Henry Berry

Henry Berry, son of Robert And Elizabeth Cate Berry

Ancestor:

Henry Berry’s Parents – Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry

Marriage:

Never Married

Henry Berry was born in 1776, the year our Nation signed the Declaration of Independence. Henry was the youngest child in the family and became a very important member of the Robert Berry family after his father died. Henry inherited the Fiddleton Plantation Home and about 600 acres of farm and woodland. While four of the slaves were willed to Thomas, David, Robert Jr. and Joshua, eight slaves were still owned by Henry, Isaac, Elizabeth, and their Mother. They needed this many slaves to manage all of the plantation work. There always seemed to be a lot of people living at the Plantation Home when each new Census was taken. The House was a very large one for the period. It is my belief that Elizabeth Cate Berry lived until 1818 or 1819. There are two reasons I believe this. The first reason is that there was no female listed in Henry Berry’s 1820 Census who was old enough to be Elizabeth and the second reason is that David J. Berry, her son, did not leave Orange County until about 1828. My feeling is that David and his family had no reason to stay in Orange County after that. Henry owned all of the property and there was land to be had in Georgia. In 1830 Henry sold a hundred and 3/10 acres of land to William and Person Berry.

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Deed Book 226 Page 24

Deed Book 226 Page 24 Henry Berry Sold this land to his two nephews,William Clarence Berry, and his youngest brother Thomas Person Berry. The two brothers were apparently planning to remain in Orange County, North Carolina. All their plans changed in 1833 when William Clarence Berry’s wife, Sally Bowles Berry. died giving birth to Rose Ann Frances Berry in 1833.William Clarence Berry and Thomas Person Berry sold the land they had purchased from Uncle Henry Berry Henry and their other brother Robert C.. Berry was a witness to the Sale in 1833. William Clarence Berry and Robert C. Berry left North Carolina and homesteaded in Fayette County, Alabama where their Uncle Robert Berry Jr. was granted land in 1824.

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Deed Book 30 Page 33

Deed Book 30 Page 33 .  Henry Purchased land from Joseph Armstrong on the 5th of August 1838. This Land may have been paid for with money Henry Berry was holding for his mentally handicapped brother, Isaac Berry. Isaac Berry died between 1830 and 1840. Henry Berry and Hannah Berry were living together in the 1850 census. Hannah was William Berry’s wife but I do not think Henry and Hannah ever married. If you check his will on this page you will see that he leaves some property to Hannah but does not mention her as his wife.

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Susan Crabtree Headstone

Henry Berry died about 1855 and Hannah only lived about three more years. Both Henry and Hannah are buried in the Robert Berry Fiddleton grave plot. The location of the grave site is Latitude 35 degrees 13′ 42″ Longitude 79 degrees 01′ 07 This site is about three hundred yards due north of the Fiddleton Plantation Home. This Grave Site was discovered by four of the descendants of Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry on May 19, 2006. (Dane Berry, Bernard Berry, Ben Henderson and Aaron Henderson.)

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Mary King Headstone

Susan Crabtree is buried in the Fiddleton Cemetery. Susan is the daughter of Thomas and Mary King who inherited the home place when Henry died in 1855. Henry’s Will.  In Henry Berry’as will he stated “ I give and devise to my friend Thomas King and his wife Polly King the tract of land on which I now live.” Polly is a nickname for Mary  which explains why Henry Berry left the home-place to
Thomas King. There was always a question in my mind why the Fiddleton Plantation Home was left to a friend and not a relative.  There was also a question why Mary King was buried in The Fiddleton Berry family cemetery. All of the answers were found in Susan King Crabtree’s Death Certificate. On Susan King Crabtree’s Death Certificate her mother was listed as Mary Berry. The home place was left to a relative, Henry Berry’s daughter, Mary Berry King. Mary Berry King’s mother was Fanny Ashley who was living with her daughter, Mary King, and Son in Law, Thomas King. in the 1850 census below.

 Susan Crabtree’s Death Certificate.

 Mary King age 41 and Susan King age 4 are in this 1850 Census.

External Link: Cemetery Census – Orange County, North Carolina – Robert Berry Family Cemetery

Mary Berry who later married Thomas King Sr. would have been 1 year old in the 1810 Orange County N.C. Census. Only Joshua Berry, Hannah Berry, and David J. Berry listed females in that age bracket in 1810. We think the female listed in Hannah Berry’s census was Eleanor Berry, Thomas and Sarah Cate Berry’s daughter.

Places Lived:

Henry Berry lived his entire life in Orange County N.C.

“ Henry inherited the Fiddleton Plantation Home in 1814 and many of the Berry family lived with him over the years
Henry was living with his father in 1800 and 1810 ”

Census Information:

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Last updated Jan. 28, 2014