Last updated 11 May 2000.
John WINGO, of Jefferson County, Ill. was recently drowned in a slough near Spring Garden.
John P. Wingo was born in Hamilton Co., Tenn. in March 1842. His parents, Rolin [sic] and Rebecca Wingo, and other members of the family came to Jefferson Co. and settled on a farm about a mile southwest of Ina. The land is now covered by Rend Lake. John enlisted in the Army during the Civil War and served in Co. E, 155th Reg. Ill. Inf. He was discharged in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and returned home and married Mary Ann Clinton, the dau. of Barnett and Cynthia Foster Clinton. (See John I. Clinton family) John P. is buried at Kirk Cemetery near Ina, as is his wife and his parents. The inscription "Drowned by a Mule" appears on his tombstone, marking his tragic death. After a succession of heavy rains in 1877, John rode out to rescue a herd of swine that was in danger of drowning. He failed to return, and his mule returned riderless. A searching party found his body in a swollen slough. Beverly Wingo, his brother, insisted that the unusual inscription be placed on his stone.
The children of John and Mary Ann are: Victoria, b. 1866, married John Hartley, no ch.; Melissa, b. 1868, married Elick Kirk and had Glen, Gordon, Gussie, and a son Fritz who survives; Manessa, b. 1875, married Sidney Dunbar and had Vivian (Lanson) Taylor. Their son Lloyd Taylor survives and their dau. Aline married Harry Drennan, their ch. were Mary Ann, Lou Harrison and Francis all deceased. Their son Neff Dunbar is deceased; Thomas Bernard, b. 1873, married Artemissa L. Wyatt, their ch. are Gale G., deceased, who has a daughter Mrs. Gordon Ginn, Wade B. married Adele Tackett and has Wade Jr., Gerald, and Dale; Leamon L. married Marjorie Weirich, he is deceased; Madge married Wm. G. Schneider and had William, Thomas, deceased, Margaret, and Ruth Ann who married C. N. Steed and had Pamela, Lynda, and Ronald.