Generation 3 William Berry

Book Chapter: Read the full story in Chapter 11: William Berry from Our Berrys in Frontier America

The Story of William Berry#

William Berry was born about 1775 in Orange County, North Carolina, one of the youngest children of Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry. On August 11, 1799, he married Hannah Cate, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Smith (Messersmith) Cate. The following year, on August 12, 1800, William’s brother Thomas Berry married Hannah’s sister Sarah Cate, making the two Berry brothers married to two Cate sisters.

Y-DNA Information: Matching 66 of 67 markers

Hannah Cate’s Family#

Hannah’s parents were William and Elizabeth (Messersmith) Smith Cate. Their children:

1. John Cate
2. Benjamin Cate
3. Hannah Cate — Born 1770, Orange County, NC. Married William Berry August 12, 1799. Died 1858.
4. Charity Cate
5. Sarah Cate — Born December 27, 1781. Married Thomas Berry August 11, 1800. Died March 7, 1875, Wayne County, Tennessee.

The Expedition to Tennessee#

William and Hannah had three sons, all born in Orange County, North Carolina. In the spring of 1808, William and his brother Thomas Berry left their wives and children behind while they went to Tennessee to locate land for homesteading. Neither brother ever lived in Orange County again.

Hannah Cate listed as head of household in the 1810 Orange County census, the very first listing after her father-in-law Robert Berry. This confirms William was gone by 1810.

The Abandonment#

Five things occurred that tell the story:

1. Someone informed Robert Berry that his son Thomas was deceased before Robert wrote his will in 1812
2. Hannah Cate listed as head of household in the 1810 Orange County census
3. William Berry never lived with Hannah and their three boys again
4. Hannah had a daughter, Elizabeth Berry, by John Berry in 1812
5. Sarah Cate Berry and her two children did go to Wayne County, Tennessee

After Hannah was abandoned by William, she made a new life for herself and her four children in Orange County, North Carolina. She may have lived with her mother, Elizabeth Smith Cate, until Elizabeth died in 1826. In 1850, Hannah was found living with her brother-in-law Henry Berry in the Fiddleton Plantation House. She and Henry Berry were living next to her youngest son Thomas Person Berry and his family.

William Berry's Marriage Bond to Hannah Cate, August 12, 1799, Orange County, North Carolina

Hannah’s Later Years#

Hannah Cate Berry was born in Orange County, North Carolina, and died there in 1858 during a worldwide flu epidemic. She is buried in an unmarked field stone grave in the Robert Berry Fiddleton Cemetery on the original Granville Land Grant property. Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry and 20 more of their descendants are buried there also.

Fiddleton Cemetery, Orange County, North Carolina — resting place of Hannah Cate Berry and many of the Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry family

Children of William Berry and Hannah Cate

William and Hannah had three sons, all born in Orange County, North Carolina. After William left, Hannah also had a daughter by John Berry.

1. William Clarence Berry
   Born October 17, 1803, Orange County, NC — Died September 8, 1878, Burnet County, TX
   Married Sally Bowles on November 29, 1826. Sally died in 1833 after the birth of their daughter Roann Frances. William and his brother Robert C. Berry then settled in Fayette County, Alabama. William later moved to Burnet County, Texas.
2. Robert C. Berry
   Born April 14, 1805, Orange County, NC — Died after 1889, Fayette County, AL
   Was not married in North Carolina. Settled in Fayette County, Alabama, with his brother William Clarence. Witnessed the land sale in 1833 when the brothers sold their 100 acres.
3. Thomas Person Berry
   Born June 1, 1808, Orange County, NC — Died April 30, 1884, Orange County, NC
   Married Sarah Lunsford on September 28, 1831. Thomas Person Berry was the only one of Hannah's sons who stayed in Orange County, North Carolina. He built his new home near the Fiddleton Plantation in 1852 and lived there until his death. His descendants include the founders of berrytree.org.
4. 4. Elizabeth Berry (half-sister)
   Born 1812, Orange County, NC
   Daughter of Hannah Cate Berry and John Berry (not William). Elizabeth married Theodrick Franklin on June 30, 1832. Their first child, Temperance Jane Franklin, was born October 5, 1832. The Franklins moved to Alabama, then Floyd County, Georgia, then eventually to Texas after the Civil War. Elizabeth returned to Orange County in 1860 (living with Thomas Person Berry during the census) and was trapped there by the war until it ended.

The 1830 Land Sale and Departure#

William Clarence Berry and Thomas Person Berry bought 100 acres from their Uncle Henry Berry on November 23, 1830 (Orange County Deed Book 24, Page 226). But in May 1833, Roann Frances Berry was born to William Clarence and Sally Bowles — and Sally died shortly after, likely from complications of childbirth.

On September 14, 1833, William Clarence and Thomas Person sold their 100 acres to Samuel and Felix Wilson for $450 (Orange County Deed Book 25, Page 431). Robert C. Berry witnessed the transaction. William Clarence and Robert C. Berry then settled in Fayette County, Alabama.

The Double Cousin Connection#

Since Hannah and Sarah Cate were sisters, and Thomas and William Berry were brothers, the relationship between their children is especially close. David Berry and Eleanor Berry (Thomas’s children) are double first cousins to William Clarence, Robert C., and Thomas Person Berry (William’s children). Hannah’s daughter Elizabeth Berry is their half-sister.

Census Records

• 1800 — William Berry listed in Orange County, North Carolina
• 1810 — Hannah Cate Berry listed as head of household in Orange County, North Carolina (William gone)
• 1830 — A William Berry found in Blount County, Alabama, living two farms from Thomas Rutherford. The right age, born in North Carolina.
• 1850 — A William Berry found in Lincoln County, Tennessee. Right age, born in North Carolina. No descendants have been located.
• 1850 — Hannah Berry living with Henry Berry at Fiddleton Plantation, Orange County

William Berry, 1800 Orange County NC Census

Hannah Cate Berry, 1810 Orange County NC Census — listed as head of household next to Robert Berry

William Berry in Blount County, Alabama, 1830 — living near Thomas Rutherford

William Berry, Lincoln County, Tennessee, 1850 Census — right age, born in North Carolina

Henry Berry and Hannah Cate Berry, 1850 Orange County NC census — living together at the Fiddleton Plantation

Key Documents

• William Berry’s Marriage Bond to Hannah Cate, 1799
• William Cate inventory sale, 1803 — Hannah’s father’s estate
• Thomas Person Berry marriage document — Marriage to Lucy Brown, 1871
• Sarah Cate Berry Pigg Bond, 1815 — Sarah Cate’s marriage to John Pigg in Tennessee
• Orange County Deed Book 24, Page 226 — Land purchase from Henry Berry, 1830
• Orange County Deed Book 25, Page 431 — Land sale, September 14, 1833