stephen Smollett. (By Reverend William Mather.) August 1814.
Marriage Announcement, Bahama Gazette , Nassau, Bahamas, 28 August 1814. "Widow" Roberts and Samuel Kemp.
Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1813-1834 Bahamas, 1822, #216.
Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1813-1834 Bahamas, 1831, #526.
U.S., Atlantic Ports Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1873 and 1893-1959 for Samuel Kemp, State: Florida, Key West, 1837, January.
1840 United States Federal Census for Samuel Kemp, Florida Territory, Monroe, Key West.
"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DCJZ-3Q?cc=1401638&wc=95R8-79K%3A1031318401%2C1031455001%2C1031455002 : 9 April 2016), Florida > Monroe > Monroe county > image 38 of 58; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
"Florida Marriages, 1837-1974", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FW49-Z3N : 11 January 2020), Samuel Kemp Sr., 1853.
St. Paul's Burial Records, The Florida Genealogist, Fall 1991.
This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute sourced information?
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Samuel is 25 degrees from Herbert Adair, 21 degrees from Richard Adams, 22 degrees from Mel Blanc, 22 degrees from Dick Bruna, 22 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 33 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 20 degrees from Sam Edwards, 20 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 22 degrees from Marty Krofft, 17 degrees from Junius Matthews, 19 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 21 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
Categories: Bahamas, Kemp Name Study | The Bahamas