Chapter 12#

Henry Berry 1776–1858#

Henry Berry was the youngest child of Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry from Orange County, North Carolina. Robert and Elizabeth had been married about 17 or 18 years when Henry Berry was born in 1776. Robert Berry was about 46 years old and his wife, Elizabeth, was probably about 41 years old. Their family now consisted of 10 children—two daughters and eight sons. They had been living in the new Fiddleton Plantation home for 10 years when Henry was born. Henry’s oldest sister, Mary, was about 17 or 18 years old and was already married or about to marry George Waggoner, son of Henry and Katriana Waggoner. This was the year of the Declaration of Independence and the beginning of much turmoil in the nation. Most of the fighting with the English had been done far away from Fiddleton but a lot of the political action was now taking place about 14 miles away. Two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence lived in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and much of the involvement by North Carolina was being directed and decided in Hillsborough, N.C.

Henry was only 5 years old when his father, his oldest brother, Robert Jr., and his brother-in-law, George Waggoner, joined the North Carolina Continental Army. That same year, the Battle at Guilford Courthouse was fought and George Waggoner was likely very seriously wounded there. The battle was fought on April 15th, 1781, and 17 days later on March 2nd, 1781, George Waggoner wrote his will. George died sometime before the month of August, 1781. That is when Mary Waggoner and Robert Berry became executrix and executor of George Waggoner’s will. There is no way that Henry Berry could have understood what was going on, but I suspect that he was asking a lot of questions. There were still brothers of all ages around for Henry to play with. Henry’s sister, Mary Berry Waggoner, who was now a widow, married James Camp before February, 1782. George Waggoner’s inventory statement was signed by Robert Berry and Mary Kemp. James and Mary probably married around Christmas of 1781. Robert Berry Jr. probably married Henry Waggoner’s sister, Mary Waggoner, after the Revolutionary war was over. I say this because Mary Berry Waggoner Camp’s brother in law, Thomas Camp, married Susanna Waggoner. I think Robert Berry and his son Robert Berry Jr met James Camp and his brother, Thomas Camp, in the army. James and Mary Camp removed to Rutherford County soon after they were married.

By the time Henry was grown, most of his siblings were married and having children, so Henry had lots of young nieces and nephews. Some of them he probably never saw, but a lot of them were living very close to Fiddleton.

In the 1810 Census of Robert Berry OC, we find that there are 3 males listed. 2 of them are in the 26 to 45 bracket and 1 is in the over 45 bracket. This means that Henry and Isaac were both living at home with their parents. We know that Henry Berry was born in 1776 and that Isaac Berry was older than Henry.

Henry Berry’s and Fanny Ashley’s Daughter Mary Ann Berry King#

If Henry Berry ever married, we have no record of it. Although Henry Berry never married, apparently he was the father of Mary Ann Ashley, who married Thomas King on October the 9th, 1833. In 1850, Fanny Ashley was 70 years old and was living with the King family. Fanny Ashley was obviously Mary Ann King’s mother. Henry Berry was 74 years old in 1850. In the will that Henry wrote in 1855, he did not mention a daughter, but he secretly left the family plantation home to his daughter anyway. In Henry’s will, the first statement expressing his wishes was: “I give and devise to my friend Thomas King and his wife Polly King the track of land on which I now live.” This had been a puzzle to me because I could see of no reason to will the Fiddleton plantation home to a friend. Many of the family and neighbors very likely knew that Mary Berry King was Henry Berry and Fanny Ashley’s daughter but no record of this fact was found until 65 years after Henry Berry died. All of this became clear when Susan Ann King Crabtree died in 1920 and in her death certificate, Susan’s husband, John W. Crabtree, identified Susan’s mother as Mary Berry and not Mary Ashley.

Mary King and Susan Ann King Crabtree both have marked headstones in the Fiddleton cemetery located on Robert Berry’s Original Granville Land Grant. This fact had always been another problem for me to understand. Why were Mary King and Susan Crabtree buried in the Robert Berry’s OC Fiddleton cemetery?

Wedding Record for Thomas King & Polly Ashley#

Wedding record for Thomas King & Polly Ashley

1850 Thomas King Orange County Little River Township Census#

Thomas King age 38

Mary King age 41 (Mary Ashley (Berry))

William King age 16

De Wit King age 14

Sarah King age 12

Thomas King age 9

Mary King age 6

Susan King age 4

Judy King age 1

Fanny Ashley age 70 — Mary Ashley Berry’s Mother

I can see why Henry Berry might not want to admit to his friends and relatives that he was the father of Mary Ashley, who was born in 1809. Henry’s mother and father were still alive at that time and Henry was living at home with them. I cannot understand why it would have made any difference to anybody in 1855. This story does not end here, however.

Robert Berry OC left the Plantation to Henry Berry in 1814, but Henry’s father had several conditions that required Henry to care for his brother, Isaac, who was not completely in his right mind. Henry did take care of his brother for the rest of Isaac’s life. Isaac was apparently living with Lydia Berry, his wife, in a separate house on Henry’s property when he died.

Did Isaac Berry Also Have a Daughter?#

Apparently Isaac Berry was also a father, although no record of a marriage can be found and no birth records were kept in Orange County until many years later.

Isaac Berry apparently died between 1830 and 1840, and Lydia Berry appeared for the first time as head of household in the 1840 census with a daughter who was under 10 years old. This seems to indicate that Isaac Berry did have a daughter. There is no way to tell if Lydia was his wife or simply living with him. The very fact that Lydia Berry listed as head of household in the 1840 census must mean that she was considered Isaac’s wife. Regardless of what the situation was, both Lydia Berry, age 35, and Mary Berry, age 18, were living with Joshua Cates, age 39, in Person County when the 1850 census was taken. Very likely Lydia Berry was forced to move because women were not allowed to own property and she could not inherit property from Isaac Berry because he did not own any anyway.

Since Henry Berry did not include Lydia Berry or her daughter, Mary Berry, in his 1855 will, one would have to assume that they were not directly related to Henry. This would leave the other possibility… that they were Isaac Berry’s descendants. This is the conclusion that I have reached.

Henry Berry and Isaac Berry each had one daughter and the two girls were both named Mary Berry. This may also indicate that Henry and Isaac’s grandmother was Mary Williamson Berry who lived and died in Princess Anne County, Virginia. Remember the old English naming rule where the first daughter in a family was usually named after the paternal grandmother.

Susan King’s 1920 Death Certificate Correcting Mary Ashley Surname#

Susan A. King Crabtree's Death Certificate, 1920

Susan’s death certificate is very important, because it states clearly that her mother’s maiden name was Berry. Mary Ashley who married Thomas King in 1833 was really Mary Berry. Without this document, I would never have known that Henry Berry and Fanny Ashley had a daughter. I would never have known that Thomas and Mary King’s children were really great-grandchildren of Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry and might not have realized that Isaac Berry also had a daughter or that Samuel and Mary Ann Berry Hundley’s children were also great-grandchildren of Robert OC and Elizabeth Cate Berry.

1850 Person County, N.C., Census#

1850 Person County, N.C., Census

Joshua Cates M age 39

Lydia Berry F age 35

Mary A. Berry F age 18

Mary Ann Berry was not married when the 1850 census was taken.

1860 Person County, N.C., Census#

Joshua Cates M age 49

Samuel Hunley M age 37

Mary A. Hunley F age 27, formerly Mary Ann Berry

Liddy Hunley F age 8

Henry G. Hunley M age 6

Thomas J. Hunley M age 4

George W. Hunley M age 2

Liddy Berry F age 65 — Mary Ann Berry’s mother

1870 Person County N.C. Census#

Samuel Hunley M age 47

Mary Ann F age 37

Liddy F age 18

Thomas M age 14

David M age 10

Julius M age 5

Ida Hunley F age 1

Lidia Berry F age 67

Joshua Cates M age 59

You can see from the 1850 Census listing that Lydia Berry’s daughter was 18 years old and unmarried. Later that year, she married Samuel Hunley on December 18th. Lydia Berry was still alive in the 1880 Person County Census. I thought the trail of Lydia Berry and Mary Berry Hunley ended here but I was wrong.

The 1860 Orange County Census shows the Thomas King family was still living in the plantation home they inherited from Henry Berry in 1855. It also shows that their youngest son was James King, age 9.

1860 Orange County N.C. Census Little River Township#

Thomas King age 48

Mary King age 45

De Wit King age 22

Thomas King age 19

Susan King age 17

Judy E. King age 15

James King age 9

Since Susan A. Crabtree died in 1920, I decided to search the 1900 Orange County Census for members of Thomas King’s family. This was a stroke of luck and made me realize that Henry and Isaac Berry might each have a daughter that I never knew about. In 1900, James King was living next door to his sister, Susan Crabtree. Mary Ann Berry Hunley was listed as a cousin in James King’s household.

1900 Orange County, N.C., Census, Little River Township#

James S. King age 45 Head Feb. 1855

Mary Hunley age 61 Cousin Mar. 1832

William Hunley age 18 Cousin Apr 1872

John H. Bowles age 7 Cousin May 1892

Looking at their ages, I think William Hunley and James Bowles may be Mary Hunley’s grandchildren. After learning that Mary Ann Berry Hunley had returned to Fiddleton and was listed in the 1900 Census as a cousin to James King, I needed to figure out how they could be cousins.

If Mary Ann Berry Hunley was the daughter of Isaac & Lydia Berry, she should have been 68 years old in 1900 instead of 61, but this type of problem occurs all the time on census forms for many reasons.

Since Henry and Isaac Berry were brothers, then their two daughters, Mary Berry King and Mary Berry Hunley, would have been first cousins.

William Hunley age 18 would have been the son of one of Samuel and Mary Berry Hunley’s sons. John H. Bowles would have been the son of one of Samuel and Mary Berry Hunley’s daughters who had married a Bowles.

1900 Orange County, N.C., Census, Little River Township#

John H. Crabtree age 49 Head Sept 1850

Susan A. Crabtree age 51 wife June 1849

Esterell Crabtree age 14 daughter Nov 1885

Maggie T. Crabtree age 17 daughter Mar 1883

Sarah F. Crabtree age 19 daughter Mar 1883

Sallie H. Crabtree age 74 mother Dec. 1825

Estate Sale of James Farquhar Sr., Person County, NC#

Estate sale of James Farquhar Sr., Person County, NC

This abstract does not list the items that were bought at James Farquhar’s estate sale but many of our ancestors were there.

Henry Berry’s Neighbors in 1820#

Charles Wilson Age Bracket 26–46

Elizabeth Cate Age Bracket over 46 (Hannah and Sarah Cate’s mother)

Nancy Robinson Age Bracket 26–46

Alex Robinson Age Bracket 26–46

Wm. Bowles Age Bracket over 46

Victor Rountree Age Bracket 26–46

Thomas Evans Age Bracket 18–26

Henry Berry Age Bracket over 46

James Bryant Age Bracket over 46

NOTE: There are 6 farms located between Elizabeth Cate and Henry Berry in 1820. Elizabeth Cate is Hannah Cate Berry’s mother. I do not know where Hannah Cate Berry and her children were living in 1820. I feel very confident she was living in Orange County, North Carolina. William Cate’s wife, Elizabeth Cate, died around 1825 and two of her children, John Cate and Hannah Cate Berry, sold their 40% of the Cate Plantation to Thomas Wilson on Nov. 19th, 1825. (Orange County NC Deed Bk: 22 Pg: 7) John Cate, Hannah Cate’s brother, went to Wayne County, Tennessee, to purchase Sarah Cate Berry Pigg’s 20% share of their father’s farm sometime around 1826.

Henry and Isaac Berry are both buried in the Fiddleton Cemetery. My third great-grandmother, Hannah Cate Berry, is also buried there. All three of these ancestors are buried there with unmarked field stone head markers. Since Mary Berry King and her daughter, Susan King Crabtree, were buried there, most likely Fanny Ashley and Thomas King are also there.

After considering the relationship between Henry Berry and Fanny Ashley, it seems to me that there was a consensual romantic arrangement. The reason for thinking this is there was no legal action taken against Henry Berry similar to Henry’s sister, Elizabeth Berry’s, bastardy bond that she filed against William Riley.

This also leads me to believe that Elizabeth Berry may have been raped, which would account for Robert Berry’s OC compassionate attitude written into his will toward his illegitimate granddaughter Mary Berry.

Henry Berry’s Signature#

Henry Berry's signature on Camp Children's POA

1850 Orange County, NC, Census: Little River Township for Henry Berry#

Henry Berry M age 74

Anna Berry F age 80 — William Berry’s wife Hannah Cate Berry

Tom Cates M age 12

Jasper Hopkins M age 8

Polly Hopkins F age 30

Ned Hopkins M age 28

Silas Hopkins M age 24

Rowan Hopkins F age 21

There may be an unknown family connection between the Hopkins and Berry families. This connection may go back to Robert Berry PAC and the Hopkins family in Princess Anne County, Virginia, in the early 1700’s.

Henry Berry had inherited the Fiddleton Plantation and he listed as head of household for the first time in 1820. Henry seemed to carry out his father’s wishes that were laid out in Robert’s 1812 Will.

Henry did not seem to be nearly as ambitious as his father was, however. There may have been many reasons for this. Henry probably did not have the opportunities that his father had. He may not have been prepared to manage all of the responsibility that the plantation required. Henry obviously did not want the commitment that a marriage would entail. Henry’s personality could have been such that he was comfortable with what he controlled and had more of a playboy attitude than he should. He was the baby in the family and may have been allowed to have his way most of the time since early childhood.

Robert Berry OC may have been aware that his son, Henry, would hold the plantation together and that may have been reason enough for him to leave the plantation to him. Because Henry was the youngest child, Robert would expect him to outlive the rest of his other children, also.

It has often been curious to me why different siblings in a same family have such different personalities and ambitions in life. I am aware that no two people have the same opportunities, but I firmly believe that success in life depends more on desire to succeed than circumstance. Being able to understand how one’s actions today will affect results tomorrow may be a genetic trait that all people do not inherit. The general population does seem pretty evenly divided between left and right brain people. Doing the same things over and over expecting different results will not work and very often appears to be stupid to other people.

Henry Berry’s Will, December 20th, 1855#

Henry Berry's will in Orange County, NC, 1855

Henry and David Berry Sold a Slave Named Amy in 1821#

Henry and David Berry sold a slave named Amy in 1821