For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 346
JOHN M. KEMBLE. John M. Kemble is actively connected with the profession which has important bearing upon the stable prosperity of any community. He has given proof of his ability as both attorney and counsel which attest his thorough knowledge of the law and his ability to correctly apply its principles.He was born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, April 11, 1856, and is one of eight children whose parents were Amos and Margaret Jane (Appel) Kemble. The father was a farmer in young manhood and took up the study of medicine, expecting to make its practice his life work but failing health compelled him to abandon that plan. In 1850 he arrived in Iowa, reaching Keokuk on the 1st day of April, and he made his way from that place to a point about twenty miles east of Des Moines in Jasper county, where he took up his abode. There he followed farming until 1854, when he removed to Oskaloosa, residing there until 1880. While there he turned his attention to the business of canning fruit and vegetables, the undertaking claiming his attention for seven years. In 1880 he removed to Muscatine, where he built two factories. He is now engaged in the cement contracting business at the advanced age of eighty-three years. He and his wife were both born on the 15th of September, 1827, and on the 12th of March, 1910, they celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary. Both have led earnest Christian lives as faithful members of the Methodist church, and Mr. Kemble has also been prominent in the public affairs of the community, acting as the first deputy sheriff and later as sheriff of Mahaska county, Iowa.
In their family were eight children, as follows: Emma G., the widow of F. M. Hadley of Muscatine; Nora, the wife of John R. Terry of Muscatine; Hiram K., also of Muscatine; John M., of this review; Ida Jane, the wife of W. F. Hinsley of Lexington, Missouri; William E., of Oskaloosa, Iowa; Josephine, residing in Lexington, Missouri; and Charles W., engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance business in Muscatine.
The ancestral history of Mr. Kemble may be traced to Peter Kemble, who came from England about 1728 and settled at Dividing Creek, New Jersey. He was a member of the governor's council from 1740 until 1774. One of his descendants was John Kemble, the grandfather of John M. Kemble, who was born in Ohio in 1803 and lived in Columbiana county, that state, where he followed the occupation of farming. He married Elizabeth Frost and both died in the Buckeye state, the former when about seventy-two years of age, while his wife survived him for eight or ten years. Their family numbered nine children: Amos, Milton, Hiram, Elizabeth, Ira, Samuel, Joseph, Martha and Kay. The maternal grandfather was John Appel, who engaged in the teaming business, hauling supplies over the Alleghany mountains from Harrisburg to Pittsburg until killed in an accident while on one of the trips. His widow long survived him.
John M. Kemble was reared in his native city and was a pupil in the public schools until he completed the high-school course by graduation with the class of 1875. Because of impaired health he at once ceased from all study for a time and joined his father in the canning business, which he aided in carrying on from 1875 to 1882. In 1881 he took up the study of law and diligently applied himself to the mastery of the principles of jurisprudence, was admitted to the bar in January, 1882, and located for practice in Wilton, Iowa. In March of the following year he came to Muscatine, where he has since practiced his profession. Earnest effort, close application and the exercise of his native talents have won him prestige as a lawyer. An excellent presence, and earnest manner, marked strength of character, a thorough grasp of the law and the ability to accurately apply its principles makes him an effective and successful counselor.
On the 20th of June, 1889, Mr. Kemble was married to Miss Sarah Eva Waggoner, a daughter of John and Hetty (Coe) Waggoner, who were early settlers of this state but were natives of Ohio. Mrs. Kemble was born in Oskaloosa. Her mother died when Mrs. Kemble was but seven years of age, passing away in 1865, and her father passed away in August, 1910. David V., a brother of Mrs. Kemble, lives in Oskaloosa. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kemble six children have been born: Ralph, who died in infancy; Hetty Margaret; Harold John; Mildred; Charles Amos; and William Clifford, who died in October, 1909.
The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take an active and helpful part in its work, Mr. Kemble now serving as secretary of the official board. He has been quite active in politics as a stanch supporter of the republican party, and was the republican candidate for representative in the Iowa legislature in the fall of 1910. He has served as chairman of the county central committee, has been a member of the congressional committee and for nine years---from 1889 until 1898, served on the state central committee. He was internal revenue collector for the fourth district of Iowa from February, 1898, to August, 1902. He has been a man of influence in the party, his opinions carrying weight in its councils while his efforts have been elements in its success. He and his family now live at No. 1155 Lucas street, in a residence which was erected by Governor Lowe, and they are prominent in social circles of the community.
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