Patrolman Anthony Kemper

Anthony Kemper

Patrolman Anthony Kemper succumbed to injuries sustained when he was assaulted by an intoxicated man whom he was escorting back to his residence.

Patrolman Kemper found a drunk man creating a disturbance in front of the Fort Sumter Saloon at 15th Street and the Canal. Instead of arresting him, Patrolman Kemper attempted to escort him home. The man consented to go to his brother's home about half a block away, fronting the canal between 15th and Wade Streets. Patrolman Kemper succeeded in getting the man to the top of the stairs at about 3:30 a.m., when the man suddenly struck him in the face.

He was knocked over the banisters to the sidewalk twenty feet below. Patrolman Kemper's lieutenant heard the noise of the fall and ran to Patrolman Kemper's aid, but found him unconscious as the result of a skull fracture. The subject was arrested and taken to the Oliver Street Station.

Patrolman Kemper was removed to his home at Clark and Linn Streets where he died shortly before 2:00 p.m. He is interred in St. John's Cemetery.

He was survived by his wife, two children, and brother.