Generation 7 Willie Howell Berry

Lineage#

1. Gen 1 — Robert and Mary Williamson Berry — Princess Anne County, Virginia
2. Gen 2 — Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry — Orange County, North Carolina
3. Gen 3 — Robert Jr. and Mary Waggoner Berry — NC and Fayette County, Alabama
4. Gen 4 — George and Susan Berry — NC and Fayette County, Alabama
5. Gen 5 — John and Mary Howell Berry — Alabama and Rusk County, Texas
6. Gen 6 — Alexander Howell and Josephine Prescilla Berry — Texas
7. Gen 7 — Willie Howell Berry

Willie Howell Berry was born on February 22, 1882 in Henrietta, Clay County, Texas. He died on November 7, 1958 in Amherst, Lamb County, Texas. Willie Howell Berry and Sarah May Benham were married on February 21, 1909. Sarah May Benham was born on April 29, 1882 in Bloomfield, Indiana and she died on October 22, 1979 in Littlefield, Texas.

My Grandad#

By Joyce Clark Foster, 1978

The name brings back floods of the most beautiful and wonderful memories of a childhood long past. I remember bib overalls and striped dress shirts. I remember the huge round table with my grandad shaving from a pan of hot water by lamplight. I remember him tilting the straight-back chair against the wall and lighting his pipe.

Willie Howell Berry Sr., his wife Sarah May Benham Berry, their son James Alexander (Alec) Berry, and their daughter Hettie Prescilla Berry

He would then tell us stories by the hour, in the flickering lamplight, of the days when he was a cowboy and drove cattle up the Old Chisholm Trail.

He would sometimes sing to us about lone prairies where the coyotes howled and the wind blew free. Then he would sing about “little dogies” that were supposed to “git along” to somewhere. When Saturday came he would hitch the horse to the old wagon and take all us kids into Amherst to buy peppermint sticks. They came in all colors, red, yellow, green and lavender. To this day peppermint has never tasted as good to me as those little sticks did.

I remember the smell of him…. I would sit on his lap and the smell was of horses, leather and tobacco. It was of legends and dreams. There was always the feeling that he had done things and knew things that no one else knew but God. He always seemed so close to God that I often wondered if he might be an angel on vacation from Heaven. He would take me to the cellar to get vegetables for supper where the smell of raw earth, the overbearing dampness and the closeness took your breath away. It was as if we were back at the beginning of time. The shelves were stacked high with Mama’s canned fruits and the vegetables grown in her own garden. The sugar-cured hams hung from the ceiling braces in bags.

I remember the red bandana handkerchief that was his, tucked safely away in the corner of my dresser drawer. I remember the sound of the chickens in the early morning and the fresh smell of rain. I remember flowered wallpaper and the storeroom in the old house with no paint. I remember the window curtains tied in knots to let the sunshine in. I remember sand and the sound of a distant train moaning across the plains, through the damp morning air, going to places that he would never see.

When I remember my grandad, the feeling of warmth and security flood over me and I feel safe no matter what the world is doing around me.

He wasn’t a large man in stature, but even as a child I knew he was a giant among men. The two weeks each summer that we spent with him were like being in another world. There were no troubles, no problems, just a loving refuge from the modern world and its fast growing terrors. He left me with the memory that once I knew a truly Godly man.. My grandad…

WILLIE HOWELL BERRY — Joyce Clark Foster, 1978

Known Descendants#

There are three known children born to this union.

1. Gen 1 — Robert and Mary Williamson Berry — Princess Anne County, Virginia
2. Gen 2 — Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry — Orange County, North Carolina
3. Gen 3 — Robert Jr. and Mary Waggoner Berry — NC and Fayette County, Alabama
4. Gen 4 — George and Susan Berry — NC and Fayette County, Alabama
5. Gen 5 — John and Mary Howell Berry — Alabama and Rusk County, Texas
6. Gen 6 — Alexander Howell and Josephine Prescilla Berry — Texas
7. Gen 7 — Willie Howell and Sarah May Benham Berry
8. ——–Gen 8 — James Alexander and Ruby A. Shockey Berry
9. ————–Gen 9 — James Edward and Velvie Mae Van Doern Berry
10. ————————Gen 10 — Clifford Dale and Pamela J. Brame Berry

Headstone of James Alexander and his second wife Latine Berry. There were no children born to this marriage.

Clifford Dale Berry’s Connection#

Hello, I have only recently begun looking into family history. What started as trying to get a general date on the creation of a family quilt, has led me to hours and hours of genealogical research. My dad, Clifford Dale Berry, is the youngest son of James Edward Berry and Velvie Mae Van Doern Berry. My grandparents always had this thick, 3 ring binder with the Berry genealogy while I was growing up, but it has been years since I’ve seen it. My grandfather was the only son of James Alexander Berry and Ruby A. Shockey Berry. James Alexander was the oldest son of Willie Howell and Sarah Mae/May Benham Berry. I came across this website through a link on an Ancestry.com hit.

Willie Howell Berry was born in Clay Co., TX 1917 and died in Lamb Co., TX.

Census Information#

December 11, 2007

“Willie Howell Berry was listed in his Father’s 1900 census but listed as head of household in 1910 Texas Census”

• Willie Howell Berry was 18 years old and was listed in his Father’s 1900 Census
• Willie Howell Berry listed in the Texas 1910 Census
• Willie Howell Berry Jr. listed in the Texas 1920 Census
• Willie Howell Berry listed in Amherst Lamb County Texas 1930 Census — James his oldest son was living next door