Joseph Alison McKemey and Cynthia A. Hemphill

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Husband Joseph Alison McKemey ¹

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           Born: 27 Mar 1815 - Washington, Washington Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 3 Jan 1898 - Fairfield, Jefferson Co, IA 1
         Buried:  - Fairfield, Jefferson Co, IA

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         Father: James W. McKemey (1787-1816) 1
         Mother: Martha Alison (1793-1858) 1

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       Marriage: 28 Feb 1844 - Jefferson Co, IA 1

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Wife Cynthia A. Hemphill ¹

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           Born: 10 Jun 1818 - Bedford Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 3 Oct 1908 - Fairfield, Jefferson Co, IA 1
         Buried:  - Fairfield, Jefferson Co, IA

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Children

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• Descendant information.
To view a listing of their descendants, click here.

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General Notes: Husband - Joseph Alison McKemey

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He had a good education and learned the saddlery trade. In the spring of 1839 he left Pennsylvania and went to Burlington, Iowa, making most of the trip on horseback, and arriving June 24th of that year. From Burlington he went to Bentonsport, Iowa, where he remained until 1842, when he purchased a 480-acre tract of land south of Fairfield, which he went to and improved. In 1845 he opened a harness shop in Fairfield and continued in that business until 1857, when he was elected treasurer of Jefferson County and served in that position for three consecutive terms. In 1863 he again went into business and continued in it until he retired in 1884.
In early life he was a Whig with strong anti-slavery views, was a member of the first anti-slavery society organized in his county and a delegate to the first Republican convention held in Iowa. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church until during the war, when he left it and joined the Congregational Church. He was a charter member of Clinton Lodge No. 15 of Masons, which was organized in 1847, and was the third man initiated into the mysteries of Masonry in Jefferson County.

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General Notes: Wife - Cynthia A. Hemphill

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She went west in 1842.

1 Ella Campbell Slagle Nichols, Family Record (Pittsburgh, PA: Privately published, 1914).