Generation 3 David J. Berry Sr.

Book Chapter: Read the full story in Chapter 10: David J. Berry from Our Berrys in Frontier America

The Story of David J. Berry#

David J. Berry was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry of Orange County, North Carolina. He was born around 1774 and spent his early years on the family land in Orange County, where Berrys had lived since his grandfather Robert and Mary Williamson Berry first settled from Princess Anne County, Virginia.

On February 21, 1797, David married Mary Blalock. Mary came into the marriage with a young daughter, Elizabeth Leathers Berry, born around 1791. A bastardy bond had been issued against John Leathers in Orange County on August 23, 1791 (view the transcript). David and Mary raised Elizabeth as their own child.

David and Mary’s first child together was likely Sarah “Sally” Berry, born about April 4, 1796, who married William A. Cates in Orange County on February 26, 1817. Their daughter Winifred Berry married Joshua Norman on September 19, 1820, also in North Carolina. The rest of their children married in Georgia after the family moved south.

Life in Orange County#

The family lived in Orange County, North Carolina, through at least 1824. Their youngest child, Joshua M. Berry, was born there on April 13, 1824, all of David and Mary’s children were born in North Carolina. David appeared in the Orange County census in 1800, 1810, and 1820.

In September 1821, David and his brother Henry sold a slave girl in Person County. David had inherited a slave but none of his father’s land — the plantation was willed to his younger brother Henry Berry in 1814. David was the last of Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry’s children to leave home.

The Move to Georgia#

Sometime between 1825 and 1830, David J. Berry and the rest of his family removed to Cobb County, Georgia. By then, some of his family were already there — William A. Cates and his wife Sarah Berry Cates had their third child born in South Carolina in 1822, suggesting the family moved in stages.

In 1821, bounty land was being made available after the Creek Indians ceded their land to the state. David may have settled in Fayette County, Georgia, near where the children of his sister Mary Berry Camp lived.

On November 30, 1858, the State of Georgia took part of Fayette County and Henry County to form Clayton County. David’s youngest son, Joshua M. Berry, lived and died in Jonesboro, Clayton County.

Headstone of Joshua M. Berry, David's youngest son, in Jonesboro, Clayton County, Georgia

A Family Tragedy#

Joshua M. Berry and his wife Elizabeth Cates Berry had two sons killed at a railroad crossing in Jonesboro, Georgia, on October 20, 1921. Robert I. Berry (age 53) and Joshua Berry Jr. (age 54) were taking a load of produce from their farm into town on their truck when they were struck by a train as they attempted to cross the railroad tracks. The two brothers were well respected in the community. They were not killed instantly but both died a short time later in the hospital.

Children of David J. Berry and Mary Blalock

David and Mary had eleven children. All were born in North Carolina before the family moved to Georgia. Below you will find what is known about each child. Children with more detailed records have their own pages, look for the arrow (→) next to their name.

1. 1. Elizabeth Leathers Berry
   Born c. 1791, Orange County, North Carolina
   Elizabeth was Mary Blalock's daughter from before her marriage to David. She was not blood-related to the Berry family, but David adopted her and raised her as his own child. Elizabeth was the illegitimate daughter of William Riley, who was brought to court and had a bastardy bond placed on him. No marriage record has been found for Elizabeth, and little is known about her life after David and Mary died.
2. 2. Sarah "Sally" Berry
   Born April 4, 1796, Orange County, NC — Died April 16, 1870, Jonesboro, Clayton County, GA
   Married William Abraham Cates on July 26, 1817 in Orange County, North Carolina. William was born August 2, 1798 in Orange County and died March 28, 1871 in Jonesboro, Georgia. Sarah and William had 10 children, the first three born in North Carolina. The family moved to Henry County, Georgia, by 1830.
3. 3. Winifred Berry
   Born c. 1800, Orange County, NC
   Married Joshua Norman on September 19, 1820 in Orange County, North Carolina. Joshua was born around 1790 in North Carolina and died November 13, 1832 in Henry County, Georgia, he was a young man when he died. The family probably went to Georgia around 1828 when David J. Berry and the rest of his family did. David J. Berry and Joshua Norman are both listed in the 1830 Georgia census. After Joshua's death, Winifred lived with her son David Norman and appears in the 1850 and 1860 Georgia census records. They had two children: David Norman and Lucinda Norman.
4. 4. David J. Berry Jr.
   Born in Orange County, North Carolina
   Married Margarett Erwin in Fayette County, Georgia in 1829. David Jr. was born in Orange County before the family moved south. Further details about his children and later life are still being researched.
5. 5. Mary Berry
   Born c. 1806, Orange County, NC
   Married Thomas Howard Barton on February 24, 1831 in Fayette County, Georgia. Thomas was born in Orange County, NC in 1811 and most likely migrated to Georgia in the same wagon train as the Berry family. Mary and Thomas had 9 children and are both buried at Tanners Baptist Church Cemetery, Clayton County, Georgia.
6. 6. Henry Berry
   Born c. 1810, Orange County, NC
   Married Sarah Roberts on March 13, 1833 in Fayette County, Alabama. Henry was born in Orange County before the family's move to Georgia. Further details about his children and later life are still being researched.
7. 7. George M. Berry
   Born c. 1810–1811, Orange County, NC — Died c. 1820, Orange County, NC
   George likely died young in Orange County before the family left for Georgia. His parents did not leave North Carolina until about 1828.
8. 8. Robert Berry
   Born August 2, 1812, Orange County, NC
   Named for his grandfather Robert Berry who owned the Fiddleton Plantation. Robert was about sixteen when his father moved the family to Georgia. Married Eliza Everett on June 16, 1833. They had 11 children and settled in Fayette County, then Cobb County, Georgia. Robert's family is one of the most extensively documented lines in the Berry family.
9. 9. William G. Berry
   Born 1813–1814
   Married Jane Beck. Further details about William's life and family are still being researched.
10. 10. Thomas Berry
    Born 1820, Orange County, NC
    Thomas was born in Orange County before the family moved to Georgia. Further details about his marriage, children, and later life are still being researched.
11. 11. Joshua M. Berry
    Born April 13, 1824, Orange County, NC
    The youngest child, born in North Carolina before the family left for Georgia. Married Elizabeth J. Cates, born 1826. Elizabeth was the daughter of William Abraham Cates and Sarah Berry — making Joshua's wife also his niece. Joshua and Elizabeth had at least six children, including sons Robert I. Berry and Joshua Berry Jr., who were both tragically killed at a railroad crossing in Jonesboro in 1921.

Census Records

• 1800 — David J. Berry listed in Orange County, North Carolina
• 1810 — David J. Berry listed in Orange County, North Carolina
• 1820 — David J. Berry listed in Orange County, North Carolina (William A. Cates and wife Sarah living with the family)
• 1830 — David J. Berry believed to be in Cobb or Fayette County, Georgia

Family Reunions

The descendants of David and Mary Blalock Berry have gathered several times in the 2000s, reconnecting family lines that had been separated for nearly 180 years.

2002 — Orange County, North Carolina. Several distant cousins who had found each other through internet research came together for the first time. Five traveled from Georgia and two from Alabama. As far as anyone knows, this was the first time any of David Berry's family had been back home since 1825.

2005 — Cullman, Alabama. The family gathered again, this time in Alabama. The trip included a drive along the Natchez Trace from Nashville to the Alabama state line, a visit to a distant cousin at Cypress Inn, Tennessee, and the Eleanor Reed Cabin.

2006 — Roswell, Georgia. The Berry/Nix reunion at Willeo Cemetery, June 10, 2006. Many of David and Mary Blalock Berry's descendants are buried here. The trip included a visit to Berry, Fayette County, Alabama, where Robert Berry Jr. and his family settled in 1824.

David J. Berry Family Tree