Kemper Military School
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Type | Military, Private |
| Motto | Nunquam Non Paratus |
| Established | 1844 |
| Founder | Frederick T. Kemper |
| Closed | 2002 |
Kemper Military School & College was a private military school located in Boonville, Missouri. Founded in 1844, Kemper filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2002. Known as the "West Point of the West," the school's motto was "Nunquam Non Paratus" (Never Not Prepared).
The 46-acre campus played a key role in Boonville’s identity as a popular 19th-Century Missouri river town. Boonville has more than 400 antebellum and other architectural sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including Kemper. It's core historic buildings are included in Historic District A.
Coordinates: 38°58′17″N 92°44′49″W / 38.97141702°N 92.74689317°W
On June 3, 1844, Frederick T. Kemper (1816–1881) gave his first lesson at the “Boonville Boarding School”, an all-male school designed to educate the sons of the frontier West. It started as a one-room schoolhouse on the corner of Spring and Main streets, and opened with five students. By the fall of 1844, it had 50 students. Its first year being a success, Mr. Kemper had the south wing of the long-time administration building constructed in 1845, and utilized the site as both a boarding school and as classroom space. Operating the school essentially by himself, Kemper changed the school's name quite regularly. From 1844 through 1899, it was known variously as the Boonville Boarding School, Male Collegiate Institute, Kemper Family School, Kemper & Taylor Institute, and the Kemper School.
In 1856, the school closed when Professor Kemper accepted a teaching and administrative position at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. However, in 1861 he returned to Boonville and reopened the school as the “Kemper & Taylor Institute” in partnership with his wife’s brother, Edwin H. Taylor. It was one of only a few schools in the state to remain open during the Civil War, partly due to Professor Kemper's willingness to accept female students for the first time. Kemper prudently chose to keep a guarded neutrality throughout the war. However, it was widely known that his brother was Confederate General James L. Kemper, who gained fame as a primary participant in Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, and later became governor of Virginia. Kemper graduates fought on both sides during the war, and many participated in the local Battle of Boonville. After the war, Taylor left and the school again became all-male. Kemper continued to run the school, known again as "Kemper Family School", until his death in 1881.
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