This message appeared on this list. I do not respond to gatewayed messages--there are too many hoops through which one must jump. But, here is a partial reply. The sources mentioned may be of help. See below for my response. E.W.Wallace : Message: 1 Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:33:14 -0000 From: "gc-gateway@rootsweb.com" <gc-gateway@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] fellow descendantsof John Kemper and Alice Katrina Utterback To: <GERMANNA_COLONIES-L@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <1227666796.482610@rootsweb.com> Content-Type: text/plain; This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: misha412 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.virginia.germannacolo nies/185.1.2.1.2.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Please provide proof of your claim. We know of both Campers and Kempers in the descendency from the Germanna colonists. However, the histories that I have read indicate he was known as John Kemper after he settled. Are there primary source records that show he that he called himself John Camper? [above unsigned] Response from and confession of E.W.Wallace I really do not do a great deal of research on the Kempers in Virginia because I mostly work my way from *what I know* to the earliest days, rather than from the earliest days to the linkage which I have with the Kemper family--my paternal great-grandmother Amanda Jane Kemper, born in Texas ca 1845 but whose father was born most probably in Garrard Co., KY. About spelling--always regard the fact that the person making the records was generally the county clerk or the court clerk and not the principals themselves!!! Kemper, like many a German name, was spelled at least three ways: Kemper [modern spelling generally], Kamper and Camper. The difficulty I find is that the records list too MANY John Kempers!!! In Garrard Co., KY, where I do a good deal of my searching, there were two known John Kempers. No doubt they were related, but to what degree I know not. One was the grandfather of my great-grandmother. He lived near the Dicks River and his wife was Sarah Rosser. Another was probably a younger John Kemper who lived south of the elder John Kemper, and his wife was Judith Burdett [also spelled Burditt]. {I have written this from memory, and this may be in error) I suspect your best bet to study the early Kempers are 1) read the Kemper family genealogy on HeritageQuest, which database is available through many public libraries and some State libraries and 2) read the books of John K. Gott and others who have compiled books of Fauquier Co., VA. Fauquier Co. was formed 1759 from Prince William Co. Prince William Co. was formed in 1730 from Stafford and King George Cos. King George Co. was formed from Richmond County, and part of Westmoreland County was added later. My experience is that the records of Prince William Co. and of Stafford Co. are missing. The name of the book on HeritageQuest and also a film at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is Kemper, Willis Miller Genealogy of the Kemper family in the United States: descendants of John Kemper of Virginia; with a short historical sketch of his family and of the German Reformed colony at Germanna and Germantown, VA. If you live near an LDS family history center, you probably can order--for a fee- the film of the Kemper genealogy from Salt Lake City. It is a hefty book. Not all Kempers seem to be included, but it will give you a start. The book is over 100 years old, so try to double check each family presented. This may not be easy to do, as I am certain that the later generations corresponded with Mr. Kemper--as I am certain my great-grandmother did. Even she, who had never been out of the State of Texas, made an error in the birthplace of her deceased husband!!! This book should be supplemented by some of the appropriate publications of the Germanna Memorial Foundation. Genealogy is NOT easy!!! E.W.Wallace **************Life should be easier. So should your homepage. Try the NEW AOL.com. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000002)