52 Ancestors - Week 24: #31, Mary Jane (Sovereen) Kemp (1840-1874)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  Here is my ancestor biography for week #24:

Mary Jane Sovereen (1840-1874) is #31 on my Ahnentafel List, and is my 2nd great-grandmother. She married James Abraham Kemp (1831-1902) in 1861.

I am descended through:

*  their daughter, #15, Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952), who married #14 Charles Auble (1849-1916) in 1898.
*  their daughter, #7 Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977), who married #6 Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976) in 1918.
* their daughter, #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002), who married #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) in 1942.
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

 =====================================================

1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Name:                      Mary Jane Sovereen [1]

*  Sex:                         Female   

*  Father:                   Alexander Sovereign (1814-1907)   

*  Mother:                   Elizabeth Putman (1820-1895)   

  

*  Alternate Name:       M. J. Sovereen [6-7]

*  Alternate Name:       Mary Kemp [4]

*  alternate Name:        Mary Jane Kemp [3, 5]

2)  INDIVIDUAL FACTS  (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Birth:                      29 December 1840, Windham, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada [2-3]

*  Census:                   1 April 1851 (age 10), Windham, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada [1]

*  Census:                   1 April 1871 (age 30), Windham, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada [4]

*  Death:                     20 May 1874 (age 33), of typhoid fever; Middleton, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada [3, 5]

*  Burial:                     after 20 May 1874 (after age 33), Delhi Cemetery, Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada   

  

3)  MARRIAGES/CHILDREN  (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

  

*  Spouse 1:                James Abraham Kemp (1831-1902)   

*  Marriage 1:             10 March 1861 (age 20), Middleton, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada [6-7]

*  Child 1:                   Sarah Elizabeth Kemp (1862-1946)   

*  Child 2:                   Seymour Kemp (1864-1877)   

*  Child 3:                   Melvina Marylis "Minnie" Kemp (1866-1929)   

*  Child 4:                   Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952)   

*  Child 5:                   James Alexander Kemp (1872-1934)   

 

4)   NOTES   (with source citations as indicated in brackets) - revised June 2025:

Mary Jane Sovereen was born 29 December 1840 in Windham township, Norfolk county, Canada West, the eldest daughter and first child of Alexander and Eliza (Putman) Sovereen, who married in 1840 in Windham toenship. Mary Jane’s siblings were Frederick Sovereen (1842-1846), Rosella Elizabeth Sovereen (1844-1845), Amart Ann Sovereen (1846-1849), Rachel E. Sovereen (1848-1849), Gertrude Ann Sovereen (1851-1938), Sarah Adelaide Sovereen (1853-1915), Nancy Amelia Sovereen (1855-1927), Roselia Sovereen (1856-1856), Valzoria Sovereen (1856-1877), Hattie I. Sovereen (1859-1919), Frederick Alexander Sovereen (1861-1942), Alexander Blake Sovereen (1863-1942), and Wilbert Melvin Sovereen (1867-1940).

The James A. Kemp Bible record lists the birth of Mary Sovereen as 29 December 1840.[2] The death record for Mary Jane Kemp indicates that she was born in Windham township in Ontario.[3]

In the 1851 census for Norfolk County, Ontario, the Alexander Sovereen family resided in Windham township.[1] The household included:

• Alexander Sovereen - age 40, a farmer born in Upper Canada (U.C.), a Baptist
• Elizabeth Sovereen - age 30, female, born in Upper Canada, a Baptist
• Mary J. Sovereen - age 12, female, born in Upper Canada, a Baptist
• Rachel E. Sovereen - age 6, female, born in Upper Canada, a Baptist

There is no census record for Mary Jane Sovereen or Mary Jane Kemp in the 1861 Ontario West census records. Her parents were not enumerated either.

James A. Kemp and Mary Jane Sovereen married on 10 March 1861 in Norfolk County, Canada West. The marriage record for James A. Kemp and M.J. Soverein has this information:[6,7]

• Name: James A. Kemp
• Birth Place: Canada
• Age 27
• Father's Name: Abram James
• Mother's Name: Sarah
• Spouse Name: M.J. Soverein
• Spouse's age: 21
• Spouse birth place: Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario
• Spouse residence: Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario
• Spouse father name: Alexander
• Spouse mother name: Elizabeth
• Marriage Date: 10 Mar 1861
• Marriage County: Norfolk

James Abraham Kemp and Mary Jane Sovereen had the following children:

• Sarah Elizabeth Kemp, born Jun 1862, Middleton, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada; married Andrew John Cropp, 14 Aug 1889, Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada; died 3 Feb 1946, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States.
• Seymour Kemp was born about 1864 in Middleton, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada.45 He appeared in the census on 1 Apr 1871 in Windham, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada.46 He died in 1877 at the age of 13 in probably Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada.
• Melvina Marylis "Minnie" Kemp, born 28 Nov 1866, Middleton, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada; married James Henry Trembley, 23 Sep 1885, St. Thomas, Elgin, Ontario, Canada; died 23 Dec 1929, Welland, Ontario, Canada.
• Georgianna "Georgia" Kemp, born 4 Aug 1868, Middleton, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada; married Charles Auble, 19 Jun 1898, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; died 8 Nov 1952, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States.
• James Alexander Kemp, born 12 Jul 1872, Middleton, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada; married Bertha Anice Fuller, 26 Aug 1892; died 12 Sep 1934, Los Angeles, California, United States.

In the 1871 Census Records for Norfolk County, Ontario, the James Kemp family included:[4]

• James Kemp, Age 40, born Ontario, Religion Wesleyan Methodist, Origin English, Carpenter;
• Mary Kemp, Age 30, born Ontario, Religion Baptist, Origin German;
• Sarah Kemp, Age 9, born Ontario, Baptist;
• Seymour Kemp, Age 7, born Ontario, Baptist;
• Melvina Kemp, Age 5, born Ontario, Baptist;
• Georgianna Kemp, Age 2, born Ontario, Baptist.

Mary Jane (Sovereen) Kemp died on 20 May 1874 in Windham, Ontario of typhoid fever at the age of 33. She left five children for her husband to raise. The Ontario death record includes this information:[3]

• Name and Surname of Deceased: Mary Jane Kemp
• When Died: 20th May 1874
• Sex -- Male of Female: F
• Age: 33 years
• Rank or Profession: Wife of James Kemp; Farmer, Middleton
• Where Born: Windham County Norfolk Canada
• Certified cause of Death, and duration of Illness: Typhoid Fever ill Three weeks
• Name of Physician, if any: A W Sovereen M.D.
• Signature, description and residence of informant: A. W. Sovereen M.D. Delhi
• When Registered: 29th May 1874
• Religious Denomination: Baptist
• Signature of Registrar: J.C.H. Herron
• Remarks: 004105 [stamped]

Mary Jane Kemp was buried in Delhi Cemetery in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario ( listing from Donna Kemp of Brantford, Ontario).

5)  SOURCES

1. Census of Canada, 1851, Norfolk County, Ontario, District 25,  Subdistrict 237, Township of Windham, page 35 (stamped), lines 32-35, Alexander Sovereen household; digital image, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1871/index-e.html : accessed 10 March 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada Microfilm C-9909.

2. James Abram Kemp Family Bible transcript (typed transcript obtained from Betty Carringer Seaver before 2002).

3. "Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947," online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing Archives of Ontario, Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1938. MS 935, reels 1-615. Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Volume B (1874), page 103, No. 4105, Mary Jane Kemp entry.

4. Census of Canada, 1871, Norfolk County, Ontario, Schedule #1, district 12, North Norfolk, subdistrict b, Township of Windham, Page 50, Dwelling 178, Family #182, James A. Kemp household ; digital image, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1871/index-e.html : accessed 10 March 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada Microfilm C-9909.

5. Cheryl Kemp Taber, "Kemps and Kin," online database, Rootsweb WorldConnect Project (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cdn-kemp), citing R.G.80-8 Registration #004105.  May 20, 1874, Middleton Tp., Norfolk County, ON.

6. Cheryl Kemp Taber, "Kemps and Kin," online database, Rootsweb WorldConnect Project  (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cdn-kemp), citing R.G.B. Norfolk County Marriage Records, Book 1839-1869, page 302.

7. Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1928, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), James A. Kemp and M. J. Soverein entry.

================================

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/06/52-ancestors-week-24-31-mary-jane.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randal;l J. Seaver