The Story of Wiley P. Berry Jr.#

The picture below is of the Wiley P. Berry Family and was taken around 1925. Their second oldest son, Thomas Young Berry was born on May 11 1903 and died on June 8 1925. He may be the one taking the picture or he may have already died. L-R Sally Malena, Mary Elizabeth, Woodrow Wilson, William Eugene, Wiley Harold, Mother: Ida Ann Wilson Berry, Wiley P. Berry Jr, and Father: Wiley P. Berry Sr.

Wiley Person Berry Jr. was born on September 1, 1919 and died on August 18, 2007.

He married Mary Elizabeth Barbee who was born on January 13, 1928 and died on January 25, 2014. I have never heard him called by any other name other than W.P.

The picture on the left was WP Berry Junior’s School Picture as a young man. This may be his first or second grade picture. The next picture on the left seems to be a high school picture of WP Berry Jr.

W.P. Berry was in the CCC in 1941 just before the

United States entered World War II. I can remember that my grandmother was very worried about the things that were going on in Europe. We were visiting my Grandparents when Poland was invaded by Hitler in 1939 and Grandma was really worried about W.P. being in the Army. As it turned out Grandma was Killed by a car on May 4th 1941 and never really knew anything about World War II. When W.P. was called up they rejected him and he never had to serve in the Army.

The “P” in Wiley P. Berry#

There was always a controversy about what the P. stood for in Wiley P. Berry Sr and Jr. Joshua Cate married Elizabeth Person who was a relative of General Thomas Person. (Person County Court Records 1817 Page 273) William and Hannah Cate Berry named their youngest son Thomas Person Berry. Thomas Person Berry was W.P. Berry Senior’s grandfather. I have read where General Thomas Person had his name pronounced as Passon on several occasions. Wiley P. Berry Sr. always thought his middle name was Passon. I think the confusion was due to the southern colloquialism (Passon and Person). I do think the middle name for W.P. Berry Sr. was chosen by his parents and named for his grandfather. Thomas Person Berry is recorded on his marriage license for his second wife as (Person). He was referred to as Person Berry on the deed his Uncle Henry Berry made to him and his brother William Clarence Berry on their 1830 Deed. (Deed Book 24 Page 226 Orange County Register of Deeds Office) and the same goes for General Thomas Person.

General Thomas gave 100 dollars Sterling to help get the University of North Carolina started and they have a building on campus today named Person Hall. Person County, North Carolina, is named for General Thomas Person. W.P. Berry Jr and his wife had two children, a daughter and a son.

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Children of Wiley P. Berry Jr.

1. 1. Living Daughter
   Born December 28, 1949
2. 2. Living Son
   Born July 13, 1951

These are the youngest grandchildren of W.P. Sr. and Ida Ann Wilson Berry.

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