My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE HEMMINGER, M. D., a prominent physician and surgeon at Carlisle, Pa., comes of sturdy old German stock and of a family that is honorably known in a number of the States of the Union.

John Hemminger, his grandfather, emigrated from Germany and settled in Lancaster county, Pa., when a young man, and there married Barbara Rhemm. To them were born three sons, John, Jacob and Samuel, and one daughter, Nancy, who married George Stubbs, of Cumberland county, in 1800.

John Hemminger, the eldest son of John Hemminger, Sr., married Eliza Heagy, and they settled on the old farm two and a half miles west of Carlisle, where the following named children were born to them: Jane A., who became the wife of Lafayette Peffer, of Dickinson township, and had children; John, Jr., who became a farmer near Waynesboro, Franklin county; Sarah; Samuel, deceased; Catherine, who became the wife of J. E. B. Graham and removed to the vicinity of Lincoln, Neb., (they have a family); William, who died in 1873, leaving a widow; Joseph, who died in 1883, leaving a widow; Mary, who married William McCullough, of near Shippensburg, Cumberland county (they have a family); Hettie, who became the wife of Joseph Beetem, of Carlisle, and had a family; Jacob, of Carlisle; Dr. George; and Susannah.

George Hemminger was born Sept. 8, 1840, on his father’s farm near Carlisle, and received his primary education in the district schools. In 1861 he entered Pennsylvania College, in the Freshman class, and one year later successfully passed the examination for the Sophomore year, but the outbreak and continuance of the Civil war changed his plans at that time. In August, 1862, in company with seven of his classmates, he went to Harrisburg, and on the 16th his name was enrolled as a member of Company B, 138th P. V. I. With his command he was assigned to duty at the Relay House, where he remained until June 16, 1863. As a member of the 2d Brigade, 3d Division, he was engaged with the force transporting stores to Washington, D. C. From the 1st to the 5th of July he was at Wapping Heights, Va.; July 23 was at Kelly’s Ford; Nov. 7 at Brandy Station; Nov. 8 at Mine Run; from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2 at Locust Grove. In March, 1864, he was assigned to the 6th Corps, and from May 5th to 7th took part in the battle of the Wilderness; was at Spottsylvania from the 12th to the 19th; at Cold Harbor June 1st to 3d; in the trenches at Bermuda Hundred, June 17; destruction of the Weldon railroad, June 22-22, Monocacy, Md., July 9; from Feb. 17, 1865, until March 25th, when he was paroled, he was a prisoner of war, at Danville and at Libby, in Richmond. On April 10, 1865, the young soldier returned to his regiment, marching with it to Danville, where he had suffered imprisonment, and then proudly with Gen. Sherman’s victorious army to attend the Grand Review at Washington, June 8, 1865. Having gallantly and faithfully served his country, the young student returned to his books, entering Dickinson College, at Carlisle, for a year, and then beginning the study of medicine under Dr. J. J. Zitzer; later he spent one term at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. He then entered the College of Medicine at Detroit and was there graduated in 1869. For the succeeding six years he practiced his profession at Newville, removing thence to Baltimore, Md., where he formed a partnership with his old preceptor, Dr. J. J. Zitzer, with whom he remained until the fall of 1875, when he returned to Carlisle. Here Dr. Hemminger has been actively engaged in practice ever since, his clientele being so large at the present time that it is almost burdensome. Both as a physician and a citizen he is held in the highest esteem.

Dr. Hemminger was married (first) Feb. 11, 1871, to Annie Powell, a native of Maryland, daughter of Col. Samuel R. and Mary A. (Kelly) Powell, of Baltimore. One son, George R., was born to this union April 25, 1872, was graduated at St. Stephen’s Institute, and is now located at Manchester, N. H., where he is superintendent of the United Gas Improvement Co., whose main offices are in Philadelphia, at the corner of Broad and Arch streets.

Dr. Hemminger married for his second wife Miss Nina Oyster, daughter of D. K. and Catherine (Drabaugh) Oyster, of Missouri, a lady of charming manners and a true Southern type. Dr. Hemminger is a member of the Lutheran Church. He is connected with the various medical organizations and is prominent fraternally in the Masonic bodies, belonging to St. John’s Commandery, No. 361, Knights Templar, of Carlisle.