PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::04801::A Guide to the Executive letter books of Governor James L. Kemper, 1874-1877)//EN" "04801.xml" A Guide to the Executive letter books of Governor James L. Kemper, 1874-1877 Governor, Office of the. Virginia. 35358 Claire Radcliffe Library of Virginia © 2014 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

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Machine-readable finding aid created in EAD by Claire Radcliffe, 23 June 2014 Description is in English A Guide to the Executive letter books of Governor James L. Kemper, 1874-1877 A Collection in the Library of Virginia 35358

Library of Virginia 2014 Craig Moore Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary The Library of Virginia A Guide to the Executive letter books of Governor James L. Kemper, 1874-1877 35358 2 v. (689 p.) English Virginia. Governor (1874-1877 : Kemper) Administrative Information Access Restrictions

For preservation purposes, please use microfilm (Misc. reel 6193)

Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Executive letter books of Governor James L. Kemper, 1874 Jan. 5-1877 Dec. 28. Accession 35358, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information unknown

Alternative Form Available

Also available on microfilm (Misc. reel 6193)

Biographical Information

James Lawson Kemper was born 11 June 1823 at "Mountain Prospect" in Madison County, Virginia, to William Kemper (1776-1853) and Maria E. Allison Kemper (1787-1873). He attended the Locust Dale Academy, then Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia, graduating in 1842. He read law under George W. Summers (1804-1868) of Kanawha County, (West) Virginia, and received a master's degree from Washington College. Admitted to the bar 2 October 1846, Kemper returned to Madison County to practice law. When the Mexican War began, Kemper was appointed captain in the First Virginia Regiment and served until the end of the war. In 1853, Kemper was elected to the House of Delegates and served until 1863. He was Speaker of the House from 1861 to 1863. Kemper also was appointed a general in the Virginia militia in 1858. When the Civil War began, Kemper was appointed colonel of the 7th Virginia Infantry. Due to his performance at the battle of Seven Pines, Kemper was promoted to brigadier general. He was wounded in Pickett's Charge on 3 July 1863, and was captured by Union troops a few days later. Exchanged in September 1863, he returned to his command. Kemper was put in command of the reserve forces of Virginia in 1864.

After the war ended, Kemper returned to his law practice in Madison County and pursued business interests. He was elected governor of Virginia in 1873 and served from 1874 to 1878. Much of his term was spent in dealing with Virginia's debt. On 12 March 1874, Kemper created controversy and angered his Conservative contemporaries by vetoing a bill to transfer control of the city government of Petersburg from elected Republican officials to a board of commissioners appointed by a city judge. Governor Kemper also played an integral part in the unveiling of John Henry Foley's statue to Stonewall Jackson on Capitol Square.

After he left the governor's office, Kemper returned to Madison County, then moved to Orange County in 1882. Kemper married Cremora Conway Cave (ca. 1837-1870) 4 July 1853 in Madison County, and they had seven children. Kemper died 7 April 1895 in Orange County and buried at the family cemetery at "Walnut Hills" in Madison County.

Scope and Content

Executive letter book contains the outgoing correspondence of Governor James L. Kemper between 1874 and 1877, arranged chronologically. Letters were written by Governor Kemper, clerk P. F. Howard, Secretary of the Commonwealth James McDonald, and personal secretaries Meade C. Kemper, S. Bassett French, Baker P. Lee, and Charles Rutledge Whipple. Governor Kemper corresponded with a variety of individuals in federal and state government as well as important private indiviudals,on issues including the state war debt, prisoners and the Penitentiary, the volunteer militia, the Petersburg city government bill veto, requests for patronage, the Centennial Exhibition, the Virginia Military Institute, boundary disputes with West Virginia and Maryland, and the Foley statue of Stonewall Jackson. The letter book also includes a number of messages addressed to the Senate and House of Delegates of Virginia.

 Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series: I. Executive letter books of Governor James L. Kemper, 1874-1877.

Arranged chronologically.

Virginia Governor (1874-1878 : Kemper), Executive papers of Governor James L. Kemper, 1874-1877. Accession 43755, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Index Terms Corporate Names: Virginia. Department of Military Affairs. Virginia. Governor (1874-1878 : Kemper) Virginia. Office of the Attorney General Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company College of William and Mary Eastern State Hospital (Va.) Eastern State Hospital (Va.) Office of the Superintendent Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (Va.) United States Centennial Commission University of Virginia Virginia Military Institute Virginia Military Institute -- History -- 19th century. Virginia Military Institute. Board of Visitors. Virginia Penitentiary. Virginia Penitentiary. Superintendent. United States. Adjutant-Generals Office United States. Department of State United States. Army. Quartermaster's Departmen United States. War Department Virginia. Department of Military Affairs Virginia. Office of the Attorney General Subjects: State governments -- Virginia -- Officials and employees. African Americans -- History -- 19th century. Convict labor -- 19th century. -- Virginia Extradition -- 19th century -- Virginia Flour -- Inspection -- Virginia. Governors -- Virginia. Indians of North America -- 19th century -- Virginia Jackson-Hope Medal. Mattaponi Indians Medals -- Virginia Monuments -- Virginia -- Richmond. National cemeteries -- Virginia. Oyster industry -- Chesapeake Bay (Md. and Va.) Pamunkey Indians Pardons -- Virginia. Prisoners -- 19th century. -- Virginia Statues -- Virginia -- Richmond Tobacco -- Inspection -- Virginia. Genre and Form Terms: Letter books. State government records. -- Virginia. Arkansas. -- Politics and government -- 19th century Maryland. -- Politics and government -- 19th century Louisiana -- History -- 19th century. Maryland -- Boundaries -- Virginia. Missouri -- Politics and government -- 19th century. North Carolina -- Politics and government -- 19th century. Petersburg (Va.) -- History -- Reconstruction, 1865-1877 Tennessee -- Politics and government -- 19th century. United States -- Centennial celebrations, etc. United States. -- History -- Reconstruction, 1865-1877 Virginia -- Boundaries -- Maryland. Virginia -- Capital and capitol. Virginia -- History -- 19th century. Virginia -- Militia -- History -- 19th century. Virginia -- Politics and government -- 19th century. West Virginia. -- Politics and government -- 19th century. Anderson, Joseph R. (Joseph Reid), 1813-1892. Armstrong, S. C. (Samuel Chapman), 1839-1893. Barbour, John Strode, 1820-1892 Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant), 1818-1893 Belknap, William W. (William Worth), 1829-1890. Benet, S. V. (Stephen Vincent), 1827-1895. Bennett, James Gordon, 1841-1918 Beresford Hope, A. J. B. (Alexander James Beresford), 1820-1887. Bigger, John Bell, 1829-1899. Blair, Montgomery, 1813-1883 Brogden, C. H. (Curtis Hooks), 1816-1901 Cadwalader, John L. (John Lambert), 1837-1914. Cameron, J. D. (James Donald), 1833-1918. Corcoran, W. W. (William Wilson), 1798-1888 Carrington, W. C. (William C.) Carroll, John Lee, 1830-1911. Daniel, Raleigh T. (Raleigh Travers), 1805-1877. Early, Jubal Anderson, 1816-1894 Ezekiel, Moses Jacob, 1844-1917. Garland, A. H. (Augustus Hill), 1832-1899 Gildersleeve, Basil L. (Basil Lanneau), 1831-1924. Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885. Groome, James Black, 1838-1893 Hardin, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1820-1892 Hart, Joel T. (Joel Tanner), 1810-1877 Hendricks, Thomas A. (Thomas Andrews), 1819-1885 Ingalls, Rufus 1818-1905 Jackson, Mary Anna, 1831-1915 Jackson, Stonewall 1824-1863. Jacob, John Jeremiah 1829-1893 Johnson, Bradley T. (Bradley Tyler), 1829-1903 Kemper, James Lawson, 1823-1895. Lamb, William, 1835-1909. Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905. Mahone, William, 1826-1895 Mann, A. Dudley (Ambrose Dudley), 1801-1889 Maury, Matthew Fontaine, 1806-1873 McCaw, James B. (James Brown), 1823-1906. McCulloch, Hugh, 1808-1895 Michelbacher, M. J. (Maximilian J.), 1811?-1879 Peyton, Jesse Enlows, 1815-1897. Phelps, John S. (John Smith), 1814-1886 Pickett, George E. (George Edward), 1825-1875. Porter, James D. (James Davis), 1828-1912 Richardson, William H. (William Harvie), 1795-1876. Ruffin, Frank G. Smith, James M. (James Milton), 1823-1890 Smith, Francis H. (Francis Henney), 1812-1890 Smith, William, 1797-1887 Stribling, Francis T. (Francis Taliaferro), 1810-1874 Strother, George French, 1783-1840. Stuart, Alexander H. H. (Alexander Hugh Holmes), 1807-1891 Stuart, Jeb, 1833-1864 Valentine, Edward Virginius, 1838-1930. Vance, Zebulan Baird, 1830-1894. Tilden, Samuel J. (Samuel Jones), 1814-1886. Venable, Charles S. (Charles Scott), 1827-1900. Vincent, Thomas M. (Thomas MacCurdy), 1832-1909. Ward, Henry A. (Henry Augustus), 1834-1906 Yuengling, D. G. (David Gottlieb), 1806-1877 Van Lew, Elizabeth, 1818-1900 Wise, Richard A. (Richard Alsop), 1843-1900.