Charles Duncan Clepper 1840-1923

CHARLES DUNCAN KLEPPER/CLEPPER (John, P.James, Phillip, Jacob Sr.), was born 5 Nov. 1840 Battle Creek Community, Marion Co., Tn.; son of John and Amanda M. (Birdwell) Klepper/Clepper; died Grimes Co., Tx. 1923; buried Fields Store Cemetery, Waller Co., Tx.

He came to Texas with his father ca 1856 at the age of 16. He joined the CW at Montgomery, Tx. on 10 Oct. 1861 (his age listed as 19) in Capt. R. F. Oliver's Co., 5th Regiment Texas Volunteers. He is listed as Sgt. in Co. K 20th Reg't. Texas Infantry on Dec. 1864, on leave for 30 days. His discharge date is not given.

Married 17 Oct. 1866 Montgomery Co., Tx. to Mary Jane Mc Alpine; born 18 Oct. 1844 Marengo Co., Al.; daughter of Archibald Brown and Eliz. Jane (Edwards) Mc Alpine (812); died 29 Apr. 1920 Grimes Co., Tx.; buried Fields Store Cemetery, Waller, Tx.

Charles sold out in Montgomery Co. in 1866 and moved to Washington Co. with his father John and grandfather P.James where he paid taxes in 1868. Mary Jane's father, Archibald B. Mc Alpine died 22 Jan. 1867, and they moved back to Montgomery Co. to be near her mother. He paid taxes in 1868-75 in Montgomery Co., and listed in the 1870 census of Montgomery Co., Tx. His grandfather, P.James Clepper moved to Whitney, Hill Co., Tx. where he died in 1880. His father, John Clepper moved to Coryell Co. 1872-78. His brother Wm. B. Marshall Clepper (500) received a land grant in Milam Preemption (in what is now Coryell Co.) on 7 Mch. 1875 and Charles is listed as chain barrier. It is possible that he lived in Coryell Co. for a short time.

Mary Jane (Mc Alpine) Clepper's great uncle, Dugald Mc Alpine (807) lived at Whitehall, Grimes, Tx. and passed away on 31 May 1876. His estate was settled in 1876/7. According to Grimes Co., Tx. deed records, Book O page 21, Mary Jane received 6/11 of 1/30 or 156 6/10 acres of land and $58.30 in the division of the estate of Dugald Mc Alpine. First being 108 6/10 acres in Caleb Wallace League, lot 17 of Dugal division; second, 47 acres in the J. E. Groce league being SW corner 114/52 of map survey of McAlpine town. Charles and Mary Ann purchased 60 acres in 1881 from A. B. Mc Alpine, Jr. (946), located in the J. H. Kewley Survey, being lot 124/2 of the Dugald division.

Charles D. paid taxes in 1878 in Grimes Co., Tx., and he is in the 1880-1910 censuses of Grimes Co., Tx. They lived in Grimes Co., until ca 1881 when they moved back to the old Arch. Mc Alpine place about 3 miles north of the town of Montgomery to be near town in their old age. Mary Jane became homesick for her children, and they moved back to Grimes Co. where they died.

Children all born Tx.:
1. Archibald Brown Clepper b. 15 Aug. 1867.
2. Charles Duncan Clepper Jr. b. 16 Feb. 1870.
3. Mary Jane Clepper b. 16 Feb. 1870; mar. Charles Gordon Sullivan (1C1R).
4. William Wesley Morris Clepper b. 3 Mch. 1872.
5. James Angus Clepper b. 7 Sept. 1874.
6. Susie Anner Clepper b. 28 Dec. 1876.
7. Alex Smith Mc Alpine Clepper b. 3 Jan. 1879.
8. Dugald Clepper b. 7 Aug. 1881; died 21 Aug. 1882.
9. Grover Cleveland Clepper b. 13 Sept. 1884.
10. John Franklin Clepper b. 12 May 1888.
11. Elizabeth Jane "Betty" Clepper b. 27 Jan. 1891.


REFERENCE:
* Clepper - Mc Alpine Bible (in possision of Mary Riley, Magnolia, Tx.)
* Arch. B. Clepper Bible (in possision of Mrs. Willie Haygood, Houston, Tx.), copied by Jean Clepper
* Montgomery Co., Tx. Marriage Records
* 1850 Marion Co., Tn.
* 1860-70 Montgomery Co., Tx.
* 1880-1910 Grimes Co., Tx. censuses
* Tax records of Montgomery Co., Tx., Washington Co., Tx. and Grimes Co., TX
* "The Herald, Vol. 6 # 3" - Poll records of Montgomery Co
* Land records of Montgomery, Coryell and Grimes, Co., TX
* Civil War Records
* Cemetery records of Waller Co., TX
* 1884 Texas Gazatteer; Montgomery Co., Tx. History
* Grimes Co. Tx. History.
* FindAGrave.com

John Clepper 1816-1885

JOHN KLEPPER/CLEPPER (P.James, Phillip, Jacob Sr.), was born 30 July 1816 (bible), 12 June 1812 (cemetery), 1814/15 (according to the 1850-80 census); son of P.James and Christiana (Collier) Klepper/Clepper; died 19 Jan. 1885 at his home, Brad, Palo Pinto, Tx.; buried Brad Cemetery, Palo Pinto Co., Tx.

Married 26 Apr. 1838 (according to entry in the bible of her nephew John Brown Birdwell in Ark., as copied by Jessie M. Parker) to Amanda M(enerva) Birdwell; born ca 1823, Franklin Co., Tn.; daughter of Moses and Sarah (Duncan) Birdwell; died after Feb. 1886 in Grimes Co., Tx.; burial place unknown.

Probate records of Palo Pinto Co., Tx. dated 19 Nov. 1885 state he left a wife, Amanda, and the following children: L. D. Clepper, age 47 years, resident of Coryell Co., Tx.; C. D. Clepper age 45 years, resident of Grimes Co., Tx.; Lem Clepper age 41 years resident of Palo Pinto Co., Tx.; Mrs. S. E. Evarett age 38 years, resident of Coryell Co., Tx.; Wm. Clepper age 33 years, resident of Palo Pinto Co., Tx. and two grandchildren, Miss Amanda Ketchler (sic) age 15 years resident of Washington Co., Tx. and Josy Clepper age 3 months, resident of Palo Pinto Co., Tx., infant daughter of a son, Joseph Clepper, decd.

His father was in White Co., Tn. in 1811 and Franklin Co., Tn. by 1812. Marion County was taken from Indian lands in 1817 and his father P. James and uncle (V). John Clepper (234) purchased 106 acres for $700.00 (B-297) from Isaac H. Roberts and John Mc Murray on Battle Creek 15 July 1826. Flossie Hines found three folders in the National Archives on John Klepper. (1) Card #24612889, Cherokee War, John Klepper, Mounted Tn. Mil, 1st Corp. Capt. Champion's Co. 1 Reg't. Tn. Mounted Mil. Enrolled 22 June 1836 at Marion City for 6 months. Traveling to place of rendezvous 90 miles from place of discharge to home. (2) John Klepper, Robert's Co. Muster Blues Tn. Pvt. Roll for May 17 to June 16, 1836, 1 month. Called out for the protection of the Sabine Frontier under authority of General Gaines, approved by War Department R&P 330401. (3) John Klepper, 2 Mounted Vols. Al., 1st Corpl. Capt. Norwood's Co. 2 Regt. Al. Jackson Co. Mounted Gunmen (Creek War). Mustered in Montgomery, June 1, 1836 for 3 months. Valuation of horse $140. Company muster out roll Huntsville, Aug. 17, 1836. The first two are the service records of John Klepper (333) and the 3rd is V. John Klepper (234).

Bounty Land Claim dated 6 Apr. 1855 from National Archives for John Klepper, age 39, shows he was a private soldier in the company commanded by Captain Isaac Roberts in the Tennessee Volunteers. Volunteered at Coffee County, Tn. 16 May 1836 for six months, and was honorably discharged at Nashville, Tn. on June 1836. He further states that he is the same John Klepper that was 2Lt. in the company commanded by Capt. Willis Champion in the 2 Brigade Tennessee Mounted and Infantry Volunteers commanded by Brig. Gen. R. G. Dunlap and musted into the service of the United States 8th of July 1836. Application signed by J. H. Conatser and Sarah Birdwell. On 3 Mch. 1855 J. Minot, Commissioner of Pension Office, Washington, DC wrote "that the Bounty Land claim of John Klepper filed under the act of 3rd Mch. 1855 for service rendered under Capt. Roberts has been examined. As it is shown by documents in possession of the government,that the forces of which Capt. Roberts company furnished a part were not raised by any State or Territory; and as the benefits of the above, and all other Bounty Land acts, extend only to those who were called into service by the authorities of a State or Territory, and have been paid for the same by the United States, or who have served in some one of the several wars in which this country has been engaged since 1790, said claim CANNOT be allowed". John Klepper wrote back to Commissioner of Pension, Washington City on Feb 20, 1856 "I see from the decision of the Secretary of the Interior of date the 18th Dec. last, and from your circular of the same date, that the claims of those Soldiers who have been rejected because their service was not performed at the act of war, will now be taken up and allowed, under the provision of the act of Mch. 1855; I therefore returned the report and your letter rejecting my claim with the request that the same be taken up and allowed. You are hereby requested to address all letters on the subject, and warrant when issued, if I am entitled, to R. B. Roberts of Altamount, Tennessee, who I have constituted my attorney for that purpose."

In Marion Co., Tn. Deed Book G pg 285 dated 29 May 1856 Samuel A. Anderson, Jr. issued Deed to John Klepper "for the love and affection I entertain for John Klepper do hereby give transfer and convey to him six negroes named Milly 32, Houston 10, Elizabeth 8, Alexander 6, Hannah 2 years and 6 months, and, Elle 15." Deed Book G dated 18th Sept. 1856 from Sarah Birdwell to Amanda Klepper, "for the love and affection I entertain for my daughter, Amanda M. Klepper, I do hereby give transfer and convey to her and her bodily heirs the following negro slaves, Will, Louisa 22 and her three children Kiscoh 4, Reuben 2 and Allen nine months." John is still in Tn. on 27 Oct. 1856 as he gave a statement to the county clerk on some land he had sold to John Smith 30th day of May 1852. In the "Old Cahaba Land Office Records and Military Warrants 1817-1853" by Hahn page 187, Military Warrants Book 320, "Monthly abstract of locations on unclaimed, unsettled lands 'subject to private entry' made for the month at date of return at the Land Office at Cahaba, Al. on military land warrant certificates, issued pursuant to the 9th Section of the Act of Congress, approved 28 Sept. 1854", I find a John Clipper applied for land in Pike Co., Al. Oct. 23rd, 1852. (V.John Klepper (234) was already in Ar. and had received a land grant for his service in the Creek Indian War, and stated that he had not received a previous grant). Is this our John???

It is believed that John and Amanda (Birdwell) Klepper left Marion Co., Tn. shortly after Oct. 1856 with their family, her mother Sarah (Duncan) Birdwell and nephew John Brown Birdwell and his sister Mary Jane Birdwell for Arkansas, probably going thrugh Boone Co., Ar. to visit with John's uncle V.John Klepper (234), and his sister, Lucinda (Klepper) Turney (334).

John Birdwell and his sister stayed in Franklin Co., Ar., and John Klepper with his mother-in-law set out for Texas where his brothers Lemuel Gilliam (331) and Joseph C(ollier) (337) Clepper had moved ca 1837/8 and Amanda's grandfather John Birdwell had moved from Al. to Rusk Co., Tx. about 1847/8. Arriving in Montgomery Co. by 12 Sept. 1857, he purchased two tracts of land from N. B. Thomas, 177 acres in headright of Jas. Gibson and 179 acres in W. Johnson Survey.

His father P.James Clepper left Tn. ca 1863 and after staying in Al. for a time moved to Montgoemry Co., Tx. ca 1865/6. John and his father sold out in Montgomery Co. in Jan. 1867 and moved on into Washington Co., Tx.

John's father, P.James Clepper moved to Whitney, Hill Co., Tx. were he died in 1880. John lived in Coryell Co., Tx. from 1872-7. He purchased land 23 miles west of Gatesville on the waters of House Creek. According to a letter dated 23 Oct. 1979 from Bettie Rexroat, "I wrote to my mother before she died and ask her to tell me what she knew about the Cleppers, she wrote me that when the Cleppers were in Coryell County located on the Cow House Creek, a big flood came and destroyed all their houses and everything. They got out alive, but no food, cattle or anything and they were about to starve so they tried to buy a yearling to kill and eat and no one would sell them any, so as cattle were running at large they killed a yearling and skinned it and hung the hide on a bush and wrote on a sign, if anyone would claim the hide that they would pay for it but no one ever claimed it". My first cousin said she has my great grandpa John Clepper's Bible that our grandmother Amanda (Hamilton) Clepper had given to her in 1926. The bible is water damaged and on the flyleaf is written "In the overflow of the Lampasas River in 1872". My cousin said Amanda lived with her grandfather Wm. Marshall and Amanda (Hamilton) Clepper after John's death and she remembers her grandmother telling her how unhappy she was. She went to visit her son, Charles in Grimes Co. and died"; John and his sons, Wm. (500) and Lemuel C. Clepper (497), purchased land from the State of Texas in Palo Pinto Co. in 1879.

Children:
1. Lorenzo Dow Clepper b. 30 Jan. 1839 Tn; CW.
2. Charles Duncan Clepper b. 5 Nov. 1840 Tn; CW.
3. James (R/L) Clepper b. 23 Nov. 1842 Tn. (In 1850 Marion Co., Tn. and 1860 Mo. Co., Tx. Censuses. Mar. to M. E. Clepper in Hill Co., Tx. on 24 Nov. 1882. Unable to find in 1870 census are the Probate records of Palo Pinto Co., Tx).
4. Lemuel C(ollier) Clepper b. 18 Sept. 1844 Tn; CW.
5. Sarah Eliz. Clepper n. ca 1847 Tn.
6. Emily J. Clepper b. ca 1849 Tn.
7. Wm. B. Marshall Clepper b. 26 Jan. 1852 Tn.
8. A(ugustus) E(dward) Clepper b. 1854 Tn.
9. John Clepper b. Dec. 1855/6 TX. (In 1860 Mo. Co., Tx. his age is listed as 5 born TX and 1870 Wa. Co. census as 14 born in Tx. Not found 1880 Texas census are his father's probate records of Palo Pinto
10. Thomas Clepper b. ca 1858 Mo. Co., TX. Not found 1880 census and not listed in father's probate records.
11. Joseph F. Clepper b. 3 June 1861 Mo. Co., Tx.



REFERENCE:
James Klepper bible; John Brown Birdwell bible (copied by Jessie M. Parker (1980), 19 French St., East Wenatchee, Wash. 98801)
Land record Marion Co., Tn.
Bounty Land Records of Tn. and the Cherokee War of 1836 records
Land records of Montgomery Co.; Washington Co.; Coryell Co.; and Palo Pinto Co., TX
Probate Records of Palo Pinto Co., TX
Land records as filed Austin Co., TX
Tax records of Montgomery and Washington Co., TX; " Texas Land Titles 1885" by Giles; General Land Map of Palo Pinto 1898
Letter from Bettie Rexroat, Gordon,Tx. 76453
"Abst. of all Original Texas Land Titles, Vol. 2" 1941. T33.1T
"Grays Cemetery Records" 976.G781
"Settlers of Stephens Co." by Adelle Olney
"The Palo Pinto Story" by Mary W. Clarke
Indian Wars, on filed National Archives as copied by Flossie Hines.

Source:
* Mrs Lucille Clepper Mehrkam
* 1981 "Montgomery County (TX) History" by the History Book Committee of Montgomery Co. Gen. Society (from Lucille Mehrkam 5/1984; FHL book 976.4153 H2mo) - Page 226
* 'Fugitives from Justice; The notebook of Texas Ranger Sergeant James B. Gillett'    ISBN 1-880510-37-5    State House Press of Austin, Texas 1997

P James Clepper 1793-1880

P. James Klepper/Clepper was born 15 Feb. 1793, son of Philip and temperance (Gilliam) Klepper and grandson of Jacob of Rebecca Klepper. The Klepper family came from Germany to America in 1766. They settled in Pennsylvania and Virginia into the Tennessee at an early date.
James Clippert is listed in the White County Tennessee Tax Book for 1811 showing a taxable property of 1,400 acres in the bounds of Capt. Wm. Ridgest Co. of Militia. He is found in the 1812 Franklin County, Tennessee Tax List. He purchased 10 acres 19 Jul 1826 on waters of Battle Creek at the food of the Cumberland Mountains in Marion County, Tennessee. He received land grant #8934 for 2,000 acres in 1837 from the state of Tennessee located on the west side of Battle Creek. James married Christian Collier 12 Aug 1812 and they had 13 children. Christian died 8 Oct 1837 and James married Mary “Polly” Jones at Franklin County, Tennessee 19 Mar 1838. They had 8 children. James had 21 children. On 18 feb 1863 he sold 4,700 acres and set out for Montgomery County, Texas. He sold 177 acres in the Mary Conner Survey 9 Oct 1866 and moved to Washington County, Texas in what is now Lee County, and believe died there after 1870 [01 May 1880 in Hill County, Texas, buried Ft. Graham Cemetery, Whitnet, Hill County, Texas].

His children are:
1. Lemuel Gilliam, born 28 Oct 1813, died Magnolia, Texas ca 1893. He left home at an early age and went to Alabama. He married 1836 to Rebecca A. T. Broudnax and moved to Texas with his brother Joseph in 1837. He married (2) Frances Faulkner. Children Francis, James B., Lemual D., Mary, Virginia, and Rhoda.
2. Moses, born Dec 1814, moved to Alabama 1836, married (1) Molly Motley, and married (2) Juliannete M. Presley 1853. They family was in Oklahoma 1900 and wife died Collingsworth County, Texas 1918. Children: Amanda, Frances, Sophie, Joseph, Moses, Augustas, and James Franklin.
3. John, born 30 Jul 1816, died 19 Jan 1885 Palo Pinto County, Texas. He married Amanda M. Birdwell.
4. Lucinda, born 1 Oct 1818, married Jacob B. Turney, Jr. 7 Mar 1830 and moved to Arkansas in 1847 and Brown County, Texas 1880.
5. James, born 22 May 1820 married 1848 Alabama to Eliz. C. Robinson.
6. Mary Angeline, born 19 Jan 1822, died 1894 Wasco County, Oregon. She married Arch Wood Harris.
7. Forester Mercer, born 10 Feb 1824.
8. Isabella, born 12 Feb 1826.
9. William, born 25 Nov 1827.
10. Sarah A., born 5 Sep 1829, married Wm. Long.
11. Joseph C., born 30 Jun 1831. He came to Texas 1837, and was sherrif of Montgomery County, Texas 1866 and married Penelope?. In 1880, he is in Caldwell, Burleson County, Texas. He operated a hardware store until his death in 1910.
12. Thomas Wesley, born 4 Mar 1833, died in Tennessee, married Mary Jane Gilliam.
13. Anna Frances, born 13 Dec 1836.
14. Martha G., born 30 Mar 1839.
15. Temperance, born 1 May 1841, married Wm. A. Ballard.
16. Eliz., born 21 Jun 1843, married J.M. Fuqua.
17. Jabes Julies, born 23 Feb 1845, married (1) Letha Ann?, married (2) Mary Woodall 1893 Bosque County, Texas. Children are Alice, Eliza, Maude, Lemuel G., Emmett, Emma, Hazel, Zepharah.
18. Pleasant Gilliam, born 27 Dec 1847, died 1921 Waco, Texas. He married Elvira Harris. Children: Annie, Tennessie, Edna, Bertha, James B.
19. Virginia, born 8 Nov 1848, married Reddrick Overton. Children: Joseph, Daisy, Tennessee.
20. Tennessee, born 11 Aug 1850, married James B. Arnold. children: Jacob B., Laura.
21. Eliza Ross, born 13 Sep 1852 Tennessee, dies 18 Apr 1937 Hill County, Texas. Never married.

Source:
* Lucille Clepper Mehrkam

Spinster Twins - Bessie and Dessie

Bessie Allie Klepper and Dessie Sol Klepper were born on 30 Nov 1906 and were the daughter of Joseph Ellis Klepper. They are listed on page 63 of Lucille Mehrkam’s book on the Clepper Family (LOC 86-62751).

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Spinster twins Bessie and Dessie kept the men guessing 
By BILL WHITAKER
05 Dec 1996

Even at age 90, spinster twins Bessie and Dessie Klepper can wear a fellow out faster than your everyday, ordinary curmudgeon.
Although Abilene's most vintage old maid twins attribute their long lives to "the Lord, three square meals a day and a good walk every morning," I wouldn't be surprised if being totally contrary - and for the sheer joy of it - has also had something to do with it.
No wonder no one's ever dared write about this pair before. If one of the Klepper twins wasn't threatening me, the other one was.
During the course of what one might only liberally call an interview, the two switched off playing "good cop/bad cop" on me. First Bessie refused to have anything to do with me and only Dessie would answer questions, and when she did Bessie got onto her.
Then, in a move I almost failed to notice, the twins slyly switched places and Bessie began answering questions and Dessie refused to talk.

ONLY THE DOG KNOWS

To complicate matters further, they really are hard to tell apart. With most twins you can usually pick up on something about one - a distinguishing blemish, a weight difference, a skin hue - but Bessie and Dessie look so much alike I'm told many of their kinfolks can't tell one from the other.
"Even their daddy couldn't tell," Jan Tally said of the twins and their father, a Callahan County rancher and one-time deputy sheriff. "He lived with them from the day they were born till the day he died, and he never could tell 'em apart."
"Our great nephew's little dog is the only one that can tell us apart," Dessie volunteered at one point.
A family friend later explained this is because Bessie feeds and pets the dog while Dessie shows it disdain at best. Anyway, if kinfolks want to know whether they're talking to Bessie, it helps to have the dog around because it'll cotton to her.
Considering the above, it may surprise you to learn I'd been invited to the house on Grape Street - a home they've lived in 51 years now - during what appeared to be a very lively birthday party attended by friends and family, including their 85-year-old sister, Pearl Roberts.
No sooner had I entered than Pearl beseeched me to put a photo of Bessie and Dessie into the newspaper, so the spinsters might finally be married off.
Old photos reveal the Klepper twins were a fetching pair in their youth. Ask why they never got married, though, and you open up another can of worms.
"Well, it isn't any of their business," Dessie told me, "but I guess nobody wanted a couple of ugly, red-headed girls."
Bessie, however, confirmed what some of the other kinfolks told me - mainly that the Klepper sisters have never been able to resist the urge to mix things up. Maybe that's a natural drive when you look exactly like someone else in West Texas.
At any rate, the girls would occasionally pull switcheroos on their dates, so an innocent suitor (or even one not-so-innocent) was never quite sure which girl he happened to have with him. This reportedly created enough havoc and embarrassment for suitors that the girls stayed single all their lives.

WOMAN'S WRATH TIMES TWO

If the girls created a lot of nonsense in their girlhood, they certainly refused to tolerate it from others. When they were 6 or 7, they became so mad at their cousin Perry who broke their dolls they put him in a tow-sack, set fire to it and threw it over a barbed-wire fence.
At least, that's what kinfolks say - and the spinster sisters do nothing to discourage the story.
Supposedly some parents on the scene at the time put out the fire and rescued the lightly singed boy. But word of that kind of thing will get around, especially if you're in Callahan County, and so the girls have always represented a frightening challenge for the opposite sex.
This much we can tell you. The twins did volunteer they were born Nov. 30, 1906 on a ranch north of Clyde during a snowstorm, that they each weighed a pound and a half at birth, and that Bessie is the oldest, by about a half hour.
"Daddy put both of us in a shoebox for a bassinet," Bessie said.
Besides themselves, they had a brother and sister who were twins and their mother was a twin.
I also understand they've been members of Emmanuel Baptist Church for 64 years, that they both worked in department stores much of their lives (Bessie at Lintz, Dessie at Minter's) and that, as contrary as they are, their kin relish them because there's never a dull moment when they're around.
"It was a precious time," Dessie said after all the company left and their 90th birthday bash came to an end. "But then every day is precious to us - and we enjoy it."

Bill Whitaker, who understands the Klepper twins each got a dollar for every year of their lives and are now expecting their kinfolks to do the same next year, can be reached at 670-5293, ext. 325. Or you can e-mail him at WTWARN@aol.com.

http://www.texnews.com/reality/brazosbill/bill120596.html

Klepper name changed to Clepper

There are a few versions as to how the spelling of the Klepper name changed to Clepper but each story tells of the family running from the law after one or more murders.  Many of the Great Aunts and Uncles did not want the story told but the records are still available...  According to Texas Ranger Sergeant James B. Gillett, John Clepper and his son Lem Clepper were wanted for an "assault to murder" committed on 15 Oct. 1866 in Montgomery County, Texas.  Given the phrase "assault to murder," there may not have been an actual murder but they were fugitives from justice.

"Clepper, John; Clepper, Lem C... Assault to Murder; committed October 15, '66; indicted November 15, same year.  John Clepper is 66 years old, 5 feet 10 inches high, weight 160 pounds, grey hair, dark eyes and complexion.   Lem C. Clepper is 32 years old, 5 feet 11 inches high, weighs 150 pounds, eyes, hair and beard black, dark complexion, is a photographer.  Father and son supposed to be in Bosque County."

Then again, there may have been more than one case... "If my memory is correct - old Pleasant James Klepper (I'm told) killed a man and came to Texas - changing the name to Clepper - so when our John Klepper came to Texas he also changed his name to Clepper.  William Turney Klepper came to Texas but used the Klepper spelling."  -  Lucille (Clepper) Mehrkam, 31 Dec. 2001.

Source:
Lucille Mehrkham, History and Genealogy of the Family of Jacob Klepper/Clepper Family and Malcolm McAlpine Family (The Gregath Company, 1996), Library of Congress under card number 86-62751, Page 165
'Fugitives from Justice; The notebook of Texas Ranger Sergeant James B. Gillett'    ISBN 1-880510-37-5    State House Press of Austin, Texas 1997

Ms Ruby Kendrick 1883-1908

The information below is from The Star Courier newspaper of Plano, Collin County, Texas on Thursday, 13 Aug 1908.
The article was transcribed from Microfilm at the Glady Harrington Library in Plano, Collin County, Texas by Conan Massey Jr.
Ms Ruby Kendrick, daughter of John T. Kendrick and Kate Barnett Kendrick, died in Korea as a Missionary. John’s sister, Rachel White Kendrick, married Isaac Klepper of Plano, Texas before 1880. While Rachel and Isaac had no children of their own, Rachel helped raise John Kendrick’s children after John’s wife died.

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A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS

What People say about a Plano girl who laid down her life for others

HER GREAT SACRIFICE

What was said at the meeting of the Epworth League

The Houston Post of Monday gave an account of a meeting of the Epworth league at Corpus Christi the Sunday before as follows:
In memory of a Texas girl who volunteered for service under the banner of the cross and fell on the firing line last June, services were held at Epworth-by-the-sea yesterday and tributes to her life of devotion and death of sacrifice were paid to be eminent churchmen of Methodism.
A year ago, when the State Epworth League met in its annual encampment for 1907, Miss Ruby Kendrick, a young leager from Plano was there to tell her comrades of the ranks of young Methodism good-bye. She was to depart for a month for Korea. Since girlhood she had been devoted to the church in its religious services, in its prayer meetings, in its activities of mercy, and blessing and helpfulness she had found increasing joy, and with the reading of reports of the remarkable receptiveness of the Korean people, to whom Christianity had just come, there deepened within her piety the desire and the purpose to have some active part in this great warfare of the Prince of Peace, whose soldier she had pledged herself to be.
“Show me your marching orders,” said Lord Wellington to the disheartened missionary. And to the young girl in the Texas town there came this marching order, “Go ye unto all the world and preach My gospel.” And she made ready to go. They bade her good-bye at Epworth last summer, there was a great farewell service where all had the opportunity to grasp her hand and bid her God’s speed and in a few weeks she was flying across the Pacific, leaving America farther and farther below the water’s broad horizon.
Two months ago she died. Out where Christianity has planted its outpost, in the field where the struggle against the ancient gods of the ancient East is being _____ for the triumph of the W____ Christ, the Texas girl fell in the trenches, fell in the ministry to which she had pledged her young life with its fair future, and they laid her to rest in peace and quietness in that land of the Morning Calm.
The friends who bade her God’s speed a year ago met to commemorate her devotion to faith and splendid loyalty to the Great Commission yesterday, and the scene at that vase memorial service held in honor of a woman’s sacrifice has touched the great hear of Texas Methodism. at the memorial service held in her home conference, a short time ago, twelve young women volunteered to take the place of the fallen missionary, and from all parts of the State comes reports of the significant influence which the sacrifice of this young life has brought to bear upon the hearts and lives of the young people of the denomination.

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"One well-known Texas Epworth League project was the Ruby Kendrick Memorial Fund. Ruby Kendrick volunteered as a missionary to Korea in 1907 but died in less than a year, and Texas leaguers ultimately raised nearly $120,000 in her memory as a mission project." - http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/EE/ixe1.html

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Walter N. Vernon et al., The Methodist Excitement in Texas (Dallas: Texas United Methodist Historical Society, 1984).

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Tombstone inscription at the Seoul Foreigner's Cemetery

Ruby Rachael Kendrick
B. Jan. 28. 1883
D. Aug. 15. 1908
"If I had a thousand lives to give Korea should have them all" - Ruby Kendrick

http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~schipp/Memorials/kendrick.html

Routh Cemetery - Richardson, Texas

   One of the oldest in Collin County, the Routh Cemetery (32°59'36"N at 96°42'13"W) is located just north of the Dallas County line on Glenville Road and is less that two miles east of U.S. Highway 75.  This is a wooded area is on a high point southwest of the Spring Creek between the Renner and Campbell Roads.
    Tennessee Baptist Preacher Jacob Routh and his wife Lodemia Ann Campbell Routh purchased 640 acres of land in 1851 or 1852 from John Vance.  Routh's land was located south of the Joseph Klepper land grant that developed into the downtown area of Plano, Texas.  At that time, there were three graves on the land; William D. Klepper, son of Joseph and Nancy Klepper (plot 51), William's aunt Nancy DeLozier Beverly (plot 52), and the unmarked grave of a girl who's family was traveling though the area when she died.  By February 2000, it was estimated that there were 95 marked graves and another 100 unmarked.
    Nancy DeLozier married Civil War Captain William Beverly on 28Apr1828.   She was born on 10Mar1806 and died on 16Jun1651.  William also died in 1851 but the unknown girl is said to have been the first burial at this cemetery.  There is a legend that an indian was buried at this site before any of these people, but there are no records or written stories to back this claim.  We do know that the site was chosen because it is high above the Spring Creek and because the girl's family was camped near the creek when she died.

    Just at Christmas 1845, Nancy Russell died of what was believed to have been the cold of winter combined with a rough trip into Texas and premature child birth.   She was the young married daughter of Joseph Russell and she died just after the family arrived at their new land in Plano.  With no wood available for building as winter began, the family was forced to tear apart the bed of a wagon to build her coffin and they lined it with her mother's hand made quilts.  Nancy may be the travelers daughter that died while they were camped by Spring Creek and may be the first grave at the Routh Cemetery.

Source:
• Lucille Mehrkam, History and Genealogy of the Family of Jacob Klepper/Clepper Family and Malcolm McAlpine Family (The Gregath Company, 1996), Library of Congress under card number 86-62751
• The Plano Historical Committee, Plano Texas, The Early Years, Jan1986, ISBN 0-9651841-0-2 (page 105)
• Harold R. Huber, President of the Routh Cemetery Association

• Deed for this cemetery is listed in Vol. 658, page 114.
• Cathy Spaulding, Not only History, but family, (Plano Star Courier Newspaper, 04Apr1999)
• Lester Floyd quoted Willard Reese, son of N. D. Reese, who quoted Mrs. Clepper.   (This was a common saying of this time.)

William D Klepper 1843-1851

    William D. Klepper, son of son of Joseph and Nancy (Beverly) Klepper, was born in 1843 Illinois and died at the age of seven (1851) in Texas.
    William (plot 51) was the second marked burial in the Routh Cemetery (32°59'36"N at 96°42'13"W), east of US75, north of Glenville Drive in what is now Richardson, Collin County, Texas.   His aunt Nancy DeLozierr Beverly (plot 52) of Illinois was the third burial at the Routh Cemetery.

Source:
• Lucille Mehrkam, History and Genealogy of the Family of Jacob Klepper/Clepper Family and Malcolm McAlpine Family (The Gregath Company, 1996), Library of Congress under card number 86-62751 (Page 7)
• Harold R. Huber, President of the Routh Cemetery Association
2037 Colborne Drive in Plano, Texas 75025-3014, 972-517-6661, harrold.huber@sabre.com
• Collin County, Texas Deed for this cemetery is listed in Volume 658, page 114.
• Latitude and Longitude information is from http://landmark.granbury.com/collin.htm

Isaac Klepper 1837-1882

   Isaac was the son of Joseph Klepper and his wife Nancy (Beverly) Klepper.   He was born on 31 Oct 1837 in Illinois and was listed in the 1850 and 1870 censuses as living with his parents in Collin County, Texas (future location for the city of Plano).
    Like several friends and family members, Isaac was a member of Masonic lodge 235 in Plano, Texas.
    Isaac married Rachel White Kendrick before 1880.  Rachel was born 02 Mar 1838 in Virginia.  Rachel was the daughter of George Henry Kendrick and his wife Elizabeth Fuller who lived in Rusell and Scott Counties in Virginia.   According to Lucille's book, "Rachel is listed in the 1900 Collin Co., Tx. census in Pct. 5, Plano. Living in her household was John T. Kendrick, brother, born July 1851 in Va.; and three niece's, Nora, Ruby and May Kendrick. In 1910 she is living in the household of her brother R. (sic) T. Kendrick."   After the death of John's wife, Rachel and their sister(?) Ellen assisted in raising the three nieces. Ruby became a missionary and died in Korea of appendicitis on 20 June 1908.
    Isaac died on 30 Oct 1882 and Rachel died on 27 Jan 1916; both are buried at the Old Plano Cemetery in Plano, Collin County, Texas.
No Children

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J. T. Kendrick.
    "Born at Abingdon, Scott County, Virginia, July 27, 1841; married to Miss Kate Barnett, in December, 1873; four children: George, Nona, Ruby, and Mary.
    Mr. Kendrick came to Plano in 1871 and is one of the oldest residents of the town.  He has been actively connected with all public interest for years.   Seeing Plano grow from its very infancy, he has gathered many friends around him." - The Plano Review by H. Grady Chandler, 1914.

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The Weekly Enquirer, McKinney, Collin County, Texas, December 9, 1882 Vol. 16 No. 43
Abstracted by Jan Bennett MacFarland .... riverbottom@blackfoot.net

DEATHS

Tribute of Respect. At a stated meeting of Plano Lodge, No. 235, A. F. And A.M. held in the Lodge Room at Plano.....the following preamble and resolutions were adopted. Whereas, it has pleased the All Wise Ruler of the Universe to remove by death from our midst ..in October, 1882, our worthy and esteemed brother I. K. KLEPPER.....Members will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. [Signed] Joe W. BEVERLY, F. J. VANCE, J. Y. LOVELACE, Committee.

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Source:
• Lucille Mehrkam, History and Genealogy of the Family of Jacob Klepper/Clepper Family and Malcolm McAlpine Family (The Gregath Company, 1996), Library of Congress under card number 86-62751
• Kendrick Family Members Emily Baker and Debi Houser Kendrick
• The Weekly Enquirer, McKinney, Collin County, Texas, December 9, 1882.  Vol. 16, No. 43 as abstracted by Jan Bennett MacFarland.
• Star Courier Newspaper (now the Plano Star Courier), 13 Aug 1908 (Ruby Kendrick died as a Missionary in Korea)
• In "The Plano Review" by H. Grady Chandler, 1914 (J. T. Kendrick)
• Copy of his signature is from Records of Reconstruction Days in Collin County, Texas (pg56?) by Rida Bickley Roose and Jeanette Bickley Bland.  A copy can be found at the Gladys Harrington Public Library in Plano, Collin County, Texas.
• Isaac and Rachel are listed in the 1850, 1870 and 1880 censuses of Collin Co., Texas.  Rachel is also listed in the 1900 (Pct.5) & 1910 censuses of Collin County, Texas.
• The Plano Review by H. Grady Chandler, 1914, from the Glady Harrington Public Library in Plano, Collin County, Texas 75074
• http://www.geocities.com/collincotx/McKinneyEnquirer3.html

Family graves in the Old Plano Cemetery:
1. Joseph Klepper  -  15Mar1804 to 05Dec1884
2. Nancy Klepper (wife of Joseph)  -  16Oct1808 to 19Aug1891
3. Isaac Klepper (son of Joseph and Nancy)  -  31Oct1837 to 30Oct1882
4. Rachel W. Klepper (wife of Isaac)  -  02Mar1838 to 27Jan1916
5. Captain William Beverly (brother of Nancy Klepper)
6. Rev. Beverly (son of Captain William Beverly)
7. Ellen L. Kendrick (sister of Rachel?)
8. Lilbernh Kendrick (relationship unknown)

Additional Notes:
• Friends of Plano Public Library, Plano, Texas: The Early Years (Wolfe City, Texas: Henington Publishing Company, 1985), Page 13 & 241, 30 Aug 1999, Harold R. Huber, 111 Santa Fe Trail, Whitewright, TX 75491. "Page 13: Surname listed as Clepper
Page 241: Several carpenters were active in the Plano area during the 1880's. Isaac Clepper (Klepper), son of Joseph and Nancy Clepper (Klepper), was a carpenter in Plano until his death October 30, 1882. He and his wife, Rachel, also sold lots in the old Methodist-City Cemetery adjoining the Methodist Church that was built in south Plano in 1874-1875. The cemetery land was dedicated by his parents."
• 1850 US Census, Collin County, Texas Transcription, Richardson, Texas, 20 Apr 2001, Gladys Harrington Public Library, East 18th Street, Plano, Texas. "Age 13; family 275; surname listed as "Clepper", birthplace listed as Illinois."
• 1870 US Census, Collin County, Texas, Page 469b, 20 Apr 2001, Family History Library, 35 N. West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. "Age 33, dwelling 129, family 130. Birthplace listed as Illinois."
• 1880 US Census, Collin County, Texas, Page 193, 20 Apr 2001, Family History Library, 35 N. West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. "Age 42, dwelling 228, family 240, ED 24. Birthplace listed as Illinois. Parents' birthplaces listed as Tennessee."
• Mrs. Alice Pitts, Mrs. Wanda O'Roark, Mrs. Doris Posey, Collin County (Texas) Cemetery Inscriptions Volume 1 ( 1975, POP Publications, The Manney Company, P. O. Box 10188, Ft. Worth, TX 76114; call # 929.3746556), Page 296, 20 Apr 2001, Harold R. Huber, 111 Santa Fe Trail, Whitewright, TX 75491.
• http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrcai/oldplanocem/aqwc01.htm#29C1

Joseph Klepper 1804-1884

Joseph Klepper was born on 15 Mar 1804 in Tennessee and was probably the son of Samuel and Nancy Klepper.  He died on 05 Dec 1884 and was buried at the Old Pioneer Cemetery (also know as the "Old Plano Cemetery") in Plano, Texas.   (believe the James listed in the Roster of the Richardson Creek Baptist Church records of Hawkins Co.; Tn. is this James)
    Joseph married Nancy Beverly on 15Aug1829 in Granger County, Tennessee.  Nancy was born on 16 Oct 1808 in Tennessee and died on 19 Aug 1891 in Collin County, Texas.  Her father John Beverly was a Captain in the American Revolution and her brother William Beverly was a Captain in the Civil War.
    Joseph and Nancy Clepper "left Tennessee in 1836 following the Old Wilderness Road to Illinois where his Uncles Michael, Henry, and William Klepper were living.  Joseph Cleper (sic) is listed in the 1840 Greene County, Il census.  He moved to Texas by 1844? and is in 1850 census of Collin Co., TX as 'James Clipper,'" Lucille Mehrkam - 23 Aug 1999. From Tennessee to Kentucky to Indiana, to Illinois, it is most likely that the last part of their migration was traveled by one of the Shawnee Trails through eastern Oklahoma and crossed the Red River into Texas by the Preston Trail.
    They came to Texas (by 1844?) along with members of their extended family and settled in an area of the Peter's Colony now known as Plano, Collin County, Texas.  As a married man, Joseph received a land grant, Fannin Third Class certificate number 1109, for 640 acres (abstract #213) between 01 Jan 1837 and 01 Jan 1840 and built a cabin in 1845 on a site that is about what is now Avenue J and 17th streets.  Later, the city of Plano was centered at a point 25 or 30 feet west from a point on the east boundary line of the Joseph Clepper survey (next to the Sanford Beck survey).  Plano was mostly a farming community that did not see a real population growth until the 1960s even though the railroad came to the town in 1872.
    "A few years later in 1848 came the voice of Mrs. Joseph Clepper, who, when asked how she liked her new home on the frontier, replied, 'Oh, its great for men and dogs but hell on women and ponies.'"
    Nancy Klepper's brother, Captain William Beverly arrived Collin County on 28 Nov. 1846 and had a land grant near Joseph and Nancy.  Captain Beverly and Dr. Henry Dye are listed as original members of Plano Masonic Lodge 234.  Family members J. T. Kendrick, Joe W. Beverly, and John Bench Klepper were also members of this lodge in the 1880s.  Captain Beverly was a county commissioner from Plano in 1852, 1854, and 1856.  He also helped developed the county court house square in McKinney, Texas.   Five of Captain Beverly's nine children were killed in action as Confederate soldiers during the Civil War (1864).
    Joseph and Nancy's son Samuel L. Clepper was listed in the 1850 census as a twenty-one year old farmer and qualified for his own head-right of 320 acres, as a single man.
    Joseph and Nancy's son William died in 1851 at seven years of age and was buried next to his Aunt Nancy DeLozier Beverly (wife of his mother's brother; 10Mar1808-16Jun1851).  William was the second marked burial in the Routh Cemetery (32°59'36"N at 96°42'13"W), east of US75, north of Glenville Drive in what is now Richardson, Collin County, Texas.   Nancy DeLozieer Beverly of Illinois was the third burial at the Routh Cemetery.
    Joseph and Nancy Clepper members of the Methodist Church of Plano, Texas and the original church was built on land that was once part of Joseph's property.   According to the church historian, Jan Samuels, "the church history says that in March 1874, Ben Matthews, Robert Brown, and Daniuel McCullough and three other trustees purchased one acre from Joseph and Nancy Klepper for $200 for the church property.  The reference for this was Minutes of the Quarterly Conference, 1848-1873; July 26, 1873, Oct. 25, 1873.   Deed Records, Vol. W, p. 866-867.  George Pearis Brown, 'Methodist Church in Collin County Organized Near Plano in Spring 1846,' The Daily Courier Gazette, McKinney.   Ms., Mrs. Belle Brown Allee."  The Methodist worshiped at this site until 1893.
    The Methodist Church started the Old Plano Cemetery (33°00'52"N at 96°42'09"W) in 1881 on the land of Joseph and Nancy.  This is where many of the areas pioneers are burried, including Joseph, Nancy, Nancy's brother Captain William Beverly and his son Rev. John Beverly.

Children:
1. Samuel S Klepper, 1829 TN
2. Isaac Klepper, 1837 IL
3. James William Joseph Klepper, 1840 IL

4. William D Klepper, 1843 IL - 1851 TX
5. A.G. or Henneritta Klepper, 1848 TX

    The 1850 census of Collin County Texas listed these five children as living in Jacob and Nancy's home.  Also listed as living in their home was a 20 year-old physician from Virginia.  Dr. Henry Dye was one of the first physician in the Collin County area and "attended the University of Louisville in Kentucky from 1858 to 1859" ("In time, Thomas and Mary Dye came to Plano to be near their children, Henry, Elizabeth, and Mary Ellen.").  Joseph is listed in this census as a forty-five year old farmer who migrated from Illinois.   Their son William died in 1851 and their daughter A. G. Klepper may have also died young because she is not listed in the 1860 or later census records.  Although, James W. Klepper of Illinois (male age 20), Fanney Klepper of Kentucky (female age 21), Amanda Klepper of Texas (female age 13), Emma J. Klepper of Texas (female age 1) were listed as living in the home of Joseph and Nancy Klepper during the 1860 census.   Also listed in their home was J. K. Roach, a 24 year old 'Waggoner' from Kentucky.   Mr. Roach may have had some connection with Joseph's uncle Andrew Jackson Klepper because according to  1850s maps, Andrew owned a waggon yard on Mechanic Street and a blacksmith shop on the east side of South Main Street in Plano, Texas.    Joseph, his brother in-law William Beverly, and F.J.Vance appraised the property of Thomas J. Routh upon his death for Collin County Chief Justice J.J.Harrison, 25Oct1858.  Probate Minutes; Vol. A-1, 1858-1870; Vol. C-1, 1868-1870; 1846 page 143; 1847 page 144-158.

Source:
• Lucille Mehrkham, History and Genealogy of the Family of Jacob Klepper/Clepper Family and Malcolm McAlpine Family (The Gregath Company, 1996), Library of Congress under card number 86-62751 (Page 7)
• Marriage Records of Granger County, Tennessee
• 1840 Green County, Illinois census
• Jan Samuels of the United Methodist Church in Plano, Collin County, Texas.  WindmillC@aol.com
• The Plano Historical Committee, Plano Texas, The Early Years, Jan1986, ISBN 0-9651841-0-2 (page 230, 1855 Plano map on page 243)
• Harold Huber, President of the Routh Cemetery Association and resident of Plano, Texas. - harold.huber@sabre.com
• 1850 (family #275), 1860, and 1870 Census Records.
• http://www.collincotxhistdoc.info/Probate_Minutes_1.htm
• ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweg/tx/abstracts/collin.txt
• http://www.planomasoniclodge.org/history/history.htm
• Stambaugh, History of Collin County, TX, Page 56
• "Plano, Texas as I remember it," by Carlton C Allen, 1980.  Only copy, TEX 976.4556 ALL, in the Plano, Texas Library.
• 1850 Collin County, Texas - page 528, family #275
• 1860 Collin County, Texas - page 1, stamped page 112, precinct #11, 01 Jun 1860
• Collin County census records of 1870 and 1880
• Conner, The Peter's Colony of Texas
• Tom C. Brown Jr., descendant of Dr. Henry Dye, http://www.iqthost.com/tombrown/dyesk.htm
• Latitude and Longitude information is from http://landmark.granbury.com/collin.htm
• http://www.planoconservancy.org/content/view/33/53/index.html
• http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrcai/oldplanocem/index2.htm

Additional Notes:
• Friends of Plano Public Library, Plano, Texas: The Early Years (Wolfe City, Texas: Henington Publishing Company, 1985), Page 13 & 56, 20 Apr 2001, Harold R. Huber, 111 Santa Fe Trail, Whitewright, TX 75491. "Page 13: Surname spelled "Clepper".
Page 56: OLD CITY CEMETERY is located in the 1100 block of Avenue H is sometimes known as the Pioneer Cemetery. This does not mean that it was started early but that it has many pioneers buried there. In 1874, Joseph Klepper deeded land to the Methodist Church which worshipped at that spot until 1894. The Kleppers first gave and then sold cemetery plots on the adjoining acreage."
• 1850 US Census, Collin County, Texas Transcription, Richardson, Texas, 20 Apr 2001, Gladys Harrington Public Library, East 18th Street, Plano, Texas. "Age 45, family 275, surname listed as "Clepper"."
• 1860 US Census, Collin County, Texas, 20 Apr 2001, Family History Library, 35 N. West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. "Age 56; listed as head of family 007-007; birthplace Tennessee; surname listed as "Klepper"."
• 1870 US Census, Collin County, Texas, Page 469b, 20 Apr 2001, Family History Library, 35 N. West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. "Age 68, dwelling 129, family 130. Birthplace listed as Tennessee."
• 1880 US Census, Collin County, Texas, Page 197a, 20 Apr 2001, Family History Library, 35 N. West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. "Age 75, dwelling 237, family 250. Birthplace listed as Tennessee. Father's birthplace listed as Pennsylvania, mother's birthplace unreadable on record."
• Mrs. Alice Pitts, Mrs. Wanda O'Roark, Mrs. Doris Posey, Collin County (Texas) Cemetery Inscriptions Volume 1 ( 1975, POP Publications, The Manney Company, P. O. Box 10188, Ft. Worth, TX 76114; call # 929.3746556), Page 296, 20 Apr 2001, Harold R. Huber, 111 Santa Fe Trail, Whitewright, TX 75491.

Frank Earl Klepper 1890-1952

    Frank Klepper, son of John Bench Klepper and Mary Cunningham Klepper, was born in Plano, Collin County, Texas on 03 May 1890.  A few stories and documents list his mother as Molly and his birth place as McKinney but these are not accurate.
    He received his early education in local Collin County schools and his first art lessons from his aunt.  He left Plano in 1914 to attend the Art Institute of Chicago but his studies were interrupted when he enlisted the United States Army's Thirty-sixth Infantry Division in France where he worked on camouflage.  After the war he studied at the American Art Training Center in Paris.
    Returning to Texas in 1920, Frank opened an art studio in McKinney where he established his reputation by winning the Arthur A. Events medal for landscape painting at the 1920 Texas Artist Exhibition.
   "A History of Collin County, Texas" by J. Lee Stambaugh and Lillian J. Stambaugh stated that "At one time Klepper had an art studio in McKinney but he later opened a studio in Dallas (1927) and taught evening classes in the Dallas public schools for over twenty years.  During the 1920's he was director of the art department of the College of Fine Art on Swiss Avenue in Dallas (Southwestern School of Fine Arts?).  He spent time in Taos New Mexico and was a member of the Taos Art Colony.  Then in 1929 began teaching evening classes in etching, and later ceramics, for the Dallas public school system.  After being the visiting art director of Kidd-Key College in Sherman in 1931, he returned to teach for over twenty years in Dallas.  "In 1937 he visited the Orient and acquired a valuable collection of oriental porcelain and Chinese treasures."
    A newspaper article in the Collin County Museum states that "Among Mr. Klepper's recent awards and honors are: Honorable Mention, Davis Competitive Exhibition, San Antonio, 1929; First Prize for landscape, Southern States Art League, 1930; Honorable Mention, Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, Lubbock, Texas, 1931.  He is represented in the John Vanderpoel Memorial Collection, Chicago; the Arkansas State Art Association, Little Rock, and in numerous private collections throughout the country.  Klepper is director of the art department at Kidd-key College, Sherman, and instructs classes in Dallas schools."  During the second world war, he taught art in the occupational therapy department at Ashburn General Hospital in McKinney.

    During his art career, Frank painted impressionistic landscape style, "Deep South" pictures, and experimented with symbolic paintings.  His skill in lithography and etching won him the Southern States Art League first prize for bookplate designs in 1932.  His murals can still be seen at the Old McKinney Post Office Museum and the Praire View College.  Many of his paintings can be found across Texas, including at the Dallas Museum of Art (Texas Shrine, the Alamo), the Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin (Liendo), the Glady Harrington Public Library in Plano ("Morning in the Hills" and a painting of the Japanese goddess of love and fertility, "Quin Yin.") and many private collections.  The Collin County Museum in McKinney, Texas has several other paintings, articles, and a bust of Frank Klepper.
    In the newspaper article "Art League of Denison Sponsors Klepper Exhibit,"Frank Klepper was quoted as saying "In my pictures, I deliberately set out to create a mood which is usually lyric in essence.  I should like the person who looks at them to let them draw him into the scene.  If he gives the picture the chance to suggest to him its emotional content, then I think he will be likely to understand, through direct experience, something of what I have tried to stay.  The longer I paint the more clearly is seams to me that pictures - the best pictures - are symbols.  Through their color and form, the artist who paints with true authority actually succeeds in making a representation - almost one might say mystically - of some profound spiritual idea that is vital in the Universe."
    There are no records of Frank ever being married or having any children.  Frank died of a heart attack on 04 Jun 1952 and in his will he left a valuable collection of books and sculptures to the Memorial Library in McKinney (Old Post Office Museum).  The Handbook of Texas Online states that Frank "was buried with First Christian Church rites in McKinney," but his headstone is in the Plano Mutual Cemetery next to that of his parents.


Source:
• Lucille Mehrkam, History and Genealogy of the Family of Jacob Klepper/Clepper Family and Malcolm McAlpine Family (The Gregath Company, 1996), Library of Congress under card number 86-62751 (Page 11)
• Newspaper clippings at the Collin County Museum in the Old McKinney Post Office at Chestnut and Virginia Streets; http://www.collincountyhistory.org/ or 972-542-9457.
• "A History of Collin County, Texas" by J. Lee Stambaugh and Lillian J. Stambaugh, 1958, can be found at the Gladys Harrington Public Library in Plano, Collin County, Texas.
• "The Handbook of Texas Online" http://www.tsha.utexas.edu by David Minor 15 Feb 1999.
• http://www.askart.com/AskART/artist.aspx?artist=4752&redir

Additional Information:
• "Handbook of Texas: Supplement" - Volume 3, edited by Eldon S. Branda, Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas, 1999.
• "Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artist of the American West" by Harold Samuels / Peggy Samuels, Castle Publishing, Chicago c.1985.
• http://www.mhna.org/downtown/klepper.htm
• New Deal Art in Texas, http://www.wpamurals.com/texas.html
• “Last Rites Set Friday For Frank E. Klepper.” The Dallas Times-Herald. 05 Jun 1952.
• 01 Aug 1927 Nevada Supreme Court Casea on Microfilm #2804, Bessie Lovell Klepper v. Frank Klepper.
• David Dike Fine Art 2613 Fairmount, 75201 • 214-720-4044, fax 214-720-4469 • mon-fri 10-5, sat 11-4

John Bench Klepper 1849-1937

    John was born in Oct 1849 in Greene, Mo. and was the son of Andrew Jackson Klepper and Nancy.  John died 1937 in Collin County, Texas and was buried in the Plano Mutual Cemetery.
    Active in politics, John served on the city council and was a Mayor in Plano, Collin County, Texas.  In the 1880s he was also a member of the Plano Masonic Lodge with John T. Kendrick and Joe Beverly.
    John and Mary Caroline Cunningham were married on Dec 1868.  Mary was born in Jan 1850 in Mo. and died on 19 Jun 1904 in Collin County, Texas.  She was buried next to her husband at the Plano Mutual Cemetery.  Mary was the daughter of Josiah Cunningham and Elizabeth J. Horton.
    The Bench family also came to Plano, Texas from Hawkins County in Tennessee by way of Mo.  This may be the source of John's middle name.
    The Arcana Masonic Lodge #489 (Limestone, Washington County, Tennessee) list a John B. Klepper, Steward, as one of twenty-seven charter members in 1887 but we believe that this may have been another person.

Children:
1. Clarence Monroe Klepper b. 18 Feb 1873 Greene, Mo. , d. Oct 1957 New Orleans, LA.
2. Florence Eliza Klepper b. Oct 1875 Mo.
3. Lula Ann Klepper b. 30 June 1879 Mo; mar. Wm. B. McKinney
4. Albert A. Klepper b. Jan 1884 TX; d. 1925; Buried at the Plano Mutual Cemetery
5. Frank Earl Klepper b. 3 May 1890 Tx.; Buried at the Plano Mutual Cemetery.

Source:
• Lucille Mehrkam, History and Genealogy of the Family of Jacob Klepper/Clepper Family and Malcolm McAlpine Family (The Gregath Company, 1996), Library of Congress under card number 86-62751 (Page 11)
• 1880-1900 Censuses of Collin Co., Tx
• Jon P. Czarowitz, Great Grandson of John Bench Klepper
• http://home.wireco.net/~arcana489/history.htm
• http://www.OrrellFamily.com/Database/OrrellAll/pafg279.htm
• http://www.PlanoMasonicLodge.org/History/History.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Plano_Mayors (Has a spelling error on his name.)
• Additional information can be found at the Municipal Reference Library of Plano, Collin County, Texas.  City Hall, 1520 K Avenue, third floor.

William Wesley Morris Clepper 1872-1936

William Wesley Morris “Bill” Clepper was born 3 Mch. 1872 Montgomery Co., Tx.; son of Charles Duncan and Mary Jane (Mc Alpine) Clepper, Sr.; died 9 July 1936 Hockley, Waller, Tx.; buried Macedonia-Spring Cemetery.

Married 1 Aug. 1894 Waller Co., Tx. to Maggie Lee Forehand; born 27 Sept. 1876 near Hillsboro, Hill, Tx.; daughter of James Wesley Forehand and Louise Virginia Stifflemire. Maggie was born near Ft. Graham where Wm.'s Great Grandfather P.James Klepper lived. So it would seem that the Forehand's and Clepper's were neighbors, not only in Tenessee but in Texas. Maggie died 27 Jan. 1968 Hempstead Hospital, Waller Co., Tx.; buried Macedonia-Spring Cemetery. 

Bill moved from Montgomery Co. to Grimes Co. with his father ca 1878 and on into Waller Co. ca 1891 and share cropped with his Uncle Lorenzo Dow Clepper; He purchased a farm in the N. Minionde Survey and resided there until his death. A pear orchard planted by "Bill" in 1896 remains, in part, on the place  today. 

The day school was out my brothers, Edgar, James and I headed to Grandma's and stayed until the day before school started. Grandpa loved to squirrel hunt and always had one of the best hunting dogs in the county. He had lots of goats and sheep. The lead goat always had a bell and since his hearing was poor, he would take one of my brothers or me when he went looking for the goats, so we could hear the bell. He always had his old gun and his hunting dog with him, and sometime we would be gone most of the day. On the day my oldest brother was 15 he came to Houston and purchased a hearing aid. We lived near the RR tracks and I remember how thrilled he was to be able to hear a train whistle. He was so excited he could not wait to get home and hear Maggie's voice, but when he reach home grandmother was in the garden and as he started toward the garden, he had a heart attack and died. He was loved by all his children and grandchildren. 

Grandmother's house was the meeting place for all the Clepper cousins. She cooked over an old wood stove, and always had lots of good food. In the evening we would set out on the old back porch and she would tell us about the Indians and wolves. Ernestine remembers when she was tiny, Grandma rocked her to sleep, yodeling the famous "Cattle Call". No one else could sing and yodel that tune quite like she did. 

After Grandfather's death she sold the home place to daughter, Elma and moved to Waller. She always said that she was not going to leave anything for her children to fight over. If she had $.50 left when she died, she was going to swallow it and take it with her. A few months before she died she started giving all her personal things to different members of the family as they came by. She always made you feel welcome and loved. She was a very special person. 

Children all born Hockley, Waller, Tx. 

Baby Clepper b. & d. 1895; buried Macedonia-Spring Cemetery. 

Baby Clepper b. & d 1897; buried Macedonia-Spring Cemetery. 

Nola Elma Clepper b. 1 Nov. 1898. 

 James Duncan Clepper b. 1 Sept. 1901. 

Baby Clepper b. & d. 1902; buried Macedonia-Spring Cemetery. 

William Wesley Clepper b. 27 Oct. 1905. 

Ada Leona Clepper b. 28 June 1908. 

Luda May Clepper b. 31 May 1911. 

Lemuel "Lem" Clepper b. 22 Jan. 1914.

Verlene Gertrude Clepper b. 12 Oct. 1917. 

 

REFERENCE: 

Waller Co. Marrage Bk. 3 pg. 224; Waller Co. Land Records; James W. Forehand

Bible; 1880 Grimes Co., Tx.; 1900-1910 Waller Co., Tx. Censuses; Waller, Grimes

and Montgomery Co. Histories; Birth and Death records of Texas; Death Notice-

Houston Press, Houston Post and Waller Citizen; Waller Co. Tax Records 1897-1910.