Born into a Pennsylvania Dutch community, her first job after graduating from Mount Morris College in Illinois was as a compositor in a printing office.

She served as the editor of The Golden Dawn magazine and The Young Disciple child's paper; compiled a song-book, Gospel Chimes; and was employed by the Brethren Publishing House.

Her father, Michael Hohf (1821–1881), was of Dutch extraction, and her mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Bucher (1821–1914), was of Swiss ancestry.

She removed with her parents, at the age of four years, to Frederick, Maryland,[2] where she spent her childhood days amid the rural sights and sounds along the Linganore Creek.

In May, 1885, Beery undertook the editing of The Golden Dawn,[5] an excellent but short-lived magazine published in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.