Herman Henry Kemper (1882-1964) was an American-born farmer and political figure in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. He represented

Gull Lake Gull Lake may refer to: Native American entities *Gull Lake Indian Reservation, located near Brainerd, Minnesota, surrounding Gull Lake *Gull Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa, whose descendants are located on the White Earth Indian Reservation L ...

in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1934 to 1938. He was born on a farm in

Hebron, Nebraska Hebron is a city in, and the county seat of, Thayer County, Nebraska, Thayer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,441 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. History Hebron was founded about 1869 by a colony of Disciples ...

, the son of Frank Herman Kemper and Louisa Haulker. In 1906, Kemper found work with a survey crew working on the railway west of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. He returned home later that year but, in the summer of 1907, he traveled north again and worked on a farm near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Later in 1907, he settled on a

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

south of

. Kemper returned to Nebraska and married Mina Burwell in 1911. The couple returned to Saskatchewan later that same year. After working on a farm near Moose Jaw, they were able to purchase land not far from his original homestead. Kemper served on the rural municipal district council for Arlington. He was also a director for the Saskatchewan section of the

United Farmers of Canada The United Farmers of Canada was a radical farmers organization. It was established in 1926 as the United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section) as a merger of the Farmers' Union of Canada and the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association.MacPh ...

. Kemper was elected during the

1934 Saskatchewan general election The 1934 Saskatchewan general election was held on June 19, 1934, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. The Liberal Party of Saskatchewan, Liberal Party of former List of premiers of Saskatchewan, Premier James Garfield Ga ...

, representing Gull Lake as a member of the Farmer-Labour Group (FLG). The FLG was founded in 1932. In 1935, it changed its name and officially became the Saskatchewan section of the national

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

or CCF. During the eighth provincial election on June 19, 1934, the FLG had five elected members come to office, including Kemper. He was defeated when he ran for reelection to the provincial assembly in

in 1938 and in the Maple Creek federal riding in 1940. In 1953, Kemper sold his farm and retired to the town of Shaunavon. He died in a car accident near Tompkins while travelling to a CCF rally.

References

1882 births 1964 deaths People from Hebron, Nebraska American emigrants to Canada Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs 20th-century Canadian politicians Road incident deaths in Canada Accidental deaths in Saskatchewan Farmers from Saskatchewan {{Saskatchewan-politician-stub