Chapter 8#
Elizabeth Berry 1768–1815#
Elizabeth Berry was the sixth child and only other daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry. I think she was named for her mother, Elizabeth, because her maternal grandmother was Margery Lawrence Cate. Margery Lawrence Cate had a daughter named Margery. Usually if another close member of the family is named for the maternal grandmother, the newborn daughter will probably be named for her mother. Elizabeth Berry was born about 1768 and was probably the second baby to be born in the new plantation house at Fiddleton. Elizabeth Berry’s will was probated on May 6, 1815, in Person County, North Carolina. She would only have been 47 years old. The Plantation home had been built in 1766 and that date is scratched into the mortar between the stones on the back side of the 249 year old chimney that is still standing today. (Fig: 38, Pg. 104).
There was financial turmoil in Orange County because of corruption by some of the local officials. The Regulator movement was developing in Orange and surrounding counties about the time Elizabeth was born. Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry were stable financially and were able to pay the taxes as they were assessed. It was the less prosperous farmers in Orange County who were having financial problems dealing with the unscrupulous local officials. The poorer populations always seem to be exploited by the greedy.
This being said, it is possible that Robert Berry OC privately supported the Regulator Movement but it doesn’t appear that he signed any petitions that were sent to Gov. Tryon. This was a legitimate effort by the local citizens to correct these unfair practices. Many of the prosperous local farmers did support the less fortunate farmers in their quest for fair treatment.
All of the political problems probably had very little to do with Elizabeth Berry’s young childhood. The family had some slaves and the plantation was most likely being run very well. I would guess Elizabeth Berry’s four older brothers and her sister Mary were loving and very protective of her. Some folks who knew her might even have said that she was a little spoiled as a youngster.
Elizabeth Berry was probably 11 years old when her father went off to join the North Carolina Continental Line and when the battle was fought at Guilford Courthouse. These years of war created a very different life for Robert Berry’s OC family. One of the hardships that was thrust on Elizabeth Cate Berry and her children was to maintain and keep the plantation productive without the help of Robert Berry OC. The newly formed state of North Carolina was buying as much food and supplies as they could from the plantations to support the ragtag army.
Mary Berry Waggoner’s husband, George, and her brother, Robert Berry Junior, were also serving in the North Carolina Continental Army. Mary’s daughters were about 1 and 3 years old, her brother, John Berry, was about 19 and probably stayed home to help take care of the plantation. Joshua Berry was about 15, Isaac Berry was about 13, Elizabeth Berry was about 11, Thomas Berry was about 9, David Berry was about 7, William Berry was about 6, and the baby Henry Berry was about 5. Elizabeth Cate Berry had some help from the older children but the younger children could only be assigned minor chores.
There must have been a lot of concern and fear of the British Army, led by Charles Cornwallis, as it was approaching Hillsborough from South Carolina. After the battle at Guilford Courthouse, Mary Berry Waggoner’s husband, George Waggoner, was back at home, severely wounded, and most likely only survived a few weeks before he died in the summer of 1781. Elizabeth’s older brother and her father were still away from home in the Army. All of these events most certainly had a lot of effect on an 11-year-old girl.
By November, 1781, Robert Berry OC and his son Robert Berry Junior returned home and the War, for all practical purposes, was over. General Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown and Robert Berry and his daughter, Mary Berry Waggoner, were taking care of George Waggoner’s estate. Mary remarried sometime in the late fall of 1781 and when she signed the final papers on George Waggoner’s Estate Settlement in February, 1782, she signed her name as Mary Kemp. Mary was also named in her father’s will as Mary Kemp. Mary Camp left home and removed to Rutherfordton, North Carolina, with her new husband, James Camp, and their first son, John Camp.
Elizabeth Berry was now the only daughter living at home. We know very little else about Elizabeth Berry’s teen-age years. Elizabeth Berry was about 21 years old when she filed a bastardy bond against William Riley on August 20th, 1791.
Elizabeth Berry’s daughter, Mary Berry, was born later that year or early in 1792. Elizabeth’s daughter Mary Berry was probably the third grandchild of Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry.
Mary Berry Camp’s son, John Camp, who was born in 1784, may have been the first grandchild of Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry. Robert Berry Junior’s daughter, Catherine Berry, who was born in 1785, would have been their second grandchild.
John and Martha Stepp Berry’s daughter, Betsie Berry, was born around 1794 and would have been the fourth grandchild.
Elizabeth Berry and her daughter, Mary Berry, lived with Elizabeth’s parents, Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry, until Mary Berry got married on March 7th, 1809. Mary Berry was the only grandchild named in Robert Berry’s 1812 will.
After Mary Berry married Thomas Berry, they moved to Person County, NC, and were living there in 1810. Mary’s mother, Elizabeth Berry, moved from her mother and father’s home to live with her daughter and son-in-law who were living in Person County, NC in 1810.
Elizabeth Berry had only one grandchild who was named Josiah Berry and apparently he moved to Alabama after he was grown.
Charges Made 20th August, 1791, Against William Riley#
Bastardy bond on William Riley for Elizabeth Berry
A letter to William Riley on August 19th, 1791, ordered him to appear before the court.
Letter from the court 19th Aug, 1791, about William Riley
Elizabeth Berry's inventory sale notice 1816
Thomas and his son Josiah were found in a court record
Probate notice of Elizabeth Berry's will, 1815, Person County
Josiah Berry must have gone to Alabama because, many years later, Obadiah Echols wrote a letter from Auburn, Alabama, back to Orange County concerning Thomas and Mary Berry’s orphan grandson, Preston Berry. Obadiah Echols wrote to Orange County twice trying to get a copy of Elizabeth Berry’s will. The problem was that Elizabeth Berry’s will was probated in Person County, so Obadiah Echols probably never received the second copy he requested, either. (See Figure 83 Pg. 180 & Fig: 84 Pg. 181)
Document from Auburn, Ala., about Elizabeth Berry's grandson
Second page of letter from Auburn, Alabama
This letter was inquiring about a slave named Doll who Robert Berry willed to his daughter, Elizabeth Berry, in 1812.
Joseph C. Berry married Virginia F. Echols in Macon County, Alabama, in 1840. I do not know what connection this couple had with Elizabeth Berry’s grandson, Preston Berry, but Auburn, Alabama, is in Macon County.
I would think there is a good chance that Virginia F. Echols may be related to Obadiah Echols. Joseph C. Berry may be related to Josiah Berry, Elizabeth Berry’s grandson, but I have no other information about him at this time.
The parents of Thomas Berry who married Elizabeth Berry’s daughter, Mary Berry, are unknown. Thomas and Mary Berry were married on March 7, 1809, and Mary Berry’s uncle, Henry Berry, was their bondsman. Mary Berry was Henry’s niece and that may be the reason Henry Berry was asked to be their bondsman.
Thomas Berry may or may not be related to Mary Berry. Thomas and Mary were living next door to Robert Berry Junior and his family in the Person County 1810 census. Thomas and Mary were still living in Person County in the 1820 census. Robert Berry Junior and his family have not been located in any 1820 census. This is because Robert Berry Junior and his family were in transit to Fayette County, Alabama, during this period of time.
Robert Berry Junior is old enough to be Thomas’s father but there is no proof that he is. Robert Berry Junior had a son named Thompson P. Berry. After Robert Berry Junior and his entire family arrived in Fayette County, Alabama, Robert and his son, George Berry, were granted land on the 26 April, 1824. I have not been able to locate Thomas Berry and his wife, Mary Berry, after the 1820 census in Person County, North Carolina. They did list a young girl in their 1820 census who was between the age of 16 and 25. I’ve never found another record where a daughter was mentioned. This is not uncommon because females got lost easily after a change of their surname occurred at the time of their marriage.
The document that Obadiah Echols wrote does indicate that Elizabeth Berry’s daughter and grandchildren may have gone to Macon County, Georgia. The fact that they did not go to Fayette County, Alabama, would seem to indicate that Thomas Berry was not the son of Robert Berry Junior. Without locating any additional information, not very much can be done to determine who Thomas Berry’s parents were.
Mary Berry’s great-grandfather, John Cate, and his wife, Margery Lawrence Cate, had property in Person County and that may be where Robert Berry Junior and Thomas Berry were living in 1810. This property was not more than 10 miles from where Robert Berry Junior and his sister Elizabeth Berry were born.
Elizabeth Berry’s will was probated in the Person County May session of court in 1816. Elizabeth Berry’s will was dated May 6, 1815. This is about the same time that Elizabeth Berry’s mother, Elizabeth Cate Berry, died in Orange County. Both Women are most likely buried in the Fiddleton Cemetery, which is located on the original Granville land grant property.