Mumblings: "Father Kemp"

In a prior post, I wrote about Robert Kemp's family life.  In this post, I will introduce you to another side of Robert Kemp as his alter ego "Father Kemp".  In the 1850s, Robert Kemp organized a group of local singers and musicians from the Reading, MA area into a troupe of traveling performers called the "Old Folks".  Kemp published an autobiography Father Kemp and his Old Folks (published by Rockwell & Rollins Printers, 122 Washington Street, Boston, 1868) in which he gives a glimpse of his personality and of the era in which he lived.  Kemp published several other song books one of which can be found here as an ebook.  (Original copies of his books and reprints are often available on eBay.)

Graphic from Father Kemp and his Old Folks

The Old Folks troupe dressed in costumes that were as much appreciated by the audiences as their singing.  The costumes were meant to depict people of historic interest such as George and Martha Washington, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and Daniel Boone.  Kemp's wife Elizabeth (Alden) and daughter Lizzie were part of the troupe. A digital copy of the picture shown below was provided to me by the Reading (MA) Public Library.  The names of those shown in the picture came from a June 20, 1930 issue of the town newspaper, The Reading Chronicle.

Old Folks Troupe (picture courtesy of the Reading, MA Public Library); picture with names printed in the June 20, 1930 Reading Chronicle

This troupe became very popular touring throughout many parts of the Eastern United States and England.  Kemp says in his autobiography that the Old Folks performed in over nine hundred concerts with more than one million in attendance.  The troupe performed before Abraham Lincoln who was on a lecture tour in Connecticut prior to his becoming president.  Kemp talks of Lincoln as if they were old friends.  Kemp says of Lincoln in his autobiography (page 80) "he was one of the most entertaining men I ever knew ... I passed, in the [railroad] cars and at the hotels, many pleasant hours in his company... we frequently performed in the same place." 

Kemp was quite a concert promoter.  He would arrange for the troupe to sing before notable people so that he could advertise that the troupe performed before those people of note.  In Washington D.C. they performed before President Buchanan.  "We sang a patriotic air or two, with which he seemed delighted."  On page 141 of his autobiography: "One of the first objects to be secured was to appear before the queen... that should the "Old Folks" do that, and have it announced on their bills, a great point would be made."  Kemp hired men "sandwiched between two boards" to walk around advertising their concerts.

Advertising Broadside

More on "Father Kemp" will be written in a future post.