Few citizens of LaSalle are better known or more generally esteemed than John A. Kings, who has made his home here for nearly three decades and has served in official positions for a number of years, acquitting himself with ability and distinction.
He is a native of Richmond county, Staten Island, New York, his birth having occurred March 3, 1849. His parents, Garrett J. and Johanna (Schoemaker) Kings, were natives of Holland and came to the United States late in the '40s. They were married in this country, and in 1850 removed from Staten Island to Passaic, New Jersey, and later came to Illinois, settling in Belvidere, Boone county, upon a farm. There the father died in 1870, at the age of seventy-one years. The wife and mother is still living, and though now in her eighty-fourth year is remarkably strong and well preserved. Their children were: John A.; Garrett H., of Sanborn, Iowa; Andrew J., of Mitchell, Dakota; and Theodore F., of Phoenix, Arizona.
In his youth John A. Kings received a good public-school education. He continued to live on the old homestead and to assist his father until he was fifteen years of age. He then entered upon the business of railroading, and was thus employed until 1881. For several years after he came to LaSalle he was employed as section foreman, car inspector and yard-master for the Illinois Central Railroad Company. In 1881 he accepted a position as carpenter with the Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Company, with which concern he remained until 1888. In May of that year he became a member of the LaSalle police force, and is still one of the guardians of the city's peace. He bears an excellent record, is faithful, prompt and efficient, and merits the good will which the citizens feel toward him. From 1884 to 1886 he was a member of the city council, and in 1889 was elected to the office of justice of the peace. In 1893, and again in 1897, he was re-elected, and is still serving in this important position.
In 1874 Mr. Kings married Miss Mary D. Flynn, a native of Canada and of Irish lineage. Two sons and two daughters have blessed the union of this estimable couple, namely: Mary J.. Ellen Agnes, Francis J. and John. The family are Roman Catholic in their religious faith. They have a pleasant home and are highly esteemed by all who know them.
Extracted 26 Dec 2016 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois published in 1900, volume 2, pages 432-433.
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