William Thornton Kemper, Sr. (November 3, 1866 - January 19, 1938) (also known as William T. Kemper) is the patriarch of the Missouri Kemper family who developed both Commerce Bancshares and UMB Financial Corporation to become major a banking family in the Midwest. Commerce Bancshares is a Kansas City, Missouri based bank with branches in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. ... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ...

Kemper was born in Gallatin, Missouri. He swept floors in St. Joseph, Missouri at the shoe store of his father. One of his accounts was with the Valley Falls, Kansas firm in his future father in law Rufus Henry Crosby. He married Charlotte Crosby in 1890 and moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1893 where he became president of Commerce Bank in 1903. Gallatin is a city located in Daviess County, Missouri. ... Saint Joseph (also known as St. ... Valley Falls is a city located in Jefferson County, Kansas. ... Nickname: Location in Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass Counties in the state of Missouri. ...

In 1913 he sold Commerce Bank shares at a price of $220 a share and bought controlling interest in City Center Bank (which was to become UMB Bank). Kemper was to buy back the original Commerce Bank at $86/share.

His son James M. Kemper became president of Commerce Bank while R. Crosby Kemper became president of City Center. R. Crosby Kemper Sr. ...

Kemper’s good fortune was not confined to banking. After being appointed received of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad, oil was discovered along the road.

Kemper's history was intertwined with Harry S. Truman. Kemper arranged for Truman to be a page at the 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City. He encourage Truman's father to invest in grain futures which nearly ruined him. In 1934 during first Truman's first run for the United States Senate, Kemper bought the assets of the failed Continental National Bank which included the mortgage on Truman's failed haberdashery and in turn allowed Truman to retire it for $1,000 (while at the same time coincidentally contributing $1,000 to Truman's campaign).^[1] Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953); as Vice President, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... Convention Hall The 1900 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention that took place the week of July 4, 1900 at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri. ... A haberdasher is a person who sells small items via retail, commonly items used in clothing, such as ribbons and buttons, or completed accessories, such as hats or gloves. ...

References

• Kansas City Public Library biography
• Kansas City Public Library William T. Kemper resources