Isaac Herbert Kempner (January 14, 1873 – August 1, 1967) was the founder of the

Imperial Sugar Imperial Sugar is a major U.S. sugar producer and marketer based in Sugar Land, Texas, with sugar refinery operations in California, Georgia, and Louisiana. The company was established in 1843 and has undergone ownership changes multip ...

Corporation and mayor of Galveston, Texas.

Early years

Kempner was born in 1873 in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

. His father was a

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

immigrant and his mother was from the

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

Seinsheimer family in Cincinnati. Kempner was the eldest of eight surviving children. He studied at

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

, but left just before graduation when his father died in 1894. Kempner returned to his family home in Galveston, Texas to assume control of the family business and care for his mother and seven siblings (who were as young as 2 years old at the time). In 1902, Kempner married Henrietta Blum. They had 5 children together: Harris Leon Kempner, Isaac Herbert Kempner Jr., Cecile, Lyda, and Leonora.

Business ventures

In 1905, Kempner and fellow Galveston businessman

William Lewis Moody Jr. William Lewis Moody Jr. (January 25, 1865 – July 21, 1954)Who Was Who In America, Vol. 3, 1951-1960. Library of Congress number 43-3789. was an American financier and entrepreneur from Galveston, Texas, who founded a private bank, an insurance ...

, established the

American National Insurance Company American National Insurance Company (ANICO) is a major American insurance corporation based in Galveston, Texas. The company and its subsidiaries operate in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Company description American National was founded in ...

; However, by 1908, Kempner had sold his shares in the insurance company and with his family members, and a partner, William T. Eldridge, purchased a sugar plantation and mill in the area that would become the company town of Sugar Land. Over the following years, they acquired additional assets and controlled the majority of the sugar industry in Texas. These holdings were incorporated into the

Company in 1924. After Eldridge died, Kempner and his siblings acquired his partner's interest in the business. In addition to his sugar and cotton holdings, Kempner was also involved in real estate and insurance businesses and, along with his siblings, held ownership in the

United States National Bank The United States National Bank of Galveston SNBwas a federally chartered bank in Galveston, Texas. It was founded in 1874 and was merged into Frost National Bank in 2000. It was the last of 33 banks chartered in the US that used the forbidde ...

in Galveston. Kempner also contributed construction funds for the original 3.3 mile

Galveston Seawall The Galveston Seawall is a seawall in Galveston, Texas, that was built after the Galveston hurricane of 1900 for protection from future hurricanes. Construction began in September 1902, and the initial segment was completed on July 29, 1904. From ...

(which is currently 10 miles as of 2017).

Civic contributions

Kempner held various positions on the Galveston Cotton Exchange for the majority of his life. He was Galveston's finance commissioner from 1901 to 1915 and its mayor from 1917 to 1919. He is cited as one of the original proponents of the commission form of government.

Legacy

Sugar Land, the company town he helped found, has grown into the largest suburb of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area.

Kempner High School I.H. Kempner High School, better known simply as Kempner High School, is a public high school in Sugar Land, Texas and a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. It was named after Isaac Herbert Kempner (1873–1967), the founder of ...

in Sugar Land is named in his honor. An historical district of Galveston, TX – the Kempner Park neighborhood, is bounded by Broadway, 23rd Street, Seawall Boulevard, and 39th Street. The entire stretch of 22nd Street in Galveston is named in his honor. After the Storm of 1900, he also was instrumental in financing the construction of the

. Kempner, along with his siblings, was instrumental in the founding of the Harris & Eliza Kempner Fund, a

charitable foundation A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable act ...

dedicated to the health and well-being of Galveston families as well as the improvement of Galveston.Harris & Eliza Kempner Fund: About the Foundation
/ref> His granddaughter,

Lyda Ann Thomas Lyda Ann Thomas (née Quinn; November 20, 1936 – April 19, 2017) was an American politician and businesswoman. She was first elected in 2004 as Mayor of Galveston, Texas to succeed Roger Quiroga. She was the third female mayor of Galveston. Ed ...

, served as the Mayor of Galveston from 2004 to 2010.

References

External links