Jane Elizabeth Kempton (née Twitchell; October 4, 1835 – March 13, 1921) was an American contralto opera solo singer who had an active career spanning over fifty years starting in 1850.

[4] Jenny's brother, John Wight Twitchell (1842–1864), and her father-in-law, Ezra A. Kempton Jr. (1808–1864), died within one week of each other in Andersonville Prison in August 1864, mere miles from her father and Sherman's Union Army.

Her first notice came from her lead in the first performance in the United States[6][7] of the Mendelssohn oratorios St. Paul and Elijah in Boston in early 1850 with the Handel and Haydn Society.

[15] In 1864, Kempton signed a contract with the Richings-Bernard Opera Company and traveled by steamship[16] to San Francisco to sing many solo performances at Maquire's Academy of Music[17][18] from 1864 to 1865.

[6] Following her commercial success in San Francisco, Kempton returned to New York for a brief time and then embarked on a two-year stay in Europe from 1865 to 1867 to train under Gioachino Rossini and to perform in many European capitals.

She eventually performed for King Victor Emmanuel II and Margherita of Savoy in Florence, Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie in Paris, and Queen Victoria in London, with whom she was considered to have a striking resemblance.