Begin Again relocated slaves and land


George Washington Kemp, Leeds, ca. 1890

George Washington Kemp, Leeds, ca. 1890
Item 99381   info
Maine Historical Society

George Washington "Wash" Kemp, pronounced "Camp," came to Maine early in January 1865 with Captain Charles Howard after serving with him and his brother, General Otis Howard in the Union Army.

Kemp, a former slave who had escaped to Union lines early in the Civil War, was to stay in Leeds and assist Howard's widowed mother on her farm.

Howard and Kemp (1833-1911) arrived with a pony, a birthday gift for the nine-year-old son of General O.O. Howard, Charles Howard's older brother.

A year after Kemp's arrival, the Howards helped to find Kemp's wife and two young children and brought them to Maine. The Kemp family later moved to its own farm in Leeds.

The family was well known throughout Maine and New England as Jubilee singers.

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