Chapter VII#

…In the Land of Cotton…#

Clothmaking in the North demanded the use of much cotton, and cotton came from the South. Before 1800, tobacco had been the all-important crop of the South, but after 1800, cotton began to take over that role. This was due to the increased need for cotton in Northern manufacturing centers and to the invention of a machine to pick seeds from cotton, called the Cotton Gin. (XIII; pp.274-275) In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin (engine). This machine is described below:

1. Cotton lint enters the front of the machine through a door
2. Saw teeth pull the lint through a grid which will not permit seeds to pass
3. Lint fibers are removed from saw teeth by brushes
4. Cotton fibers ready for bailing come out opposite end of machine (XIII; p.250)

Prior to the invention of the Cotton Gin, cotton seeds were picked from the lint by hand, one at a time. The Cotton Gin made it possible to send more cotton from the plantations to the mills. This brought about a bigger demand for cotton. Consequently, the cotton industry expanded. So important did cotton become in the South, that people often called it KING COTTON.

The use of the Cotton Gin (Thompson Berry had one) caused more farmers to raise cotton. (XIII; p.275) Cotton was raised (by Thompson Berry and all other Berry pioneer farmers) on river bottoms and even on sandy lands. It was easy to raise cotton in Alabama because the Summers were long & hot and rainfall was abundant. The cotton raised here was short-staple or black-seed cotton. It was called short-staple to distinguish it from long-staple cotton with green seeds which grew on the coast of South Carolina & Georgia. Cotton was a cash crop for which there was usually a ready market. Therefore, the Cotton Gin was one of the principal reasons pioneer settlers & other Americans rushed into Spanish Alabama in such large numbers. (I; pp.121-122) The BERRYS were among these numbers.

…The crude farming methods of the day took much land, especially for raising tobacco & cotton, which wore out a field in a few years. What is more, both plants required much attention. Cotton…had to be kept cultivated and weeded and then picked at the right time. One man could raise only a small crop, even with the help of his wife & children.

The increased growing of cotton led to the expansion of the plantation system. Many small farmers bought more land, then bought slaves to do the work. Many planters moved Westward, some of them taking their cotton seeds and slaves as far as the Louisiana Territory and Texas. (XIII; p.275)

The following article Customers At Thompson Berry’s Saw Mill, 1848-1889, is an example of the importance of the BERRY surname in pioneer Fayette County Alabama and how this surname related to the Cotton Kingdom:

Thompson Berry, the man for whom the town of Berry (Alabama) was named, was born in Orange County North Carolina in 1801. Mr Berry was one of the county’s pioneer citizens, coming into this area about 1840 (1820 is correct). He is said to have driven a large herd of cattle from Cherokee County with the destination of settling a homestead.

Mr. Berry devoted most of his time to the raising of cattle and farming on a very extensive scale. As time passed, he became the owner of a gin, a grist mill, a saw mill, as well as several thousand acres of land. (He owned 14 slaves in 1860. XV; p.41)

The friends of Thompson Berry decided that their growing town should be named in honor of its great forerunner.

When Mr. Berry died in 1871, he left the enormous amount of 6,000 acres of land he owned to his heirs, who later gave the majority of it to the railroad company.

He was buried in Pleasant Hill Methodist Church Cemetery. Also buried there is his son John N. Berry and his grandson Jonathan. The cemetery is located two (2) miles West of the town of Berry, Alabama. Thompson Berry had previously given the land for the church & cemetery.

Living in Berry, Alabama, today (1974) are four great-grandchildren: the children of grand-daughter Vergie Berry Studdard (Mrs. Willard T.) Mrs. Studdard died Thanksgiving 1973 at the age of 92. The great-grandchildren are: Cecil, Jim & Kermit Studdard & Mary Bill Studdard Rawlings… (XV; p.89)