Tag Archives: Kingery family

Oldest Man in the County: Peter Kingery (52 Ancestors #16)

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There’s a cool thing about genealogy. Even when you have an ancestor who you discovered early on, you can still learn something new about them. Such is the case with Peter Kingery, my 4th-great-grandfather.

The theme for 52 Ancestors this week is “Live Long,” which made me curious about the oldest ancestor in my line, something I hadn’t explored before. Of those with birth and death dates that I’ve documented, it’s Peter Kingery. He died 16 May 1872 in Lawrence County, Ohio. So how old was ol’ Pete when he died?

Peter Kingery death record, Lawrence County, Ohio death record, volume 1.  Viewed on FamilySearch.org.

Peter Kingery death record, Lawrence County, Ohio death record, volume 1. Viewed on FamilySearch.org.

102 years, 2 months, 1 day.

Consider that for a moment. Peter Kingery was born before the American Revolution and died after the Civil War. Think of all of the history he saw, the history that he lived through.

His death notice in the Ironton Register described him as “…doubtless, the oldest person in the county.” And with that age came a lot of history.

Nancy Dillon Kingery: 1842 Was a Rough Year (52 Ancestors #49)

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Timelines are powerful tools in our research. They can show us holes in our research, give us ideas for new places to look, and even help us evaluate evidence. (“She was only 2 when she gave birth? Huh. I think something is wrong here.”)

Timelines are even more powerful when we include dates of a person’s entire family. Doing that for Nancy Dillon Kingery, my 3rd-great-grandmother, gave me a whole new insight into her life.

  • 1808 – Born1)Nancy Ann Dillon Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70131401. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. Birth date of 2 August 1808 calculated from age at date of death.
  • 1832 – Married Henry Kingery in Lawrence County, Ohio2)FamilySearch.org, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997, Henry Kingry and Nancy Dillon marriage, Lawrence County marriage vol. 1-3, p. 158.
  • 1833 – Birth of son Armsted3)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1835 – Birth of son Lewis4)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1836 – Birth of son William5)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1838 – Birth of daughter Mary6)Cemeteries of Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. No publication info.
  • 1839 – Birth of daughter Elizabeth7)Elizabeth Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146859. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
  • 1840 – Death of daughter Elizabeth8)Elizabeth Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146859. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
  • 1841 – Birth of son John Peter9)FamilySearch.org, Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953, John P. Kingrey death certificate, 11782 (1917), digital image.
  • 1842 – Birth of son Samuel10)Samuel Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146927. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. NOTE: The tombstone is hard to read; an earlier transcription varies on the month and day of his death, though both agree that it was in 1842 and he was aged 20 days.
  • 1842 – Death of son Samuel11)Samuel Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146927. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. NOTE: The tombstone is hard to read; an earlier transcription varies on the month and day of his death, though both agree that it was in 1842 and he was aged 20 days.
  • 1842 – Death of daughter Mary (13 November)12)Cemeteries of Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. No publication info.
  • 1847 – Birth of son Henry Franklin13)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1848 – Birth of son McCager14)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1864 – Son John Peter enlists in 173rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry15)Roster Commission. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 9. Cincinnati: Ohio Valley Press, 1889.
  • 1872 – Death of husband Henry16)Henry Franklin Kingery, Sr., FindAGrave.com, memorial 70128122. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
  • 1894 – Died17)Nancy Ann Dillon Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70131401. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.

1842. The year that Nancy gave birth to her son Samuel, only to see him die three weeks later. Then 4-year-old Mary died later that fall. Nancy had already lost her 1-year-old daughter Elizabeth in 1840.

How did Nancy cope with the deaths of her children? Was she frightened to discover she was pregnant in 1847 and again in 1848? How worried was she when John Peter went off to fight in the Civil War?

The gap in her children between 1842 and 1847 makes me wonder. Did she have — and lose — another child in that time? Did she avoid getting pregnant, afraid that she would have to bury another child if she did?

While we’ll never know the answers to those questions, seeing this timeline makes us think less about individual events and more about Nancy’s life.

EDIT: If you enjoyed this example of a timeline, you might also like the post I wrote about Nancy’s son John Peter, his entry into the Civil War, and the birth of his daughter: John, This Is Your Daughter: Or, How a Timeline Uncovered a Family Story.

It's kind of strange how we look at time and the events in our ancestors' lives...

It’s kind of strange how we look at time and the events in our ancestors’ lives…

References   [ + ]

1. Nancy Ann Dillon Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70131401. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. Birth date of 2 August 1808 calculated from age at date of death.
2. FamilySearch.org, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997, Henry Kingry and Nancy Dillon marriage, Lawrence County marriage vol. 1-3, p. 158.
3, 4, 5, 13, 14. Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
6, 12. Cemeteries of Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. No publication info.
7, 8. Elizabeth Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146859. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
9. FamilySearch.org, Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953, John P. Kingrey death certificate, 11782 (1917), digital image.
10, 11. Samuel Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146927. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. NOTE: The tombstone is hard to read; an earlier transcription varies on the month and day of his death, though both agree that it was in 1842 and he was aged 20 days.
15. Roster Commission. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 9. Cincinnati: Ohio Valley Press, 1889.
16. Henry Franklin Kingery, Sr., FindAGrave.com, memorial 70128122. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
17. Nancy Ann Dillon Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70131401. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.

Henry Kingery: The Spelling Lesson (52 Ancestors #39)

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I have to admit that I just know the basics about Henry Kingery, my 3rd-great-grandfather. He was born in Virginia in 1806. (Some people list his birth as being in Franklin County, Virginia, but I haven’t been able to pinpoint the family there yet.) He married Nancy Dillon in 1832 in Lawrence County, Ohio. After their marriage, Henry and Nancy lived in Windsor Township until Henry’s death in 1872.

Henry Kingry and Nancy Dillon marriage record, Lawrence County, Ohio, downloaded from FamilySearch.org.

Henry Kingry and Nancy Dillon marriage record, Lawrence County, Ohio, downloaded from FamilySearch.org.

Pretty basic stuff.

Yet researching Henry and his family has taught me a lot about being flexible with spelling. Here are just some of the ways I’ve seen his surname spelled:

  • Kingery – 1840 census, 1860 census (population and agriculture), 1870 census
  • Kingry – his marriage record and tombstone
  • Kingers – 1850 census
  • Kingra – on his daughter Mary’s tombstone
  • Kingrey – on some of his children’s census records

“Kingers” on the 1850 census was just bad handwriting, in my opinion. The surprising one to me is Kingra. If you weren’t familiar with the family, you might see the name and sound it out with a short “a” (King-ruh). But knowing the family, you can “hear” how it would actually be pronounced with a long “a.”

Long story short: Don’t get hung up on spelling.

Margaret Priscilla Kingery: A Lesson in Names (52 Ancestors #21)

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Last week, I talked about my great-grandfather Linton Alfred Johnson. This week, I’d like to introduce you to his wife, my great-grandmother Margaret Priscilla Kingery.

There’s a lot I could say about Margaret (or Maggie, as she was called). But because it’s late on Tuesday night and I don’t want to break my streak of posting to the 52 Ancestors challenge in a somewhat timely manner, I’ll share just the basics.

Maggie was born 19 December 1871 in Lawrence County, Ohio to John Peter and Elizabeth Jane (Murnahan) Kingery. She and Linton married 11 June 1893, also in Lawrence County.

The 1940 census shows her living in Ross County, Ohio with her daughter and son-in-law, Rufus and Orpha Turner. (Warning: Genealogy tip coming up!) When you’re working with a common name — like “Margaret Johnson” — you need to be careful that you’re not combining two people of the same name. You do this by (1) connecting your person with others and (2) looking at all of the records you can.

Let’s say that when I found this Margaret Johnson in the 1940 census, I didn’t know she had a daughter named Orpha. How could I be sure that this Margaret was my Margaret? I could look for her with Linton and see who their children are. For example, the 1920 census lists Margaret with husband Linton and daughter Orpha. Looking at other records, I find Margaret listed in the 1940 Chillicothe, Ohio directory. (Chillicothe is in Ross County, which is where she was in the 1940 census.) This record leaves no doubt that this is the right one:

1940 Chillicothe, Ohio City Directory.

1940 Chillicothe, Ohio City Directory.

Translating from “directory-ese”: Margaret P. Johnson, widow of Linton A., residing with Rufus M. Turner.

Maggie died 6 December 1948 in Columbus, Ohio and is buried in Locust Grove Cemetery in Lawrence County.

Linton and Margaret Priscilla (Kingery) Johnson.

Linton and Margaret Priscilla (Kingery) Johnson.

John, This Is Your Daughter: Or, How a Timeline Uncovered a Family Story

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John Peter Kingery managed to stay out of the Civil War until the 18th of August, 1864. He and his wife Elizabeth Jane had only been married for three years. They had 15-month-old son and Elizabeth Jane was pregnant with their second child. And when I say “pregnant,” I mean she was very pregnant.

Mary Kingery, daughter of John Peter and Elizabeth Jane, was born 1 September 1864. That’s a mere 14 days after John enrolled.

John probably saw his baby daughter before he left for his service with the 173rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The 173rd didn’t muster in until 18 September. John likely didn’t leave for Gallipolis, where the 173rd was mustering, until a few days before.

Imagine what Jane (as everyone called her) went through. A young mother with a toddler and a brand new baby, and her husband is going off to war. By 1864, the war effort is boding better for the Union cause, but it certainly wasn’t a guarantee of safety for anyone who was serving at the time. What were the weeks like for her as she waited for John to return home?

Did she get a letter when John was admitted to the hospital in January 1865? Did she know about the fever and the disease that caused his hair to fall out and his legs to swell “to unusual size”? John stayed in the hospital in Nashville until March. Did Jane learn that he had been furloughed home because of his illness? I almost hope that she didn’t, because on the way home, he became more ill and ended up in the military hospital in Cincinnati, and was there for several more days. He didn’t make it back to Lawrence County until sometime in April.

We’ll never know exactly what happened at his homecoming. But it isn’t hard to imagine that he spent some time reintroducing himself to little Mary, who had grown from a newborn when he left to a 7-month-old — an eternity to a baby. 

(NOTE: If John and Jane sound familiar, you might remember the story of Jane’s death and her burial as an indigent widow.)

Genealogical Tip:
This story was buried in John’s pension file. I didn’t find it until I put together a timeline of events as they were listed in the pension. Among the events:

  • 18 August 1864 – enrolled in the 173rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, per service record abstract from the War Department, in John’s pension file
  • “about the 22nd day of August 1864” – enrolled, per John’s “Declaration for an Original Invalid Pension”
  • 1 September 1864 – birth of Mary E. Kingery, per John’s pension questionnaire, dated 23 March 1915

At first, I didn’t think that John was home when Mary was born. I needed to establish two dates: Mary’s birth and when John actually left. John’s list of his children wasn’t written until 1915. How accurate was his memory? After all, he wasn’t exactly sure when he enrolled, and in one place in his pension, he lists his marriage to Jane as being in 1862, when the marriage record from the Lawrence County Probate Court clearly shows it was 1861. (At least he had the month and the day right.)

Mary later married John C. Stumbo. The 1900 census lists her birthdate as September 1864. Other censuses are also consistent with a birth in late 1864.

So when did John leave for service with the 173rd Ohio? Enrolling doesn’t necessarily mean that he left right away. There was often a delay between the time a man enrolled and when the regiment mustered in (when it officially came together). According to the Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, the 173rd didn’t organize until September; Company E, John’s company, didn’t muster in until 18 September. In all likelihood, John didn’t leave Lawrence County for Gallipolis until closer to mid-September.

Moral of this story: Always create a timeline for your ancestors. Sometimes there is a story just waiting to be teased out.

References:

  • Kingery, John P. Civil War pension file. 173rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Application 574110, Certificate 428276.
  • Kingery, John P. 1870 U.S. Census. Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. Page 604.
  • Roster Commission. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 9. Cincinnati: Ohio Valley Press, 1889.
  • Stumbo, John C. 1900 U.S. Census. Mason Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. ED 71, sheet 2A. (Showing Mary Kingery Stumbo’s birthdate.)

 

The Veteran’s Indigent Widow

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John Peter Kingery and Elizabeth Jane Murnahan, my great-great-grandparents, married in Lawrence County, Ohio on 5 September 1861. The United States had been at war with itself for just a few months, and there was still hope that the war would be over soon.

John managed to stay out of the war until August 1864. He might have been drafted or he might have voluntarily enlisted, which would have given him a small bounty. He needed the money. He and Jane (as everyone called her) had one baby and another on the way. John wouldn’t see his daughter Mary until she was almost a year old.

Jane was fortunate that John returned home from serving in the 173rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, healthier than many of his comrades. But John wasn’t “healthy.” He had spent two months in hospitals in Nashville and Cincinnati from a fever that caused his legs to swell “to unusual size” and his hair to fall out. The pain was severe.

John and Jane’s family grew, but their fortune did not. They had no land and no personal property of value in 1870. In 1900 and 1910, they lived in rented houses. John was a day laborer, a term used in the census to indicate someone who worked for others in an unskilled profession.

After John’s death in 1917, Jane received a pension based on John’s service and disability. Though her file doesn’t mention the amount, it was likely $8 – $12/month. Clearly, Jane wasn’t going to become wealthy — or even financially secure — based on this pension.

In 1884, Ohio passed a law allowing county commissioners to pay for the burial of honorably discharged Union veterans who “died without leaving means sufficient to defray funeral expenses.” Later, this law was amended to include veteran’s widows. It was under this law that the Lawrence County Commissioners paid for Jane’s funeral and burial.

Jane Kingery's Burial Record

Jane Kingery’s Burial Record

“…after a careful inquiry into and examination of all the circumstances in the case, do find and report that the said Jane Kingery died on the 12 day of May A.D. 1921; that we have caused her to be buried in a decent and respectable manner in Kingery Cemetery; that the occupation of said decedent while living was Housewife, that the said decedent died in indigent circumstances, that his [sic] family is unable to pay the expenses of the burial…”

We often don’t think about the families of the veterans. What would Jane’s life have been like had John not served or had not become disabled?

John Peter and Elizabeth Jane (Murnahan) Kingery

John Peter and Elizabeth Jane (Murnahan) Kingery

References:

  • Kingery, Jane. Indigent Soldiers Record of Burial. Briggs Lawrence County Public Library.
  • Kingery, John P. Civil War pension file. 173rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Application 574110, Certificate 428276.
  • Kingery, John. 1870 U.S. Census. Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. Page 604.
  • Kingery, John. 1900 U.S. Census. Mason Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. ED 71, sheet 1B.
  • Kingrey, John. 1910 U.S. Census. Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. ED 107, sheet 6A.
  • Revised Statutes of the State of Ohio, Including All Laws of a General Nature in Force January 1, 1890. Volume II. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke, 1894. (Page 2535, downloaded from Google Books.)

[EDIT: I’ve added a new story that I teased out from John’s pension record, “John, This Is Your Daughter.”]