John Robert Berry, son of Thomas Person and Sarah Lunsford Berry
1891 Fiddleton Map has been added to this page
Ancestors:
Generation 1 Robert and Mary Williamson Berry
Generation 2 Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry
Generation 3 William and Hannah Cate Berry
Generation 4 Thomas Person and Sarah Lunsford Berry
John Robert Berry was born on September 25 1842. He married Elizabeth Frances Bowling on November 30th 1865. John Robert Berry died on 10 October 1917. He was the third son of Thomas Person and Sarah Lunsford Berry. There is not a lot known about the period of time when Thomas Person Berry and Sarah Lunsford were married on the 28 of September 1831 and the time their first son was born in 1836 I have not found any record of children born before 1836.
There is a great deal more information that can be found in the 1850 census about this family and all of their relatives that lived all around them. The picture above is John Robert Store.
Berry’s Grove Baptist Church is on the left.
There was a great deal of things that happened between the 1850 census and the 1860 census. John Robert amd his younger brother James P. Berry were the only two boys living at home in 1860.The two other people listed in the 1860 census besides John Robert’s mother and father were Jesse Blalock and Elizabeth Berry Franklin. John Robert’s brother William H Berry had died in 1858, His Grandmother Hannah Berry had also died the same year. Theodrick Franklin and Lewis Berry had also died that same year. There was a world wide flu epidemic in 1858/1859
The Civil War was about to begin and John Robert Berry enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army on October 6 1861. He was placed in Company 31st Regiment, North Carolina. He was only 19 years old at the time. Jesse Blalock Robert’s first cousin, William A. Blalock, and William H. Blalock, were 19 years old and they enlisted on the same day. Jesse Blalock died on June 27th 1863 with typhoid fever. William H. Blalock died on May 28,1863 of disease, most likely typhoid fever. There are no records to indicate what happened to William A. Blalock. John Robert returned home from the war and married Elizabeth Frances Bowling on November 30th 1865. They raised a family of nine children.
John Robert and Elizabeth Frances Berry donated the land for Berry’s Grove Baptist Church and the church is named for them. John Robert and Elizabeth Frances Bowling Berry are buried at the church. There are many more members of his family and descendants buried at Berry’s Grove cemetery also.
Berry’s Grove Baptist Church Deed
On April 15, 1868 John Robert Berry’s father Thomas Person Berry sold him 117 and 1/4 Acres for $1.00. (Deed Book 50 Page 56) View Deed.There is a story told to me by my mother that said John Robert Berry had a very bad temper. One bright moonlit night John and Elizabeth had a very heated rgument. The story goes that he went out to the wood shed and got his ax and choped down trees and cleared new ground all night long. It has also been told to me that John Robert Berry was very good friends with U.S.Senator Wiley Person Mangum. Aunt Maye Berry Carr always said that is where Wiley P. Berry (John Robert’s oldest son) got his name. This may be true but there was always controversy about what the P. stood for. I will go into this on my grandfather Wiley P. Berry’s page.
John Robert and Elizabeth lived in Orange County their entire life
1891 Map of Berry’s Grove and Fiddleton in N. Orange County, NC
Fiddleton Homestead, J R Berry Home and Berry’s Grove Baptist Church circa 1891
Why is this map with the name Fiddleton important? Robert Berry acquired his plantation in Orange County North Carolina in 1751 and apparently named his plantation Fiddleton. There is a Fittleton Wiltshire England West of London. This is a strong indication that Robert Berry’s ancestors probably lived there.
John Robert and Elizabeth Berry’s Family
Children:
- Emma G. Berry Nov,1, 1866 – Feb 12, 1945 2
- Cora Dena Berry Jan. 14, 1868 – Sep. 18, 1947 3
- Wiley P. Berry Sept. 8,1869 – May 12, 1965 4
- John W. Berry Feb. 2 1871 – Dec 22, 19235
- Mary A.W. Berry May 18, 1873 – May 23, 1963 6
- Ada Lee Berry Jul. 11, 1875 – Nov. 22 1968 7
- Willie Adolphus Berry Jun. 3, 1877 – Jan. 8, 1961 8
- Thomas Ewart Berry Jan 25, 1880 – December 15, 19609
- Pattie Swiny Berry Aug. 8, 1866 – Dec. 12, 1915
Census Information And Neighbors:
“John Robert Berry was listed in the 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910 Orange County Census ”
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1870 census |
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1880 census |
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1880 census transcribe |
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1900 census bottom of page |
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1900 census top of next page |
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1910 census |
Last Updated 2020-02-10 William H.