Generation 5 John Robert Berry
- Born
- September 25, 1842, Orange County, North Carolina
- Died
- October 10, 1917, Orange County, North Carolina
- Married
- Elizabeth Frances Bowling — married November 30, 1865
- Parents
- Thomas Person Berry and Sarah Lunsford, Orange County, NC
- Robert and Mary Williamson Berry — Princess Anne County, Virginia
- Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry — Orange County, North Carolina
- William Berry and Hannah Cate — Orange County, NC
- Thomas Person Berry and Sarah Lunsford — Orange County, NC
- John Robert Berry and Elizabeth Frances Bowling — Orange County, NC
Early Life#
John Robert Berry was born on September 25, 1842, in Orange County, North Carolina. He was the third son of Thomas Person and Sarah Lunsford Berry. There is not a lot known about the period between Thomas Person Berry and Sarah Lunsford’s marriage on September 28, 1831, and the birth of their first son in 1836.
A great deal happened between the 1850 census and the 1860 census. By 1860, John Robert and his younger brother James P. Berry were the only two boys living at home. John Robert’s brother William H. Berry had died in 1858, along with his grandmother Hannah Cate Berry — both during the worldwide flu epidemic of 1858–1859. Theodrick Franklin and Lewis Berry also died that same year.
Civil War Service#
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 E, 31st Regiment, North Carolina Infantry. He was only 19 years old.
His first cousin Jesse Blalock, William A. Blalock, and William H. Blalock all enlisted on the same day. Jesse Blalock died on June 27, 1863, of 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 was captured at the Battle of Cold Harbor while serving in the 31st Regiment Co. E on May 3, 1864. He spent the rest of the war in a Union Prison Camp in Elmira, New York. When the war ended, he had to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. After he was paroled, he was returned to Hillsborough, North Carolina, by train.
After walking all night, he arrived at his family’s home before daybreak. Being very tired, he lay down and went to sleep on a log bench across the road from his home.
Marriage, Farming, and the Store#
John Robert Berry married Elizabeth Frances Bowling on November 30, 1865, and they built a home on land that his father, Thomas Person Berry, sold to him on April 15, 1869, for $1.00 (Deed Book 50, Page 56).
John Robert became a farmer and then a merchant. He built and operated a store to add to his income from farming. He also managed to get the U.S. Postal Service to operate the Meredith Post Office out of this store for 16 years. The post office was commissioned in February 1890 and closed on December 4, 1906. John Robert’s land was across the road from the original Granville Grant property.
There is a story told by family that John Robert Berry had a very bad temper. One bright moonlit night, John and Elizabeth had a very heated argument. The story goes that he went out to the woodshed, got his axe, and chopped down trees and cleared new ground all night long.
It has also been told 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.
Berry’s Grove Baptist Church#
John and Elizabeth Berry donated the land for Berry’s Grove Baptist Church on April 16, 1888. The church is named for them.
John Robert and Elizabeth Frances Bowling Berry are buried at Berry’s Grove Baptist Church cemetery. Many more members of the family and their descendants are buried there as well.
The Fiddleton Map — 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 it Fiddleton. There is a Fittleton in Wiltshire, England, west of London. This is a strong indication that Robert Berry’s ancestors probably lived there.
Children of John Robert and Elizabeth Frances Berry
John Robert and Elizabeth raised nine children, all born in Orange County, North Carolina.
- Born November 18, 1866 — Died February 12, 1945 (age 79)Married October 15, 1884. Spouse: John Sanders Berry, born January 1, 1859, died March 1, 1938.
- Born January 14, 1868 — Died September 18, 1947 (age 79)Spouse: Asahel Frank Breeze, born September 5, 1860, died June 26, 1950.
- Born September 8, 1869 — Died May 12, 1965 (age 96)Married June 2, 1895. Spouse: Ida Ann Wilson, born September 30, 1876, died May 4, 1941. Wiley P. Berry was a tobacco farmer and served as Orange County Commissioner from 1932 to 1936. Ida Ann was struck and killed by an automobile on May 4, 1941, in Alamance County. Wiley never remarried.
- Born February 2, 1871 — Died December 22, 1923 (age 52)Never married.
- Born May 18, 1873 — Died May 23, 1963 (age 90)Married 1904. Spouse: James Ormond (Jim) Webb, born 1859, died 1936.
- Born July 11, 1875 — Died November 22, 1968 (age 93)Married 1896. Spouse: William Jackson Rogers, born October 10, 1864, died April 12, 1931.
- Born June 3, 1877 — Died January 8, 1961 (age 87)Married June 3, 1900. Spouse: Fannie Jones Hall, born February 12, 1881, died August 25, 1980.
- Born January 25, 1880 — Died December 15, 1960 (age 80)Married November 29, 1903. Spouse: Mary Ella Tiley, born July 25, 1881, died September 17, 1945.
- Born August 8, 1886 — Died December 12, 1915 (age 29)Spouse: Felix C. Wilson, born February 21, 1886, died April 20, 1964.
Family Photographs
Census Records
John Robert Berry was listed in the 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910 Orange County, North Carolina census.
| Year | Census | Image |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | Orange County, NC |  |
| 1880 | Orange County, NC |  |
| 1880 | Transcription |  |
| 1900 | Orange County, NC (page 1) |  |
| 1900 | Orange County, NC (page 2) |  |
| 1910 | Orange County, NC |  |
Key Documents
- Berry’s Grove Baptist Church deed — Land donated April 16, 1888
- Land purchase from Thomas Person Berry — April 15, 1869, for $1.00 (Deed Book 50, Page 56)
- 1891 Fiddleton Map — Berry’s Grove and Fiddleton in northern Orange County