Beery, Emanuel M.

BEERY

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/26/2021 at 16:08:46

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.860

EMANUEL MARTIN BEERY
Emanuel Martin Beery, the well known postmaster of Norwalk and an honored veteran of the Civil War, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, on the 27th of August, 1843, and is a son of David Beery, a native of the same county. His paternal grandfather was Joseph Beery, who removed from Pennsylvania to the Buckeye state at a very early day and became one of the pioneers of Fairfield County. He followed farming but also engaged in preach­ing as a minister of the Brethren in Christ Church.
David Beery had but limited educational advantages as he was only able to attend school for about three months and was therefore almost wholly self-educated. On attaining man's estate he married Miss Jemima Black, also a native of Ohio and a daughter of Benoni Black. The birth of her father also occurred in Ohio, but her grandfather, Peter Black, was born in France. Dur­ing his residence in Ohio, David Beery operated a grist and saw mill, but after coming to Iowa turned his attention to agricultural pursuits.
It was in 1854 that he and his family started for this state, traveling by wagon, and after a long and tedious trip of five weeks and three days they finally reached Warren Cunty, which was to be their future home. Locating one mile south and a quarter of a mile west of Norwalk, the father purchased two hundred and twenty acres of land, for which he paid twelve dollars per acre, and to the improvement and cultivation of that place he devoted his energies until his retirement from active labor in 1885, when he removed to Norwalk, living here until his death in February, 1891, when seventy-two years of age. His wife survived him for four years, dying in February, 1895, also at the age of seventy-two years. Both were faithful members of the Brethren in Christ Church and were most estimable people. In politics the father was first a Whig and later a Republican, but during his last years voted with the Prohi­bition Party. In the family of this worthy couple were the following chil­dren: Emanuel M., Mary, Barbara, Noah, Benoni, deceased; George, Sarah, Rebecca, Jane, Ellen, Henry and Rose.
Emanuel M. Beery was eleven years of age when the family came to Warren County and here he grew to manhood, receiving a good practical education in the common schools. He was one of the boys in blue during the dark days of the Civil War, enlisting on the 15th of August, 1862, for three years, as a member of Company H, Thirty-fourth Iowa Volunteer In­fantry, and he took part in all the engagements in which his regiment partici­pated. He was in the hospital for three months during his service. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged at Houston, Texas, and mus­tered out at Davenport, Iowa, August 19, 1865. Returning home he fol­lowed farming until I882 and then removed to Norwalk, where he has since made his home. For the past five years he has served as postmaster and has proved a most accommodating and obliging official.
Mr. Beery was married in 1868 to Miss Nannie AT. Hester, a native of Indiana. They hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church and are people of prominence in the community where they reside. Mr. Beery is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Odd Fellows fraternity, and in polities is identified with the Republican Party, taking an active and commendable interest in public affairs.