Chapter 11#
William Berry 1775 to 1860#
William Berry was next to the last child born to Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry. William was about 6 years old when Robert Berry OC enlisted in the North Carolina Continental Army in 1781. Shortly after the battle of Guilford Courthouse, the war and its fighting soon moved from the State of North Carolina to Virginia and ended at Yorktown on October 9, 1781. Robert Berry OC was definitely back home in November, 1781, because he appeared in court with his daughter Mary Berry Waggoner concerning George Waggoner’s will.
Plantation activity in Fiddleton would have been slow to return to normal. Because of his age, William Berry’s life was probably not affected as much by the war as the older members of his family. He and his older brother, David, would have had very little concept of the dangers that come with war. They probably played soldiers together, fighting the imaginary British Army in the woods surrounding their home. The two young boys knew their father was away and they probably saw George Waggoner come home badly wounded and then die. At their ages, who can tell how much of what they saw and experienced affected the rest of their lives. The war would likely have had less effect on them than it did the older children.
William was born about 1775. He was younger than Thomas, proven by the 1800 Census. William was listed in the 16 to 25 age bracket and Thomas was listed in the 25 to 44-age bracket. The fact that Henry Berry listed his age as 74 in the 1850 census establishes that Henry was born in 1776.
Elizabeth, Thomas, David, William, and Henry Berry were all born in the plantation house that their father built in 1766.
William was about 25 years old when he and Hannah Cate got married.
William Berry and Hannah Cate’s Marriage Bond#
William Berry marriage bond to Hannah Cate
In Chapter 9, I wrote about the two Berry brothers marrying William and Elizabeth Smith Cate’s two daughters, Hannah and Sarah Cate. While William Berry, age 25, married Hannah Cate, age 29, on August 12th, 1799, Thomas Berry, age 30, did not marry Sarah Cate, age 19, until August 11th, 1800. Both families listed a son under the age of 10 in that 1800 census. As near as we can determine, both of these boys probably died. We have now identified all of the people Hannah Cate Berry listed in her 1810 Census. They were Hannah Cate Berry, Sarah Cate Berry, William and Hannah Cate Berry’s three sons and Thomas and Sarah Cate Berry’s son and daughter. We know when they were born, where they lived, who they married, when they died, and all of their children.
Thomas and William went to Tennessee sometime in the early spring of 1808. Their two wives remained in Orange County, NC, with the children. Hannah Cate Berry never lived with William after he left on the trip to Tennessee. I have no way to be absolutely sure who separated from whom. As far as I can determine, William Berry probably left Hannah. In the 1810 census, Hannah Berry was living next to her father-in-law Robert Berry OC. She was probably living in the Patrick Rutherford plantation home that Robert Berry OC bought in 1787 after Patrick Rutherford died. When Robert Berry OC wrote his will in 1812, he noted that Thomas Berry was deceased.
Hannah got pregnant by John Berry, who is unknown to us, and had a daughter, Elizabeth Berry, born in 1812. Hannah, her three sons and daughter were making a life for themselves and from all indications were planning to remain in Orange County, North Carolina.
Hannah Cate Berry 1810 Orange County, North Carolina Census#
Hannah Cate Berry 1810 Orange County, North Carolina census
When we first located Hannah Cate’s 1810 census she listed four boys under 10 years old and one girl under 10. We knew that Sarah and Thomas Berry had a son and a daughter. We also knew that William and Hannah had a son born June 1, 1808, by the name of Thomas Person Berry.
The other two boys were a mystery and we did not know their names. We had no idea who these two boys were. Years went by until George David Berry took a Y DNA test and the results matched our two William Berry’s descendants 100%. George David Berry’s archival data verified that he was a descendant of Robert C. Berry. This was the first time we had positive verification that William and Hannah Cate Berry were Robert C. Berry’s parents. After becoming aware of this information it became necessary to re-evaluate our parent assignment on our Y-DNA chart. We already knew that George Wesley Berry was a descendant of William Clarence Berry and his Y DNA results also matched that of our William Berry descendants by 100%. But due to the fact that we had William Clarence Berry assigned to the wrong parent, we had overlooked that fact. Once we had another 100% match to our William Berry line, it became clear that William Clarence Berry and Robert C Berry were both sons of William and Hannah Cate Berry. Eureka! We had just located the two missing sons in Hannah Cate Berry’s 1810 census.
William Berry’s Y-DNA Proof — Four Participants#
Robert and Mary Williamson Berry, Princess Anne County, Virginia,
Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
William and Hannah Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
William Clarence Berry, North Carolina, Alabama, Burnet County, Texas.
William Smith and Lillie Ann Webb Berry, Alabama, Burnet County Texas.
George Wesley Berry.
Robert and Mary Williamson Berry, Princess Anne County, Virginia,
Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
William and Hannah Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Robert C and Sarah Chappell Berry, Fayette County, Alabama.
George Washington and Fatima Jane Edwards Berry, Fayette County, Alabama.
Lee Augustus and Eros Joan Johnson Berry, Texas.
George David Berry.
Robert and Mary Williamson Berry, Princess Anne County, Virginia,
Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
William and Hannah Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Thomas Person and Sarah Lunsford Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
John Robert and Elizabeth Ann Bowling Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Wiley P. and Ida Ann Wilson Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Wiley P. Berry Junior.
Robert and Mary Williamson Berry, Princess Anne County, Virginia,
Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
William and Hannah Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Thomas Person and Sarah Lunsford Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
John Robert and Elizabeth Ann Bowling Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Wiley P. and Ida Ann Wilson Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Wiley Harold and Elizabeth Nichols Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Harold Bernard Berry.
This deed was located many years before we ever discovered exactly how William and Person Berry were related. I knew they had purchased land from Henry Berry. It was assumed that Person Berry was really Thomas Person Berry. William Berry, however, could have been his father, a brother, or a cousin. There was no indication which relation William was. After learning that William on this deed was William Clarence Berry, we were able to fit the remainder of the pieces of the puzzle into place.
1830 Deed From Henry Berry to William & Person Berry#
Deed Book 24 Page 226 Orange County Register of Deeds Office
Hillsborough, North Carolina
This indenture made and indentured this the 23rd day of November A.D. 1830. Between Henry Berry of the County of Orange and state of North Carolina of the one part and William Berry and Person Berry both of the County of Orange and state aforesaid of the other part witnessed the said William Berry and Person Berry for and in consideration of the sum of $500 to him in hand paid by the said William Berry and Person Berry before the sealing and delivery of their presence the receipt whereof is hereby knowledge, have this day bargained and sold unto the said William Berry and Person Berry there is assignees forever one track or parcel of land situated lying and being in the County of Orange aforesaid on Lick Creek for the Milton Road crosses said Creek William Lipscomb’s corner running fence and easterly course the son of said road as it meanders 35 chains and 33 links to the stake in the said road and two red oak pointers, thence South 26 chains to a black Jack, Rankin McKeey corner and Richard Holeman’s line, thence North 66°, West six chains to the four turkey lick Ranch, thence down the said branch as it meanders to Lick Creek thence down the creek as it meanders to the first station containing by estimation 100 acres and 3/10 of an acre be the same more or less: and the said Henry Berry for himself and his heirs the warrant and defend the right and title of the foregoing describe land and premises for the said William Berry and Person Berry and their heirs and assignees forever the said Henry Berry and his heirs and against the lawful claims of all other persons whatsoever. In testimony whatsoever. In testimony whereof the said Henry Berry hath hereunto set his hand and seal the day and date first year as written.
Attest Henry Berry (seal)
John Carrington state of North Carolina
William Armstrong the execution of this deed is duly proved before me
1833 Deed William & Person Berry to Samuel Wilson & Son#
Deed Book 25 Page 431 Orange County Register of Deeds
Hillsborough, North Carolina
This indenture made an indentured this the 19th day of September A.D. 1833. Between William Berry and Person Berry of the County of Orange and state of North Carolina of the one part and Samuel Wilson and Felix Wilson both of the County of Orange and state aforesaid of the other part witnessed that the said William Berry and Person Berry for and in consideration of the sum $450 to them in hand paid by the said Samuel Wilson and Felix Wilson before the sealing and delivery of these presents the receipts whereof is hereby acknowledged to have thus bargained and sold and by these present doth bargained and sale unto said Samuel Wilson and Felix Wilson their heirs assigned forever all that tract or parcel of land situated lying and been in the County of Orange aforesaid on Lick Creek beginning at Lick Creek where the Milton Road crosses said Creek William Lipscomb’s corner running thence an Eastwardly course the center of said road as it meanders 35 chains and 30 links to a stake in the said road and live red oak pointer, thence to a black Jack Rankin McKees corner and Richard Holeman’s line, thence North’s 66°. West six chains to the fork Turkey Lick branch, thence down said branch as it meanders to Lick Creek, thence down Lick Creek as it meanders to the first station. Containing 100 acres and 3/10 same more or less: and the said William Berry and Person Berry for themselves and their heirs doth warrant and defend the right and title of the foregoing describe land and premises to the said Samuel Wilson and Felix Wilson their heirs and assigns forever against themselves the said William Berry and Person Berry and their heirs and against the lawful claims of all other persons whatsoever. In testimony where of the said William Berry and Person Berry hath unto set their hand and seal this day and date aforesaid written. William x Berry (seal) Attest Thomas P. Berry (seal) Charles Wilson Orange County Nov. term 1833 Robert C Berry the execution of this deed was proved in open court by the oath of all Charles Wilson witness thereto and ordered to be recorded Jno Taylor C.C.
During past research, we had assigned William Clarence Berry to the wrong parents twice. It was caused by a simple mistake. Joshua Berry’s son Robert Berry married Sally Cates in Person County, North Carolina. William Clarence Berry married Sally Bowles in Orange County, North Carolina. We had located William Clarence Berry and his three children living in Fayette County, Alabama, in the 1840 census. We also located Sally Berry, who was head of household in the 1850 Orange County, North Carolina, census, living with two daughters. We assumed that this Sally Berry was Sally Bowles Berry. The two daughters’ names were Sarah age 14 and Rachael age 11. The ages of these two girls fit into the William Clarence Berry family very nicely. Based on this information, we thought William Clarence Berry was a son of Joshua and Nancy Ellison Berry. What did not make sense was why William Clarence Berry went to Alabama and left a wife and two daughters in Orange County. Shortly after this, we found that Rachel and Sarah had been named in Joshua and Nancy Berry’s spinster daughter’s estate as heirs. William Clarence Berry was not listed as an heir. Because William Clarence Berry went to Fayette County, Alabama, we then assumed he was Robert Berry Junior’s son. We reassigned William Clarence Berry to be the son of Robert Berry Junior, who had gone to Fayette County, Alabama, in 1822. This mistake also caused us to misinterpret George Wesley Berry’s Y DNA results and assign him as a descendant of Robert Berry Junior, also.
We knew that William Clarence Berry married Sally Bowles on November 20, 1826, in Orange County, North Carolina. William and Sally had a son named George Rufus Berry born on February 28, 1829, in Orange County, North Carolina. William and Person Berry bought approximately 100 acres of land together from their Uncle Henry Berry on November 23, 1830. On September 28, 1831, Thomas Person Berry married Sarah Lunsford. There were three major events that occurred in 1832. William Clarence and Sally Bowles Berry had a daughter, Elizabeth Jane Berry, born on March 17th. Elizabeth Berry, Hannah’s daughter, married Theoderick Franklin on June 30, 1832. Thomas Person Berry signed Theoderick Franklin and Elizabeth Berry’s wedding bond. On October 5, 1832, Theoderick and Elizabeth Berry Franklin gave birth to a daughter, Temperance Jane Franklin, in Orange County, North Carolina.
The next series of events changed all of their lives forever. In May of 1833, Sally Bowles Berry gave birth to Rose Ann Frances Berry. Very shortly after Roann was born, Sally Bowles Berry died, apparently from complications arising from childbirth.
On the 19th day of September, 1833, William and Person Berry sold the same piece of property they had bought from Uncle Henry to Samuel Wilson and his son Felix. Felix Wilson’s brother, Charles Wilson, and Robert C. Berry were witnesses to this transaction. This was the first time that William Berry, Person Berry, and Robert C. Berry were all listed on the same document. From information located in the 1850 Floyd County, Georgia, census, we knew that Elizabeth Berry Franklin and her family had gone to Alabama and later returned to Georgia. We still had not connected William Clarence and Robert C. Berry to William and Hannah Cate Berry. It was after a descendant of Robert C. Berry took a Y DNA test and matched the William Berry line by 100% that we were able to reconstruct what had actually happened in 1833. Up until the fateful day that Sally Bowles Berry died, it seemed that Hannah and her known children were planning to make their homes in North Carolina.
After Sally Bowles Berry died, Hannah Cate Berry and her children must have decided that they had a better future in Alabama than North Carolina. William Clarence Berry, Robert C. Berry and Thomas Person Berry decided to go to Fayette County, Alabama, where their uncle, Robert Berry Jr., was living. Theodrick and Elizabeth Franklin also decided to go with Elizabeth’s half brothers. Two reasons for choosing that location were probably because their uncle and his family were doing very well there and government grants were still being made in Alabama. We know that Theoderick and Elizabeth Franklin did go to Alabama because their second child, a son, Henry Berry Franklin, was born there in 1835. Hannah’s grandchildren were all going to leave North Carolina and she had no real reason to remain in North Carolina either. Both of Hannah’s parents were already dead, her sister was living in Tennessee, and her husband had deserted her almost thirty years earlier. Hannah would also be a big help to her daughter and daughter-in-law helping care for her four small grandchildren. Elizabeth may also have been pregnant at that time. Thomas Person Berry and his wife, Sarah Lunsford Berry, had no children and also had no compelling reason to remain in North Carolina, either. Thomas and his brother, William, had sold their land, which makes me also think that Thomas Person Berry and his wife had already decided to leave North Carolina. I think if they had been planning to stay, Thomas would not have sold the property he already owned. I think the entire family left Orange County in early 1834 with a wagon train headed for Fayette County, Alabama.
If Hannah, Thomas and Sarah Lunsford Berry did make this trip to Alabama, they definitely returned to North Carolina sometime later. Thomas Person and Sarah Lunsford Berry built a new home in Orange County, North Carolina, in 1852 and spent the rest of their lives in North Carolina. Thomas, Sarah, and Hannah may never have intended to stay in Alabama and wanted only to visit with Robert Berry Jr. and his family. Timing of the birth of Thomas Person Berry and Sarah’s children certainly seems to indicate they did make this trip to Alabama and back to North Carolina. Even though Thomas and Sarah were married in 1831, their first son, William H. Berry, was born in 1836 in Orange County, North Carolina. From 1834 to 1836 would have been plenty of time to go to Alabama with their family and return to North Carolina before starting their own family. I have never found a satisfactory census for Thomas Person Berry in 1840. There was a Parson Berry with 2 males under 5, 1 male 5 to 10, 1 male 20 to 30, 1 male 30 to 40, 1 female 5 to 10, and 1 female 50 to 60. William H. Berry was 4, Willie Berry was 2, Thomas Person Berry was 32 and Sarah Lunsford Berry was 29, Hannah Cate Berry was 70. The family seemed to be living in the correct location but the people did not match and the time period did.
Even if this census is for Thomas Person Berry, there was plenty of time for him, Sarah, and his mother to make the trip to Alabama and back before starting their own family in 1836.
After their first son, Henry Berry Franklin, was born in 1835, Theoderick and Elizabeth Berry Franklin left Alabama and went to Floyd County, Georgia, where their next son, James L. Franklin, was born in 1837. I think Hannah Cate Berry, Thomas Person and Sarah Lunsford Berry returned to Floyd County, Georgia, with Theoderick and Elizabeth Berry Franklin and then continued on their return journey back to Orange County, North Carolina.
William Clarence Berry married his second wife, Massa Ann Tompkins, and their first son was born in 1838 in Fayette County, Alabama. Robert C. Berry married Sarah Chappell in Alabama and their first son was born in 1840.
NOTE: Fayette County, Alabama, was created on December 20, 1824, from parts of Marion County, Pickens County, and Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Robert Berry Jr. and his son, George, were granted their land on April 24, 1824.
Chesterfield Franklin, father of Theodoric Franklin, was living next door to William Clarence Berry in the 1830 Orange County, NC, Census below.
1830 Orange County, NC, Census
William Clarence Berry was living next door to Chesterfield Franklin in 1830. Chesterfield Franklin was Theoderick Franklin’s father. Theoderick married Elizabeth Berry, who also went to Alabama at the same time William Clarence Berry and his three young children joined his Uncle Robert Berry Jr.
Enumeration of William Clarence Berry’s Young Family in 1830#
William C. Berry age 26 to 45 Bracket, actual age 27, Born October 17, 1803.
Sally Bowles Berry age 26 to 45.
George Rufus Berry Under age 5. He was 1 year old in 1830.
About four years after this census was taken, William Clarence Berry and his entire family were on their way to Fayette County, Alabama, to begin a new life. Sometime between 1835 and 1838, William Clarence Berry married his second wife, Massa Ann Tompkins. Their first son, John Thomas Berry, was born in Fayette County, Alabama, on July 28, 1838. Theoderick and Elizabeth Berry Franklin had their second child, a son, Henry Berry Franklin, born in Alabama in 1835.
Children and Spouses of William Clarence and Sally Bowles Berry#
George Rufus Berry born February 29, 1829, Orange County, North Carolina.
Sarah Catherine Farquhar married January 10, 1848, Fayette County, Alabama.
George and Sarah Berry had six children.
Elizabeth Jane Berry born March 17, 1831, Orange County, North Carolina.
Albert Galiton Whitson married 1855, Fayette County, Alabama.
Albert and Elizabeth Jane Whitson had two children.
Roseann Frances Berry born in 1833, Orange County, North Carolina.
Riley Aley Kizziah married December 23, 1860, Fayette County, Alabama.
Riley and Roseann Kizziah had one daughter.
Children & Spouses of William Clarence and Massa Tompkins Berry#
John Thomas Berry born July 26, 1838, Fayette County, Alabama.
Elizabeth Ann Kizziah married 1865, Fayette County, Alabama.
John Thomas and Elizabeth Kizziah Berry had eight children.
Mary Jane Berry born May 28, 1840, Fayette County, Alabama.
Enoch Jefferson Kizziah.
Enoch and Mary Jane Kizziah had seven children.
Henry T Berry born August 12, 1843, Fayette County, Alabama.
Elizabeth Farquhar married September 11, 1866, Fayette County, Alabama.
Lucinda Temperance Berry born December 1, 1847, Fayette County, Alabama.
William Melvin Cook April 28, 1878, Burnet County, Texas.
William and Lucinda Cook had four children.
Sarah Catherine Berry born in 1849, Fayette County, Alabama.
William F Crowley married October 14, 1868, Fayette County, Alabama.
William and Sarah Crowley had four children.
Martha Minerva Berry born April 29, 1851, Fayette County, Alabama.
Mr. Lockley.
Mr. Lockley and Martha Berry Lockley had two children.
William Smith Berry born August 18, 1853, Fayette County, Alabama.
- Fannie L Davis married December 2, 1880, Lampasas, Texas.
William S and Fannie Berry had seven children.
- Lillie Ann Webb married September 20, 1894, Lampasas, Texas.
William S and Lillie Webb Berry had five children.
Amanda Narcissa Berry born April 26, 1855.
William T Hutto March 12, 1878, Burnet County, Texas.
William and Amanda Hutto had four children.
Julia Ann Berry born December 15, 1862, Fayette County, Alabama.
Elbert J Barton married November 19, 1879, Burnet County, Texas.
Elbert and Julia Ann Barton had three children, one adopted.
William Clarence Berry had a total of fifty-three grandchildren.
Some of the children and grandchildren stayed in Alabama, others went to Burnet County, Texas. Several members of the family were granted land in Alabama and Texas. The children sold land to their siblings when they left for Texas. There are numerous deeds in Alabama and Texas recording the transfer of different parcels of land between family members. Every one of Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry’s children who went to Georgia, Alabama, and southern Tennessee have descendants who went to Texas. Robert Berry Junior’s grandson, John Berry who married Mary Howell, was most likely the first Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry descendant to settle in Texas. Their third child, James Berry, was born in Texas in 1847. They had a son, Sanford Berry, born in Alabama in 1843 and a son, Thomas Berry, born in Alabama in 1846. The family has never been located in any 1850 census but they were living in Rusk County, Texas, in 1860. Based on this information, James Berry was the first Berry in our family to be born in Texas. Other Berry family members went to Texas after the Civil War was over.
There are a number of Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry descendants living in Texas and the southwest today.
William Clarence Berry and His 2nd Wife in Fayette County, Alabama#
David Middleton Berry and W.C. Berry, Fayette County, Ala. 1850
William Clarence Berry is shown with his new wife. At the top of the next page you see the rest of their children listed in this census.
George R. Berry & Sarah Catherine Farquhar — Alabama 1850 Census#
The rest of W.C. Berry's Children and George Rufus Berry in 1850
William Clarence Berry
William Clarence Berry was granted two tracts of land in Fayette County, Alabama, totaling 200.3 Acres.
Section 13 Township 16S Range 12W 160.25 Acres 1858/06/01
Section 12 Township 16S Range 12W 40.048 Acres 1858/06/01
William Clarence Berry land grant, Burnet County, Texas
On December 6, 1875, he was awarded 160 acres of land. (Abstract 149 — survey #833 — patent #422). After acquiring this land in Texas, the total amount of land he owned in Alabama and Texas was 360 Acres. William Clarence Berry and his family spent many years in Fayette County, Alabama. Some of them stayed there all of their lives. Some went to Texas and returned to Alabama. Other members of the family lived in Texas for the rest of their lives. It was after the Civil War was over that William Clarence and his wife made their way to Lampasas, Texas, in the spring of 1870. William Clarence Berry did not live in Texas very long. He died on September 8, 1878. William Clarence Berry’s headstone is located in the Cauble Cemetery in Burnet County, Texas. William was the first person buried in that cemetery.
Massa Ann Tompkins Berry lived 25 years after her husband died. She died January 14, 1903. Massa Ann Tompkins was William Clarence Berry’s second wife. William met and married Massa Ann Tompkins soon after arriving in Alabama. The second marriage produced nine more children and the family lived in Alabama until after the Civil War. Many of them went to Lampasas, Texas, and some of the family remained in Alabama. Victor Glenn Berry was a descendant of William and Massa Berry. Glenn wrote a wonderful book about this family called “Wagons South Wagons West”. In his book he documented a large amount of information about the land transactions between members of the family. He listed each of the descendants with their birth, marriage, and death dates. He recorded information about all of the family who served in the Civil War. Glenn died before I knew of him or before seeing his book. It would have been of great value to both of us if we could have met before he passed. I knew most of the family information in Orange County, North Carolina, that he could only find by research.
Wagons South Wagons West by Victor Glenn Berry
The information recorded in his book has been invaluable to me.
George Rufus Berry 1829–1909#
George Rufus Berry
George R. Berry was born in Orange County, North Carolina, to William Clarence and Sally Bowles Berry on February 29th, 1829. George Rufus Berry married Sarah Catherine Farquhar on January 10th, 1848, in Fayette County, Alabama. Catherine’s sister, Elizabeth Farquhar, married George Rufus Berry’s half-brother, Henry T. Berry, on September 11, 1866. George was granted land in Fayette County, Alabama, in 1854. On March 3, 1862, George R. Berry was elected constable for three years in Fayette County. George Rufus Berry served in the Confederate Army in Company I of the 56th Regiment, Alabama Cavalry. As fate would decree, he was discharged at the end of the Civil War in Greensboro, North Carolina, which is only 58 miles from where he was born. George might have returned to Fiddleton to visit his Orange County relatives. His Uncle Thomas Person and Aunt Sarah Lunsford Berry were living on the old Fiddleton plantation. He might have remembered them from the trip they took with his father and two sisters to Alabama in 1835.
His first cousins, John Robert Berry and James P. Berry, may have returned from the war. Another first cousin, William H. Berry, Thomas and Sarah Berry’s oldest son, had died in 1858 from the flu. Willie Berry, their second son, had disappeared after 1860. Also, Rufus Berry may have seen his half aunt, Elizabeth Berry Franklin, who had returned to Orange County in 1860, two years after her husband and her mother had died from the flu. My third great-grandmother, Hannah Cate Berry, was George Rufus Berry’s grandmother. Elizabeth Berry Franklin was stranded in Orange County and separated from her children until after the Civil War was over. George Rufus Berry returned to Fayette County, Alabama, for the second time in his life. Sarah Catherine Berry died January 23, 1905. George Rufus Berry died December 25, 1909. Both are buried in Cauble Cemetery, Burnet County, Texas.
George Rufus and Katie Farquhar Berry’s 6 Children#
- Sarah E. Berry married William L. Long
- Thomas P.P. Berry married Alberta Taylor
- John D.D. Berry married Amelia Ann Walk
- James H.H. Berry married Minnie O’Hair
- George R.R. Berry married Willie Berry and then Mattie F. Butler
- William A.A. Berry married S.L. Rogers
Elizabeth Jane Berry married Albert Galiton Whitson and they had a son, a daughter, and the family remained in Alabama. Roan Frances Berry was born in Orange County, NC, in May, 1833, and died November 8th, 1922, in McCulloch County, Texas.
Roan Frances Berry married Riley Aley Kizziah on the 23rd of December, 1860. Riley was killed in the Civil War in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on December 31st, 1862.
Roan never remarried and went to Texas with three of her brothers in 1867. Roan had one daughter. The daughter’s name was Aila Frances “Fannie” Kizziah, born July, 1862. Fannie married Anderson Farquhar “Ance” McCoy on December 16, 1880, in Burnet County, Texas. In Victor Glenn Berry’s book “Wagons South Wagons West” he states that Roan’s mother, Sally Bowles Berry, died between 1833 and 1835.
Found in the Fayette County, Alabama, marriage and probate records page 47. William Bowles estate: Elizabeth E Berry and Roann Frances Berry heirs of William C. Berry, who are heirs of the estate of William Bowles, late of Orange County, North Carolina, deceased, requested William C. Berry be appointed their guardian December, 1851.
All of the children of William and Hannah Cate Berry are double first cousins to the children of Thomas and Sarah Cate Berry.
The double first cousins are William Clarence Berry, Robert C. Berry, Thomas Person Berry, David II Berry and Eleanor Berry Reid. Hannah Cate Berry’s only daughter, Elizabeth Berry Franklin, is a maternal first cousin to David II Berry and Eleanor Berry Reed.
Children of William Clarence Berry, Robert C. Berry, and Thomas Person Berry are all double first cousins once removed. The children of Elizabeth Berry Franklin are maternal first cousins once removed to her three half-brother’s children.
Since Sarah Cate Berry and Hannah Cate Berry are sisters, all of the grandchildren were first cousins once removed.
William Clarence Berry’s Children#
George Rufus Berry, Elizabeth Jane Berry, Roann Frances Berry, John Thomas Berry, Mary Jane Berry, Henry Tompkins Berry, Lucinda Temperance Berry, Sarah Catherine Berry, Martha Minerva Berry, William Smith Berry, Amanda Narcissus Berry, and Julia Anne Berry.
Robert C. Berry’s Children#
Miles Berry, William Berry, Valutia Berry, John Berry, Catherine Montgrolia Berry, and George Washington Berry.
Thomas Person Berry’s Children#
William H. Berry, Willie Berry, John Robert Berry, James P Berry, Edna H Berry, Martha Bowers Berry, Etta E. Berry, Della Thomas Berry, and Daniel R Berry.
Elizabeth Berry Franklin’s Children#
Temperance Jane Franklin, Henry Berry Franklin, James L. Franklin, Robert N. Franklin, William C. Franklin, Thomas Benjamin Franklin, and Georgianna Franklin. These children are only first cousins once removed to all of Hannah Cate Berry’s other grandchildren.
David II Berry’s Children#
Annie Berry, Sarah Berry, Jacob Berry, John Berry, Henry Berry, William Berry, Isaac Berry, Mary Berry, James Arwin Berry, Elisabeth Jane Berry, David Berry, Rebeca Laura Berry, and Martha Berry.
Eleanor Berry Reed’s Children#
George Washington Reid, John W. Reid, Wilson Mack Reid, and Mary Reid.
The 51 grandchildren listed above are maternal and paternal first cousins once removed. All of them are the grandchildren of Thomas & Sarah Cate Berry or William & Hannah Cate Berry or John Berry and Hannah Cate Berry.
Robert C. Berry — Born in North Carolina, Died in Alabama#
Robert C. Berry was the second son of William and Hannah Cate Berry. We had no idea who his parents were until one of his descendants took the Y DNA test in 2012. Robert C. Berry was born on April 12, 1805, in Orange County, North Carolina. His signature was located on the sale of property that his two brothers sold in 1833. This is the only documentation we have about him living in Orange County, North Carolina. George David Berry, Y DNA participant number 218, and his family have archival documentation leading back to Fayette County, Alabama, and to Robert C. Berry.
After learning this information, we were able to assign Robert C. Berry to the right parents and reconstruct his life in Orange County, NC, and Fayette County, Alabama.
Robert C. Berry was a single man when he went with his mother, two brothers, and half sister to Fayette County, Alabama, around 1835. He most likely lived with his brother William Clarence Berry in Alabama until he met Sarah Chappell, who was the daughter of Miles and Priscilla Parker Chappell. Robert C. Berry and Sarah Chappell were married around 1837.
Robert C. and Sarah Chappell Berry’s Children#
- Jane Berry born 1838
- Miles H Berry born November 1839
- William P Berry born May 6, 1843
- Volutia A. Virginia Berry born November 12, 1846
- John Luther Berry born June 17, 1848
- Catherine M Berry born 1853
- George Washington Berry born September 19, 1857
Robert C. Berry 1860 Census Fayette County, Alabama
NOTE: Robert C. Berry Land Grant
BERRY, ROBERT Section 20 Township 16S Range 10W 159.755 Acres 1858/06/01
Recorded in HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA
All 7 of their children were born in Fayette County, Alabama. Robert C. and Sarah Chappell Berry never left Alabama. Both of them died there and are buried there. We have located a descendant of George Washington Berry who was two years old in the census shown above. George David Berry was participant #218 in our Berry Y DNA project. He matched two known William Berry descendants’ markers by 100%. George Washington Berry married Fatima Edmonds in Fayette County, Alabama, and is of key interest because his father was Robert C. Berry, who is George David Berry’s great grandfather.
George Washington Berry Family, son of Robert C. Berry
The family listed in the 1910 census were: Grady Berry age 16, Bedford Berry age 15, Lela Berry age 14, Anna L. Berry age 13, Arnold Berry age 11, Ola M. Berry age 9, Lee Augustus Berry age 8, Gaither Berry age 6, Olif Berry age 2. The parents were George Washington and Fatima Edmonds Berry.
George David Berry’s Lineage — Y DNA Participant #218#
Robert and Mary Williamson Berry, Princess Anne County, Virginia.
Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
William and Hannah Cate Berry, Orange County, North Carolina.
Robert C and Sarah Chappell Berry, Fayette County, Alabama.
George Washington and Fatima Jane Edwards Berry, Fayette County, Alabama.
Lee Augustus and Eros Joan Johnson Berry, Texas.
George David Berry #218 Y DNA participant.
Lee Augustus Berry
Once the results of George David’s Y DNA test became known and because it was a 100% match to our William Berry line, I knew that we had located the two missing boys in Hannah Cate Berry’s 1810 Orange County, North Carolina, census. Because of errors made previously in this family line, it became imperative to write a revised edition of my original book, “Our Berrys In Frontier America”. This was because in my original book William Clarence Berry was assigned as a son of Robert Berry Junior and Robert C. Berry was not assigned to any parents. All of the details of their relationship to William and Hannah Cate Berry are also described in detail in the paragraph about Robert’s brother, William Clarence Berry.
Thomas Person Berry’s Siblings#
Thomas Person Berry Siblings
William Clarence Berry born October 17, 1803, in Orange County, North Carolina, and died in Burnet County, Texas, on September 8, 1878.
Robert C. Berry born April 14, 1805, in Orange County, North Carolina, and died in Fayette County, Alabama, in 1888.
Thomas Person Berry born June 1st, 1808, in Orange County, North Carolina, and died April 30th, 1884, in Orange County, North Carolina.
Elizabeth Berry Franklin was born in Orange County, North Carolina, in 1812 and died on November 21st in Texas.
Thomas P. Berry’s first wife, Sarah Lunsford Berry, died on December 27th, 1870. Thomas married Lucy Brown, daughter of Alfred and Martha Brown, on August 24th, 1871.
Nancy Clayton Whitfield and her first cousin, Autry Berry Schull
Nancy was the youngest daughter of Etta E. Berry and James Madison Clayton and Autry was the youngest daughter of Daniel R. Berry and Ella Pucci. From the year that Thomas Person Berry was born until his last grandchild was born was 122 years. From the time he was born until the last grandchild died was 206 years. I do not know if this would be a record that would qualify for the Guinness Book of Records or not, but I would think it might be. I am reasonably sure my mother knew both of these ladies when they were little girls.
I was very surprised when I first learned that two of Thomas Person Berry’s grandchildren were still alive in 2012. This was made possible because the orphaned children were very young when their father, Thomas Person Berry, died. Their grandmother, Lucy Brown Berry, died when Autry’s father was born in 1880. The first cousins, Nancy and Autry, were also the youngest children in each of their families. Autry Berry was born in 1930, the same year that I was, but Autry is Thomas Person Berry’s granddaughter and I am his great-great grandson. My mother called Autry’s father Uncle Dan all of her life. Daniel Richmond Berry is buried between his two wives in Berry’s Grove Baptist Church Cemetery.
Hannah Cate Berry’s Only Daughter, Elizabeth Berry#
Elizabeth Berry was not born when Hannah Cate Berry listed as head of household in the 1810 census. Hannah’s sister, Sarah Cate Berry, and her two children, David II Berry and Eleanor Berry, may have left for Tennessee shortly after Elizabeth Berry was born on January 12th, 1812. We know that Sarah Cate Berry was in Orange County, N.C., in 1810 and she knew that her husband was dead by 1812. We also know that she was married in Tennessee in 1815. We do not know who went with her to Tennessee or exactly when she went there. We know she would not have made the trip with her two children alone. Hannah Cate Berry named her daughter after her mother, Elizabeth Smith Cate, who lived a few farms away from Fiddleton.
Hannah Cate Berry’s husband left her in 1808 and removed to Lincoln County, Tennessee, with a new wife. Hannah Cate Berry had a lot of family still living in Orange County, North Carolina. Her father-in-law, Robert Berry, allowed Hannah to live in the old Patrick Rutherford Plantation House for some unknown period of time. Hannah’s father died in 1804 but her mother lived until 1825 and only a few farms away from Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry.
Hannah Cate Berry apparently raised her three sons and daughter in Orange County, North Carolina. It is fairly obvious that the family was planning to remain in Orange County until William Clarence Berry’s wife, Sally Bowles Berry, died in 1833.
Theodoric and Elizabeth Berry Franklin's Marriage Bond
When Elizabeth Berry got married her half-brother, Thomas Person Berry, signed her wedding bond. The other signature on the bond was William Bowles, who was William Clarence Berry’s father-in-law. This was a clue that was overlooked for many years. Theodrick and Elizabeth Berry Franklin were married on June 30, 1832, and their daughter, Temperance Jane Franklin, was born on October 17, 1832. Many years later, Temperance Jane Franklin wrote in her Bible that her grandfather’s name was John Berry.
We have never been able to locate who John Berry was but we still have no reason to believe that William Berry was Elizabeth Berry’s father, however.
Temperance Jane Franklin
When Temperance Jane Franklin’s parents went to Alabama with the rest of her family around 1834, they most likely planned on staying in Fayette County, Alabama. Theoderick and Elizabeth Berry Franklin did stay in Alabama until about 1836. Their first son, Henry Berry Franklin, was born there in 1835. Why Theodrick and Elizabeth decided to return to Georgia I do not know. It is a fact, however, because in 1837 the couple had a second son, James L. Franklin, born in Floyd County, Georgia. Things apparently went well for the Franklins because the rest of their children were born there.
The 1850 Floyd County, Georgia, Census shows the Franklin family had returned to Georgia from Alabama before 1837. Their second son, James Franklin, was born in 1837 in Georgia. The family listed in 1850 at dwelling number 64 and family number 64 in Cove Spring, Floyd County, Georgia.
T Franklin M 38 born in NC. Theodrick Franklin
Elizabeth F 38 born in NC. Elizabeth Berry
Children of Theodoric & Elizabeth Franklin in 1850#
- T.J. F 17 born in NC — Temperance Jane Franklin
- H.B. M 15 born in ALA — Henry Berry Franklin born in 1835
- James M 13 born in GA — James L. Franklin
- Robert M 8 born in GA — Robert N. Franklin
- William M 7 born in GA
- Thomas M 11 born in GA — Thomas Benjamin Franklin
- G.A. F 1 born in GA — Georgiana Franklin
Elizabeth Berry Franklin and Her Family Had Their Lives Totally Disrupted#
A series of events occurred starting in 1858. Her mother, Hannah Cate Berry, and her husband, Theoderick Franklin, both died in the winter of 1858.
Elizabeth Berry Franklin’s Return to North Carolina#
This is the same year that a worldwide flu epidemic killed unknown numbers of people. Three members of our Berry family died in Orange County, North Carolina. Hannah Cate Berry, William H Berry, Hannah’s grandson by her son Thomas Person Berry, Lewis Berry who was the son of Joshua and Nancy Ellison Berry, and possibly Nancy Ellison Berry herself. Nancy Ellison Berry was alive in 1850 but was not alive in the 1860 census.
Elizabeth Berry Franklin returned to Orange County, North Carolina, after her husband Theodoric died and was staying with her half-brother, Thomas Person Berry, when the 1860 Orange County Census was taken. Elizabeth was unable to rejoin her children in Texas until after the Civil War was over.
1860 Orange County Census, Little River Township#
- Thos. P. Berry M 52
- Sally Berry F 45
- John R. Berry M 18
- James K. Berry M 15
- Jesse Blalock M 22
- Elizabeth Franklin F 48 — Elizabeth Berry Franklin
Uncle Harold’s grandfather and my great-grandfather, John Robert Berry, was eighteen years old in 1860 when his half aunt, Elizabeth Berry Franklin, returned to Orange County, North Carolina. The fact that she was listed in Thomas Person Berry’s 1860 census definitely proves that John Robert Berry knew his half aunt Elizabeth Berry Franklin. Since Elizabeth Berry Franklin left North Carolina to rejoin her children in Texas after the Civil War was over, John Robert Berry was aware that some of our family had gone to Texas. None of the rest of my Berry family ever told me this, so I doubt that this information came from my grandfather.
Life did not smile on Elizabeth Berry Franklin because before she could return to join her children, the Civil War broke out and she was forced to remain in North Carolina until the conflict was over. Elizabeth’s husband had some brothers who still lived in Orange County and her half brother, Thomas Person, and his wife, Sarah Lunsford Berry. John Robert Berry was away in the War as were probably James P. and Willie Berry. They were all of the sons of Thomas and Sarah Lunsford Berry. William H. Berry, as mentioned before, died from the flu in 1858. In 1865, George Rufus Berry was discharged in Greensboro, North Carolina, John Robert Berry and James P. Berry had returned home, so it is possible that Elizabeth Berry Franklin was reunited for a short time with her three nephews. Nothing is known about Willie Berry, but likely he was killed in the War. I have no idea when Elizabeth Berry Franklin was reunited with her children but eventually she apparently was.
Western District, Burleson, Texas, Census June 23, 1870#
Western District, Burleson, Texas, Census June 23, 1870
Temperance Jane Franklin and her husband, Warren Davis, were married November 9, 1854, in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Their first son was born in Arkansas and the other three children were born in Louisiana. The couple had only been living in Texas less than 3 years when this census was taken.
Temperance Jane Franklin’s Bible Page#
Bible page of Temperance Jane Franklin, Thomas P. Berry's niece
Elizabeth Berry Franklin was trapped in North Carolina during the Civil War and was not able to rejoin her family until the war was over.
Temperance Jane Franklin married Warren W. Davis and removed to Texas sometime between 1865 and 1867. Elizabeth Franklin may have joined her children and gone to Texas with them or she may have joined them in Texas, where she spent the rest of her life.
Elizabeth Berry Franklin grave site, Salem Cemetery, Brown County, Texas
This information was copied from an email note sent by Elizabeth Robinett: “I took this picture of the grave site in Salem Cemetery, which is located in Brown County, TX: E. H. Franklin wife of T. Franklin b. 1812. I think this is Elizabeth Berry. What are the odds of an E. Franklin born 1812 wife of T. Franklin in the same county as Thomas Benjamin Franklin, who was her son? The cemetery is about 5 miles or so from where he lived.”
“Elizabeth Berry Franklin died on November 21st, 1885. She was 73 years old.”
While Elizabeth Berry is not William Berry’s daughter, Elizabeth Berry Franklin is William Clarence, Robert C, and Thomas Person Berry’s half-sister. Elizabeth Berry was born after Hannah Cate Berry’s husband, William Berry, had deserted her. If John Berry is Elizabeth Berry Franklin’s father, we have never been able to determine who he was. And since the incident occurred between the 1810 census and the 1820 census, we do not know if he is related to our Berry family or not. At any rate, Temperance Jane Franklin believed her grandfather was John Berry, according to information from her Bible.
What Happened to William Berry?#
In the 1830 Blount County, Alabama, Census, William Berry age 50–60, is living next door to John Box Senior. Next door to John Box lived Thomas Rutherford, age 50 to 60.
The three sons of Patrick Rutherford who lived on the next plantation south of Robert Berry’s family in Orange County, NC, were William Rutherford, James Rutherford, and Thomas Rutherford. I do not know if this is the same Thomas Rutherford who was born in Orange County.
William Berry’s wife in the 1830 Alabama census was at least 10 years younger than William. When I located William Berry in Lincoln County, Tennessee, William Berry was 10 years older than Mary Berry. This 1850 census leads me to believe I have located my 3rd great grandfather living with his 2nd wife.
I could not find William Berry in Blount County, Alabama, in 1840. When I located him in the 1850 Lincoln County, Tennessee, Census, William and his wife were living with their son, Benjamin H Berry age 44, who was born in North Carolina.
Unless we can find a descendant of Benjamin H. Berry from the 1850 census in Lincoln County, Tennessee, to take a Y-DNA test, we cannot be certain that William Berry in Tennessee is our William Berry from North Carolina. I am positive that Hannah Cate Berry’s husband William Berry never returned to Orange County, North Carolina, and that Hannah Cate Berry raised her family without the benefit and support of a husband.
1850 Lincoln County, Tennessee, Census#
Benjamin H. Berry, age 44 born in NC 1806
Ann, age 31 born in Tenn. 1819
- James W., age 18 born in Tenn. 1832
- Mary, age 16 born in Tenn. 1834
- William, age 13 born in Tenn. 1837
- Miama, age 11 born in Tenn. 1839
- Benjamin, age 8 born in Tenn. 1842
William, age 74 born in NC. 1776
Mary, age 65 born in NC 1785
If I am correct and William Berry was in Blount County, Alabama, in 1830 and Lincoln County, Tennessee, in 1850, there is no reason to believe that he went to Wayne County, Tennessee, with Thomas Berry’s widow, Sarah Cate Berry, in 1814. It’s much more likely that William Berry never returned home after going to Tennessee with his brother Thomas Berry. If William left Hannah Cate Berry for another woman then Hannah’s sister, Sarah Cate Berry, would most likely have very little use for her ex-brother-in-law William Berry. It is much more likely that Sarah Cate Berry and her children went to Tennessee with the Martin, Shipman, or Pigg families. How Robert Berry OC was informed of Thomas Berry’s death may forever remain unknown.
There are only two counties separating Lincoln County and Wayne County, Tennessee, where the widow of Thomas Berry, Sarah Cate Berry Pigg, homesteaded in 1816. We have not located any descendants of William Berry’s second family.
George Wesley Berry and Wiley Person Berry