Mrs. John Lemp died at the family residence in this city, at fifth and Grove Streets, last evening at 7:15 o'clock, after a severe illness of but a week though she had been in poor health for nearly a year. When the last summons came, she was surrounded by all of her children except Mrs. Augusta Grant of Portland. The end was a calm, peaceful crossing to the better world. Mrs. Lemp was a woman of most beautiful character, kindly, generous, ever thoughtful and considerate of the comfort and happiness of others. She died as she lived, thinking nought of her own sufferings--only solicitous of the welfare of dear ones left behind. Her husband who has been confined to his bed since December 21, was not able to be at her side at the last moment, and with the other members of the family keenly feels the loss of one whose place can never be filled.

Mrs. Lemp's maiden name was Catherine Kohlhepp. She was born at Marberg Germany, 57 years ago last November, and came to America with her parents when but three years of age. They were living in Iowa in 1865 when they started with a freighter's outfit to cross the plains, arriving here late in the summer of that year. John lemp crossed the plains in 1859 and in 1866 he and his companion through all these later years were united in marriage in the village of Boise. Two years later a cozy home was erected at the corner of fifth and Grove Streets, which with several editions has been the family residence ever since.
Besides the husband, eight sons and daughters survive the deceased, all of whom reside in Boise except Mrs. Augusta Grant of Portland. The others are Mrs. Elizabeth Connor, Mrs. Ada Hurt, Miss Louise, Albert, Edward, Herbert and Bernard. No funeral arrangements will be made until the daughter in Portland has been heard from.

Idaho Statesman
Boise, Idaho
8 Jan 1908

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The following was provided by Kat Carter.

Idaho Deluxe Supplement 1920


JOHN LEMP, winning his initial success in Boise inthe brewery business, extended his efforts into other fields, and became a most successful investor in real estate and the promoter of irrigation interests of great value to the district in which he operated. While he started out in the business world emptyhanded,he came to be known as one of the men of affluence in Boise and, moreover, at the time of his death had resided for a continuous period in the city longer than anv other of its residents. Many phases of Idaho's development and progress were perfectly familiar to him and in substantial measure he contributed to the work of up building along material lines. John Lemp was born in Neiderweisel, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany,April 21, 1838, his parents being John Jacob and Anna Elizabeth(Jung) Lemp. He pursued his education in the public schools of his native place until he reached the age of fourteen years. He was a lad of twelve when his father died and his mother, at the age of seventy-five years, came to Boise, where she passed away at the age of eighty-six. John Lemp, on reaching the age of fourteen,started for the new world, having determined to try his fortune on this side of the Atlantic. It was in 1852 that he landed at New York,whence he made his way to Louisville, Kentucky, where he resided for seven vears, largelv devoting that time to clerking in one of the leading mercantile establishments of the city. Attracted by gold discoveries in California, he started for Pike's Peak in 1859 and there engaged in prospecting and mining but without any large measure of success. With the discovery of gold in Montana, then a part of Idaho territory, he traveled to that state in a company of which William A. Clark, afterward United States senator from Montana and one of America's most prominent capitalists, was of the number. After they had reached a point within the present boundaries of Idaho Mr. Clark and his companions proceeded to Bannock, Montana, while Mr. Lemp and others continued the journey to West Branch, now Boise, Idaho, where they arrived July 8, 1863. They found a little frontier settlement composed of a postoffice and a few dwellings, together with a smaller group of business houses of most primitive character. Mr. Lemp soon went from Boise to Idaho City but after a brief period there passed, returned to the future capital of the state and remained a resident thereof until his demise. In the early '70s he established a brewery in South Mountain, then a mining camp, and for a teacup of gold dust purchased a small and thoroughly equipped brewery in Boise. He built what was then considered an extensive brewery and from time to time remodeled the plant and increased its facilities in order to meet the growing demands of the trade. As he prospered in this undertaking he made investments in Idaho real estate, his judgment proving most sound in the placing ofhis purchases. It was largely the increase in real estate values that made him one of the wealthy men of his adopted state. His landholdings included more than five thousand acres and he also had extensive and valuable properties in Boise, adding to the development and beauty of the city through the improvements which he placed upon his land. He erected and owned the Capitol Hotel building and the Shainwald block, also built many residences and business blocks and transformed unsightly vacancies into beautiful residential sections. He took great delight in Boise's growth and improvement,for from the time when he settled within the borders of the little frontier town his interests centered here. Mr. Lemp did a most important work in connection with the promotion of irrigation projects. He was one of the most active and influential supporters of the Settlers canal, one of the first and most important irrigating systems of the state. The work was scarcely under way when others associated with him lost heart and became discouraged concerning the prospect, but Mr. Lemp never faltered and largely financed the undertaking, which cost him a fortune. He encountered many difficulties in the way of slides, quicksands and breaks, but at length the canal was completed and proved of the greatest value and importance to the district, supplying an abundance of water for the irrigation of extensive tracts in the Boise valley. Mr. Lemp also figured in banking circles, becoming an extensive stockholder in the First National Bank of Boise and served for a number of years as its president. He was also one of the promoters and large stockholders of the Boise Rapid Transit Company, which built the first electric street car line in the capital, now the property of the Boise Railroad Company. On the 7th of May, 1865, Mr. Lemp was married to Miss Catherine Kohlhepp, a native of Marburg, Hesse-Cassel, Germany, born November 20, [850, and a daughter of William Kohlhepp, who brought his family to America during the early girlhood of his daughter Catherine, so that she was reared at Muscatine, Iowa. In1864 the family started across the plains for the northwest. An immigrant party that had preceded them had been massacred by the red men and there was much danger attendant upon the trip, for the party took with them a fine herd of cattle, always an attraction tothe Indians. Mrs. Lemp, however, was largely instrumental in preventing any hostilities, for she would invite the Indians to partake of meals with the party of immigrants and before breaking camp she always contrived to make delicious biscuits for them and thus gained their goodwill. It was after the Kohlhepp home was established in Boise that she formed the acquaintance of Mr. Lemp, who sought her hand in marriage, and for about forty-three years they traveled life's journey happily together, being separated by the death of Mrs. Lemp, which occurred on the 7th of January, 1908, while Mr. Lemp survived until July 18, 1912. They were the parents of thirteen children, seven of whom are yet living, namely: Elizabeth, who married William B. Conner; Augusta, the wife of A. Roderick Grant, of Portland, Oregon; Ada, now Mrs. Edwin G. Hurt; Louise, who married Marshall C. Simonson; Albert C.; Herbert F. ; and Bernard L. Mr. Lemp gave his political support to the republican party, of which he was a stanch advocate, and he was at all times an interested student of the problems of vital import to the government. For twenty years he served as a member of the city council of Boise and in 1874 was elected mayor, giving to the city a progressive and liberal administration. He belonged to the Masonic lodge, in which he filled all of the offices, including that of worshipful master, and he was also a member of the local lodge of Odd Fellows, in which he served as treasurer for ten years, and was past grand patriarch at the time of his death. He belonged to the Boise Commercial Club and the Boise Turn Verein and he was a devoted member of the Lutheran church. He was a man of firm friendships, of undoubted loyalty to his convictions and of most charitable and benevolent spirit. At the time of his demise the Boise Evening News said of him: "Many of the early pioneers visited the Lemp home this morning and informed the bereaved children of good deeds which their father had done and many of which were previously unknown to them. One of the visitors who had known and been close to Mr. Lemp for years stated that the deceased had done more for charity than any other man in the state, as he was always lending a helping hand to those who were down, giving generously and helping them onward, and he here provided for a number of men for several years after their day of work was done and they were without the means with which to live."