The Berry family home, built by Wiley P. Berry on 100 acres given to him by his father John Robert Berry
Wiley P. Berry was born in Orange County, North Carolina, on September 8, 1869. He died on May 12, 1965. W. P. Berry was my grandfather and I have a lot of memories and stories to record about my grandparents.
Tintype of Wiley P. Berry, circa 1890 — the oldest picture I have of my grandfather
Ida Ann Wilson, tintype taken in 1882 when she was 6 years old
Grandpa married my grandmother on June 2, 1895, at the home of her parents, Charles Eli and Mary Jane (Molly) Coleman Wilson. The bride’s father had prepared a room above his kitchen for their first honeymoon night. Naturally all of the bridal party and family members gathered in the kitchen and made lots of interesting remarks in very loud voices. The next morning was Sunday and the newlyweds were leading the family procession in their own buggy to church which was several miles away. Grandma raised her umbrella and lowered it behind her back so Grandpa could kiss her without the family seeing. My how customs have changed.
This picture may have been taken in 1895 when Grandpa got married or graduated from school
Young family picture, probably taken around 1902. Mary Elizabeth Berry (Aunt Maye) standing beside her father was about two years old and William Eugene Berry (Uncle Gene) age five was beside his mother.
After my grandparents were married, Grandpa’s father John Robert Berry gave Grandpa and his bride 100 acres of land, and Grandpa built the house that you see at the top of this page.
Ida Ann Wilson Berry and Wiley P. Berry Sr. sitting on the south end of the porch that faced Brown Road
Grandpa was a tobacco farmer and also trapped wild animals for their pelts. I am reasonably sure he learned these vocations from his father. I can remember seeing the furs stretched on drying boards hanging on the west side of Grandpa’s house. Mother told me that when Grandpa sold his tobacco in Durham, NC, or Danville, VA, he would return home with his wagon loaded with new shoes, bolts of cotton material, sugar, coffee, and other staples for the next year.
Grandpa was a great hunter and fisherman and even in the thirties would take trips to Hyde County, North Carolina, to hunt and fish at Lake Mattamuskeet. Once when he was visiting us in Raleigh, Grandpa and I went fishing. We were using cane poles and as luck would have it the bass were biting, but only on my bait for some reason. Grandpa was trying to tell me how to hold the line tight so the fish could not get away. I was not a very good learner apparently because they all got away and Grandpa was very frustrated by all of this.
In 1932 Grandpa was elected County Commissioner for Orange County, North Carolina. He served the county in that office until 1936.
W.P. Berry and Brothers
Children of Wiley P. Berry and Ida Ann Wilson Berry#
The Berry family, 1925. Left to right: Sally Malena Berry (age 17), Mary Elizabeth Berry (age 27), Woodrow Wilson Berry (age 13), William Eugene Berry (age 29), Wiley Harold Berry (age 11), Ida Ann Wilson Berry (age 49), Wiley P. Berry Jr. (age 6), and Wiley P. Berry Sr. (age 56).
This picture was taken in 1925. This picture was most likely taken about June the 10th, 1925. I say this because my Uncle Thomas Young Berry died on June 8, 1925, from typhoid fever. I think this picture may have been taken after his funeral. Thomas was only 22 years old.
Thomas Young Berry — he and Hattie Davis were planning to be married later that same month
These were all of the children that Wiley P. and Ida Ann Berry raised to adulthood.
Grandpa and Grandma Berry — this picture was taken shortly before Grandma was killed
Grandma sitting on the bumper of their 1934 Plymouth
Tragedy struck our Berry family once again on May 4, 1941, when my grandmother was hit and killed by an automobile. Grandma was sixty-five years old at the time of the accident and most likely would have lived a great many more years. Her father died at the age of 96.
I remember that Grandma Berry was concerned about the war that was going on in Europe and she thought our country would be drawn into it. Since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Grandma never knew anything at all about World War Two.
The children gathered for their mother, Ida Ann Wilson Berry’s, funeral in May 1941
