Notes:
Data source is Jack Singleton, e-mail jwiltsing@msn.com
1870-1880 John was a cooper by trade
1870 Census - His assets were: Real Estate $1600, Personal $250 and he was a citizen.
October 1, 1904 His Will written this date, but released on Oct 7,1907
1863-1865 - He served in the Civil War-1/1/63-6/12/65. Co G 9th Regt. Pennsylvania.
1865 - Paralysed lower limbs; $74.00 pension
In 1907 he died of Apoplexy
From the "Biographical Annals of Lancaster County", 1903:
"John Kemmerly, now a retired cooper at Newtown, Rapho township, Lancaster county, was born near Wittenberg (sic), Germany, May 6, 1830, a son of John and Margaret (Weitzer) Kemmerly, who were born in Germany, where their lives were spent. The father died in 1870, at the age of sixty-nine years. The mother, who died in 1879, was eighty-three years old. They had the following children, all of whom, with the exception of John, remained in Germany: John; Barbara, who married a Mr. Milburger; Jacob; Mary; Louie.
John Kemmerly sought a home in this country in his early manhood and was married in Lancaster, Pa, in 1855, to Elizabeth Mumma, by whom he became the father of the following children: Mary, the wife of Harry Weaver, a farmer in Rapho township; John, who lives at Newtown, married to Catherine Martin; Barbara, deceased; Jacob, a merchant at Columbia, who married Sarah Sheetz; Elizabeth, deceased; Fred, married to Susan Gambers, and living in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Mumma) Kemmerly was born in Wrightsville, York Co., Pa., in September, 1830 and is the daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Gram) Mumma, both of Lancaster county, Pa., where they lived and died. He was a laborer.
John Kemmerly came to the United States in 1851, and spent his first winter in Philadelphia. He came to Columbia, Pa., where he remained until 1852, removing that year to Newtown, which has been his home to the present time.
Mr. Kemmerly enlisted at Mt. Joy, Oct. 26 1861, in Co G., 9th Pa. Cav., under Capt Jacob K. Waltman, and was discharged at McDougal Hospital at Ft. Cycle, N. Y., Jun 12, 1865. Enlisting for three years, he re-enlisted in June, 1864, under Capt. B. G. Heistand. Among the various engagements in which Mr. Kemerly participated were those at Tompkinsville and Paris, Ky., at Richmond, Perryville, and Franklin, Tenn. He was attached to the raid made by Gen. Carter, and remained with his command until he was wounded at Black River, N. C., March 16, 1865. His injury was received from a gunshot wound in the left hip, and he was taken to various hospitals, until his discharge at Fort Cycle.
When Mr. Kemmerly returned home he resumed his work as a cooper, having learned that trade in Germany. This was his steady occupation until 1885, when he was compelled to give up work. At the present time he occupies an invalid's chair, and receives a pension of seventy-two dollars a month from the general government, his wartime experiences having so seriously impaired his health. All his life an industrious and hardworking man, it is very hard for him to endure the burden of helplessness. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and is a man who character, abilities and disposition have brought him well to the front. In his long and wearisome illness he has the satisfaction of knowing that his pain and suffering have somehow a vital connection with the welfare of the country which he has made his own."