E. H. Kingery, veterinary surgeon, Mendota, Illinois, was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1837, a son of Dr. Daniel and Susanna (Hoover) Kingery, natives of that state, he being one of their twelve children. Of that large family, nine sons and three daughters, nine are still living, namely: John. Daniel, Samuel, Ephraim H., Susanna (widow of David Goode), Mary (wife of Abe Eshelman, of Arkansas), David, Andrew and George. In early life the father was a farmer. Later he took up the medical profession, came west to Illinois in 1847 and located in Ogle county, and there practiced medicine for a period of thirty-five years. He died in Ogle county, at the age of sixty-nine years. His widow died in 1895, at the age of eighty-three years. Both were buried at Polo, this state. They were originally identified with the Evangelical church, but after coming west united with the United Brethren.
The Kingery family is of German origin and the name was formerly Gingerich. John Kingery, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Pennsylvania and a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Both he and his wife lived to a ripe old age, he being eighty at the time of death, she ninety-two. They were the parents of six sons and five daughters. The Hoovers likewise were of German origin and were among the early settlers of the Keystone state. Michael Hoover, our subject's maternal grandfather, was a native of Pennsylvania, by occupation was a farmer, and his age at death was the same as that of Grandfather Kingery, - eighty years. In the Hoover family were ten children.
Dr. E. H. Kingery was ten years old when he came with his parents to Illinois, and he was reared in Ogle county, receiving his early education in its district schools. Later he was a student at Mount Morris Academy and still later at the Western Iowa College. For ten or twelve years he followed the milling business and was thus occupied at the time the civil war broke out. In answer to a call for volunteers he left the mill and entered the Union ranks, becoming a member of Company C, One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, the fortunes of which he shared two years, being first lieutenant and a part of the time commanding the company. He was in the battles of Richmond, Kentucky; Franklin, Tennessee; Chickamauga; Franklin, again; Nashville, Tennessee; and Duck River, besides many skirmishes.
At the close of the war Mr. Kingery gave his attention to the study of veterinary surgery, under Professor Navin, of Cincinnati, and began practicing in Wabash county, Illinois, in 1867. Since then he has devoted the whole of his time and attention to the practice of his profession. In the fall of 1867 he returned to Ogle county, remained there till 1878, and then located in Paw Paw. Illinois. Afterward he practiced in Arlington and Lamoille, both in this state, and from the latter place moved in 1885 to his present location in Mendota.
March 28, 1858, Dr. Kingery married Miss Mary E. Hammaker, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Longenecker) Hammaker, their marriage being consummated at Mount Carmel. Illinois. The fruits of their union are nine children, five sons and four daughters, whose names in order of birth are as follows: Levi, Elizabeth, Jennie, Samuel, Laura, Minnie, Frank, Le Roy and Charles. Levi married Miss Ella VanLaw and they have one child, VanLaw. They reside in Parker, South Dakota, where he has the position of foreman in the Northwestern Elevator Company. Lizzie died at the age of twenty-five years, the wife of Charles Sturdevant. Jennie married Fremont Piedlow, of Rochelle. Illinois, and they have four children, Pearl, Wilbur, Minnie and Mabel. Samuel married Miss C. Pierson, of Creston, Iowa, and they have one child. Hazel. Samuel is a graduate of the Chicago Veterinary College, with the class of 1888, and is now assistant state veterinary of Iowa. Laura married Daniel Gushing, of Prophetstown, Illinois, and they have three children. The other members of the family are at home with their parents. Mrs. Kingery is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Fraternally Dr. Kingery is identified with Mendota Lodge, No. 76, A. F. & A. M.; Modern Woodmen of America, of which he is venerable counsel; and Hill's Post, G. A. R.. of Lamoille. Politically he has always affiliated with the Republican party, and has served in various local official capacities. He was tax collector of Wysox township, Carroll county; deputy sheriff in Wabash county; and school trustee and school director several times.
Extracted by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois published in 1900, volume 1, pages 278-280.
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