Topic summary
Stephen Hempstead
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Stephen P. Hempstead.
Life
Hempstead was born on October 1, 1812, in New London, Connecticut. He is the eighth son of Joseph and Celinda Hempstead. At the age of thirteen, Stephen Hempstead's family moved to St. Louis and settled a farm. After discovering his dislike of farm life, Hempstead left the farm in 1830 to work in a store in Illinois. Soon after, Stephen was enlisted in the Black Hawk War, where he served in the artillery company until the conflict was resolved.