Joseph C Klepper 1842-1915

    Joseph Klepper was the son of Andrew Jackson Klepper and Nancy J ______. He was born 1844 in Tennessee and died 10 Oct 1915 in Collin County, Texas. He is buried with his family at the Fitzhugh Cemetery, in Forest Grove, Collin County, Texas.
 
There is a J. C. Klepper listed as the Mayor of Plano, Texas from 1888 to 1889. 

According to Lucille's book, “He is listed in the household of his father in the 1850 Greene Co., Mo. Census. He or his father are not in the 1860 Greene Co., Mo. census, but his mother and the younger children are. His father was in Texas by 1870. Joseph must have followed with his wife, children, mother and cousins Perry R (180) and Peter F. (181) by 1874.
Married 2 Jan. 1870 in Greene Co., MO to Sadie J. ; born Sept.1846 Robertson Co., TN.”

Children:

1. Oscar Flach Klepper b. 1872 Spring, MO.

2. Andrew T. Klepper b. Jun. 1873 MO; 1910 Dallas Co., Tx.

3. Wesley M. Klepper b. Aug. 1875 Collin Co., TX.

4. Minnie B. Klepper b. ca 1878 TX.

5. John E. Klepper b. Jun. 1881 Tx.

6. Fred Beatty Klepper b. Sep. 1883 Tx.

7. Ray E. Klepper b. Oct. 1886/7 Tx.; died Dec. 1963; buried Fitzhugh Cemetery.

8. Rose Klepper b. Mch. 1888 Tx; mar. Terry Peace England.

9. Nellie L. Klepper b. Nov. 1890 Tx.
 
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
• 1850 Greene Co., MO & 1880-1910 censuses of Collin Co., TX. Collins Co. Cemeteries Vol. 1; Soldier's Application for a Pension # 26763

Plano Mutual Cemetery - Texas

Luille Mehrkam’s book on the Klepper/Clepper family has Andrew Jackson Klepper’s branch of the family as buried in the Pike Cemetery, but they are actually in the Plano Mutual Cemetery.
    Located at the northwest corner of 18th Street and Jupiter Road in Plano, Collin County, Texas, you will find the Kleppers in the Masonic section of the cemetery.

Andrew Jackson Klepper, 15Jan1815 - 26Mar1891
Albert Arnold Klepper, 1884-1925 (son of John and Mary)
Andy Klepper  (John Bench Klepper's father Andrew?)
Etta Ann Kendley Klepper, 11Feb1853 - 21Oct1920
Frank Earl Klepper (artist, son of John and Mary), 1890-1952
Jeveria M. Klepper (daughter of J. and M. Klepper)
John Bench Klepper, 1849-1937
Mary Caroline Klepper, 1850-1904 (wife of John Bench Klepper)
Mary E. Klepper (daughter of A. J.)
Mary Florence Bazzlery Klepper (wife of C.M.), 26Aug1876 - 20 May 1912
Mary J. Klepper (wife of A. J.), 13Jan1817 - ?
Klepper (infant), 1878-1878

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
Alice Pitts, Cemetery Records, Volume I, Collin County, Texas

Andrew Jackson Clepper 1815-1891

  Andy was born on 15 Jan 1815 in Hawkins County, Tennessee but we are not if his father was Samuel Klepper or Frederick Klepper.   According to Lucille's book, "In the 1830 census of Hawkins Co., Tn. Frederick shows a son the correct age to be Andrew. Andrew is in the 1840 census of Hawkins Co., Tn. and listed in his household, 1 male 20/30; 1 male 15/20; 2 females 20/30 and 1 female 10/15; died 26 Mch. 1891 Collin Co., Tx.; buried" Plano Mutual Cemetery
    "Andrew moved to Mo. ca 1841 and he is in 1850 census of Greene Co., Mo., Taylor Tws. with a wife Nancy 34 born in Tn.; Joseph C. 8 born in Tn.; Sarah 4 born in Mo.; John 1 born in Mo.; Mary P. 6 born in Mo.; Minerva P. 20 born in Tn. and Stephen Galbreath (sic) 19 born in Tn.
    Andrew must have left his family in Mo. and moved to Collin Co., Tx. by 1870 to be near Joseph (James) Klepper (14). He is listed in the 1870 census of Collin County, Tx. in the household of Geo. Mason, occupation blacksmith, age 54, born in Tn.; Nancy J. came to Texas ca 1876 with her son Joseph C. and his family and she is living in his household in 1880. (it would seem that she and Andrew J. were divorced). Nancy is buried" Plano Mutual Cemetery "(death date was not recorded in the "Collin County, Tx. Cemeteries Inscriptions Vol. 1)".
    Andrew J. is in the 1880 Collin Co., Tx. census with wife Etta 27, born in Ga. and daughter Mary Etta 7/12, born Tx
    1/mar. Nancy J. Bench, born 13 Jan. 1817 Tn/Va.? (1850 census shows born Tn., 1860 census born Va.); died 22 March 1906. Nancy and four children, Sarah 13, John 10, Martha 6 and Daniel 4 are in the 1860 Greene Co., Mo. census. Andrew J. and his son Joseph C. are not found in 1860 Greene Co., Mo.
    2/mar. ca 1879 to Etta Ann Kindly, (per cemetery records). Listed as Etta in 1880 Census; born 11 Feb. 1853 in Ga.; father born in Va.; mother born in Ga. Died 20 Oct. 1920; buried in the" Plano Mutual Cemetery.  "In 1900 Collin Co., Tx. I find Eliz. E. Klepper born Feb. 1854 Tx.; Robert A., son born Mch. 1882 Tx.; Sallie Ingrum, mother, born Jan 1827 in NC.; and P. A. Ingrum, brother, born May 1862 in Ga. (Is this Etta wife of A.J.??)"

    Andrew is listed in the 1780 census of Collin County, Texas as a 54 year old blacksmith and is noted as not being able to read or write.  Voting records later show his learning to write his name (signature on voting records).
Andrew Klepper’s blacksmith shop (Wagon Yard) was located on the east side of South Main Street. It was across the street from the Holloway & Davis livery Stable which was on the west side of the city hall.
Andy died on 26 Mar 1891.

Children:
1. Joseph C. Klepper b. May 1842 Tn.
2. Mary G. Klepper b. 1844 Mo.
3. Sarah Klepper b. 1846 Mo.
4. John Bench Klepper, born Oct 1849 in Mo.
5. Martha Klepper b. 1854 Mo.
6. Daniel L. Klepper b. Apr. 1856 MO; See 1900 & 1910 Dallas Co., TX censuses.
    1/mar. Ara/Ora ?; born May 1873 Ms.
    2/mar. Fannie ?; born 1882 Tx.
1. Roy Klepper b. Jan. 1895.
2. Clara Klepper b. 1900 Tx.
7. Mary Etta Klepper b. 1880 TX.; DY.
8. Robert A. Klepper b. Mch. 1882.

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 9)
• 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.
• The Plano Historical Committee, Plano Texas, The Early Years, Jan1986, ISBN 0-9651841-0-2 (page 230, 1855 Plano map on page 243)
• 1850 Greene Co., MO & 1880-1910 censuses of Collin Co.
• Soldier's Application for a Pension # 26763.
• Jon P. Czarowitz, Great Great Grandson of John Bench Klepper stated that Andrew went by the name "Andy"

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.

-------------------------------------------------------

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.

--------------------------------------------

"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).

--------------------------------------------

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

------------------------------------------------------------
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.

------------------------------------------------------------

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.

------------------------------------------------------------

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.