The rest of the Kempen Clan part 1 (Fanning Side)

In the last post I discussed the Kempens and their Yorkville upbringing. The Kempens immigrated from Germany in 1882. My great x3 grandfather, Gerdes "George" Kempen (1840 - ?), appears to come to the U.S. prior to the rest of the family. The 1910 census states that the whole family arrived in 1882, but generally the husband had to be in the country for a couple of years prior to bringing the rest of the family over. I have found the passenger manifest for the Kempen family minus Gerdes. On December 5, 1882, aboard the ship Neckar, Vendelina Helena Niemeyer Kempen and seven children arrived on the shores of the United States, but not at Ellis Island like we have been led to believe but at Castle Garden located at the Battery in NYC. Castle Garden was part of Fort Clinton and was the first immigrant debarkation in NY, in use from 1855-1890 when the federal government took over immigration affairs at Ellis Island.

 Passenger list for the steamship Neckar on Dec. 5, 1882. Kempens are 6 lines down.

Gerdes and Vendalina Kempen had seven children that I know of:

• Folkert George Kempen (1864 - ?)
• Bernhard H. Kempen (1866 - 1915)
• Heinrich Kempen (1869 - ?)
• Felix Kempen (1872 - ?)
• Gerhard Kempen (1875 - ?)
• Rinsie (?) (1876 - ?)
• Charles "Carl" Kempen (1880 - ?)

The family lived at 231 East 89th St according to Trow's City Directory of 1888 & 1889. Vendalina died between this time and 1910 census. In 1910 Gerdes, 70 years old, is listed as living with his son, Bernhard, in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

The eldest son, Folkert, was married on January 29, 1893, to Emma Kuhne (1866 - ?) in Manhattan. Folkert was a cigar dealer and the family moved to Rockville Centre by 1920. Their children were Margret (1894 - 1975) who married Robert J. Wundsam (1895 - 1979) in 1919 in Manahattan. They lived in Woodside & Flushing. He died in Stormville, NY. They had a son Robert Jr. (1925 - 1944) apparently killed during WW 2. Although he died in 1944, his body was not returned to the U.S. until 1948 and is interred at the National Cemetery in Farmingdale.

Folkert's middle child was George F. Kempen (1896 - 1963). According to his WW 1 registration card, he was employed by the Harvard Co. as a mechanic and lived at the 1669 3rd Ave address. He served as an Army Corporal during 1918. 1920 census reports he worked for a dentist and lived on Driscoll Ave in Rockville Centre. On June 22, 1924, he married Mary E. Hilderbrand (1901 - 1953) in Manhattan and they moved to Woodside, Queens, where George worked for Ford Instrument Co. He died in 1963 and is buried at the National Cemetery in Farmingdale. I have not found any children for George and Mary.

The youngest child of Folkert and Emma is William Theodore Kempen (1900 - 1975). The 1920 census also shows him living at Driscoll Ave, Rockville Centre and he was married to Lucy "Lulu" (1905 - 1989) but I do not know when. William is listed in several local directories as a Nassau County Police Detective. They had two sons, William Jr. (1928 - 1998) and George Russell Kempen (1938 - 1976). I have not found too much about Willam, but in a previous post I did highlight the life and death of George, also a Nassau County Police Officer. He was killed in the line of duty while trying to apprehend a car thief. George was married to Bernice (1940) and they have a son George C. (1965).

I find much of this mildly ironic since so much of the Fanning family is connected to the areas where this family resided yet we never knew them. I have two uncles who married into the family who grew up in Woodside and my wife's family is from Astoria & Elmhurst. I lived in a neighboring town to the Kempens that lived in Rockville Centre. I will continue with the other Kempens in the next post.