Son of William and Hannah Cate Berry
ANCESTORS
- Generation Robert and Mary Williamson Berry VA
- Generation Robert and Elizabeth Cate Berry: Orange County, North Carolina.
- Generation William and Hannah Cate: Orange County, North Carolina.
ROBERT C. BERRY was born on April 14th 1805 in Orange County, North Carolina. Robert C. did not marry in Orange County and was about 29 or 30 years old when he left the state.Since he was single and didn’t own property there are no official records naming him. He did however witness the sale of property on September 19th. 1833 that his two brothers sold.
William Berry and his brother Thomas Person Berry bought some land from their Uncle Henry Berry on November 23rd, 1830.Orange County NC. (Orange County Deed Bk.25 Page 431).
Sally Bowles Berry died shortly after the birth of her third child, RosAnn Frances, in 1833. William and his other brother Robert C. Berry had probably heard about some availabe land in Fayette County, Alabama from their uncle Robert Berry Jr. or one of his boys. Since Williams wife had died William probably decided that there was more opportunity in Alabama than at home in North Carolina. William Berry and Thomas Person Berry sold their tract of land on September 19th. 1833 to Samuel and Felix Wilson (Father and Son) (Orange County NC Deed Bk.24 Page 226.)The deed was witnessed by Charles Wilson, Felix Wilson’s brother and Robert C. Berry. Robert C. Berry is Thomas Person Berry and William Berry’s, brother.
William Clarence and Sally Bowles Berry had three children. William listed in the 1830 Orange County Census living next door to Chesterfield Franklin. Chesterfield Franklin is Theodrick Franklins father. Theodrick married Robert C. Berry’s half sister Elizabeth Berry on June 30th 1832.
In the book “Wagons South Wagons West” by Victor Glenn Berry, stated that William Clarence Berry walked from Orange County, North Carolina, to Fayette County, Alabama, with his three small children. It is a known fact that Robert C. Berry was also traveling with his brother William because both listed in the 1840 Fayette County Alabama Census .
I doubt that this was how William Clarence Berry and three small children traveled from North Carolina to Alabama alone. Pioneers always traveled in groups and in wagon trains for security and convenience. Theodoric and Elizabeth Berry Franklin also went to Alabama at the same time. They had a daughter, Temperance Jane Franklin, who was born in Orange County in 1832 and a son Henry Berry Franklin who was born in Alabama in 1835. Elizabeth Berry Franklin was a half sister to William C., Robert C., and Thomas Person Berry. Thomas was just married in 1831 to Sarah Lunsford and I think they may also have migrated to Alabama. Their mother Hannah Cate Berry would have had very little reason to remain in Orange County since most of her children and all 4 of her young grand children were leaving home.George Rufus Berry was about 6 years old, Elizabeth Jane Franklin was 3 years old, RoseAnn Frances Berry was about 1 year old and Temperance Jane Franklin was no more than 4.
Hannah and her children would have found nearly all or Robert Berry Junior’s family living in Fayette County, Alabama when they arrived.Later some of them would move to Mississippi and Texas. Most of Robert Berry Junior’s family and descendants stayed in Fayette County, Alabama.
There were a lot of Berry relatives living in Fayette County Alabama when Robert C. Berry and his relatives arrived about 1835. Robert C. Berry and Sarah Chappell were married on About 1839 in Fayette County, Alabama, and listed in the 1840 census for his first time. Sarah Chappell was the daughter of Miles and Priscilla Parker Chappell who were already living in Fayette County,Alabama when Robert C. Berry and his family arrived. Robert C. and Sarah Chappell Berry and most of their children lived out their lives in Fayette County Alabama.
If this was the way it happened then Thomas Person Berry, his wife, and his mother returned to North Carolina by 1840. All three of them lived the rest of their lives in Orange County. All three are buried in the Fiddleton cemetery which is located on Robert Berry’s original Land Grant Property. There are many records of each of them found in Orange County, North Carolina after 1840.
The author of “Wagons South, Wagons West” , Victor Glenn Berry, was a direct descendant of William Clarence Berry. His book is primarily about the William Clarence Berry family.
I made an error In my book “OUR BERRYS IN FRONTIER AMERICA” on pages 114 to 121 I explained why I thought William Clarence Berry was one or Robert Berry Junior’s sons. This error was detected and ratified by new Y-DNA results from a descendant of Robert C. Berry. We already had Y-DNA results from one of William Clarence Berry’s descendants but had overlooked a 100% match to two known William Berry and Hannah Cate Berry descendants. When we got a second match from Robert C. Berry’s line it became clear that all three boys were William and Hannah Berry’s sons.
SEE: BERRY DNA PROJECT
With all four Y-DNA results matching and the other archival information we already knew, it became obvious that Robert C Berry and William Clarence Berry are sons of William and Hannah Cate Berry.
More of this story is covered on William Clarence Berry’s page.
All of Robert C.Berry and William Clarence Berry’s children are much closer related to me than I first thought. They are all first cousins to my Great Grandfather John Robert Berry who served in the CSA and when the war was over spent the rest of his life in Orange County, North Carolina. John Robert Berry and his wife, Elizabeth Frances Bowling, are buried on the grounds that he donated to Berrys Grove Baptist Church in Orange County, North Carolina. They donated the land to the church on the 16th of April 1888. John Robert Berry must have known that his uncle William Clarence Berry and some of his first cousins had moved to Texas. John Robert Berry was 16 years old when half Aunt, Elizabeth Berry Franklin, came back to Orange County in 1860 and was visiting his father when the census was taken. He also must have known that Elizabeth Berry Franklin went to live with her son in Texas after the civil war was over. This is likely the source of the story that my Uncle Harold Berry told me. He is the only member of my family to ever tell me that some of our folks went to Texas.
CHILDREN OF ROBERT C.AND SARAH CHAPPELL BERRY :
- Jane Berry Born in 1838 Fayette Alabama
- Miles Berry Born in 1838 Fayette Alabama
- William P. Berry Born in 1843 Fayette Alabama
- Valutia A. Virginia Berry 12 Nov 1848 Holy Springs, Fayette, Alabama, USA died 14 Apr 1917 Holy Springs, Fayette, Alabama, USA
- Mary Jane Berry Born May 28 1840 Fayette County Alabama
- John Berry 1850,Fayette, Alabama, USA died, Fayette, Alabama, USA before 1910 Midland, Midland, TX
- Montgrelia Catherine Berry Born 1853 Fayette County Alabama died May 1929 Fayette Co., AL
- George Washington Berry 19 Sep 1857 Berry Station, Fayette Co., AL died 03 Apr 1944 Texhoma, Texas Co.,Oklahoma, USA
Robert C. Berry was born in Orange County NC and died in Berry Alabama, Fayette County.
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July 20, 2008
CENSUS INFORMATION
- Robert C Berry was listed in his mothers 1810 NC Census Hannah Cate Berry, Sarah Cate Berry, and their children are listed on this census.
- Robert C. Berry listed in the 1840 Fayette County, Alabama Census.
- Robert C. Berry listed in the 1850 Fayette County, Alabama Census.
- Robert C. Berry listed in the 1860 Fayette County, Alabama Census
- Robert C. Berry listed in the 1870 Fayette County, Alabama Census.
- Robert C. Berry listed in the 1880 Fayette County, Alabama Census..
