John Paul Berry (1765 - abt. 1835)

Born 1765 in White Hall, Albemarle, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Edith Ann (Polk) Berry — married 27 Apr 1787 in Brunswick, Brunswick County, Virginia, USA

Descendants

Died about 1835 at about age 70 in Simpson, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

The Berry family came to America in the 1600's, and settled in Virginia. Some of them settled at Whitehall, Virginia; were prominent citizens there, and established the first Episcopal Church there. John Berry lived in or near Richmond, Virginia.

The three brothers were married and lived in South Carolina before they migrated to Mississippi.

1. German Berry married Susanah Bailes.
2. John married a Miss Polk (not sure of her name) of Greenville, South Carolina.
3. David Berry married Rebecca Vines who lived near Camden, Kershaw Co South Carolina.

The three brothers and their families were living in Salem District, Oconee Co South Carolina, when they moved to Mississippi. It is not known when they moved, but they were in South Carolina as late as 1810, and were in Mississippi in 1819 when Charity Berry, daughter of German and Susanah Bailes Berry, married on July 29, 1819 in Wayne Co Mississippi to Willis Walker.

In route to Mississippi, David Berry, and perhaps his two brothers, lived for about one year in Erie, Green Co Alabama, at that time a thriving river port town on the Black Warrior River (Eutaw is the county seat). Now Erie is in ruins, only a few chimneys and walls remain of the once prosperous town. David Berry farmed here for about one year.

German Berry died in Simpson Co Mississippi on April 25, 1834. John Berry, his brother, died in Simpson Co Mississippi about 1834-35. David Berry, the other brother, lived in Simpson Co for several years, but moved to Rankin Co Mississippi about 1832, and died in 1833. He is buried in the Berry-Sutton burial ground, near Florence, Rankin Co Mississippi. His wife, Rebecca Vines Berry died in 1859 and is buried in the same cemetery in Rankin Co Mississippi.

The three sons and a daughter of John Berry made an impact on Simpson Co Mississippi.

John Berry Sr. lived in Anson Co North Carolina and then, Chesterfield Co South Carolina. At that time, Chesterfield Co South Carolina was in Anson Co North Carolina before the state line was drawn. Therefore, our distant kin probably never moved off his farm; the lines just change around him.^[1]

Name: JOHN BERRY Jr. ^[2]

Born ABT 1765. Whitehall, Albemarle Co., VA. ^[3]

Died 1833 Simpson Co., MS. ^[3]

Marriage Marriage 28 APR 1787. Brunswick, Brunswick Co., VA.

Notes

Contributed by Bobby Gilliam and Ann McNair Westville News / May 03, 1900

"REMINISCENCES OF SIMPSON COUNTY - Historical Events that Happened Years Ago" Written by the late Hon T. L. Mendenhall in 1889.

Part of the article reads as follows:

In 1820, John Berry, the grand and great grandfather of the present generation of that name, moved from Marion county and settled on Silver creek between where A.G. and A.W. Berry now live. The line dividing this county from Lawrence ran through his dwelling. He there succeeded in completing the raising of a large family, all of whom have since died except R.T. Berry, now a resident of Lawrence county. One of his neighbors, Isaac Myers, resided in the last named county, owned land in this county, though he resided south of the line where Wm. Brinson now lives. Emigrating from Tennessee about 1818, he came down the Mississippi river in a flat boat and landed at Natchez. He then had a wife and one son, and brought with him all his worldly effects; and he either brought with him, or procured at Natchez, a horse and cart, his only means of transporting his family, goods and chattels. Thus equipped and prepared, he set out on what was then called the Natchez and St. Stephens road, which was a very dim highway, having been traveled but very little, and was principally followed by noticing the blazes on the trees. The country being so sparsely settled there were no hands to open roads or build bridges; consequently, he had considerable difficulty in crossing some of the streams but being a stout, robust and athletic man, with an iron will and considerable experience in the use of tools, he deviated from the blazed pathway, and like Noah's dove in search of land whereon to set his foot where he would be "monarch of all he surveyed," he settled on the above described lands and set about building a house. When he landed there his exchequer was reduced to one silver dollar, which been seen by the writer since the Confederate war, and it had a very ancient appearance, as it was worn almost smooth and the dates and impressions were entirely obliterated. The skill that Myers had exhibited in the construction of his house of the rough hewn material, attracted the attention of other emigrants who were less qualified for that kind of work, and for a considerable time after he had located his family, he was almost constantly employed in assisting others in building, frequently several miles from his home; this enabled him to purchase a few head of cattle and hogs, from which he continued to raise stock without any attention on his part except to mark and brand, as they were looked after and kept from going wild by his estimable and industrious wife; and in a few years time he had quite a number of beef cattle to dispose of which was an annual source of income; and when it had increased sufficiently he commenced purchasing slaves, land, etc. He resided on this place and continued to increase his property until the winter of 1851. He then removed to Rankin county and settled between Richland and Tumbalo creeks four miles south of Brandon, where he died when somewhere above 80 years of age. Prior to his death, he had accumulated about 100 slaves, a large tract of land and a considerable quantity of other property. His only son now resides in Covington county. He had only two daughters one the mother of B. F. Berry and others; the other, the mother of A.J. Ragland and others.

Note: Mendenhall states "his only son", he surely meant to say his only living son at the time he wrote the article. ----- The mother of B.F. Berry was Elizabeth Myers.

The only resource I have for the names of these children are from other researchers, who give no source for their findings. My ambition is to go forward with the names.

The family came to Simpson County, Mississippi in 1828 and settled on Silver Creek. Their home sat on the county line which divides Simpson County and Lawrence County on Section 10, Township 9N, Range 19W, close to Old Hebron, Mississippi.

Sources

1. ↑ Berry Family Genealogy added 2013 Dec 06 by Michelle
2. ↑ http://barlowgenealogy.com/MsKinfolk/Berry/index.html
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 10 February 2021), memorial page for John Jackson Berry Sr. (10 Jun 1765–11 Nov 1831), Find A Grave: Memorial #32946799, citing Airy Knoll Cemetery, Newport, Augusta County, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by LoRetta Hughes (contributor 46865226) .

• AFN 57M2-PHL

• Berry Family Genealogy - South Carolina ~ Alabama ~ Mississippi ~ Louisiana ~ Texas; sources and links provided on the web site.

Trees

• http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=15043181&pid=1424795167

Footnotes

• Source: S197 Susan BARLOW Holmes Barlow Genealogy Publication: Location: BarlowGenealogy.Com [defunct]; Date: 1998-2007; NOTESource Medium: Internet Source Quality: Good A portion of this lineage comes from the book, "Wilkes Family History and Genealogy", by Ivan Ernest Bass, 1965, whom I have been told is very well researched and very reliable, having been used by many family members as a key source for entry into the DAR. The book has many more interesting facts, such as their education, occupations and places of residence. . Susan Barlow Holmes' Grandfather is Monroe Franklin Berry, whose mother was Mary Jane Barlow Berry. http://www.barlowgenealogy.com/MsKinfolk/Berry/index.html http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~barlow/DescendantsofJohnBerry1.html

• Source: S213 Laura Buckmaster, Buckmaster, Holmes, Lanier & Thurber Family Tree Publication: Name: Feb 2004; NOTESource Medium: Internet

• Source: S245 FindaGrave.com

• Source: S255 LDS Church Member LDS Individual Record Publication: Location: FamilySearch.com; NOTESource Medium: Church Record Source Quality: Questionable Family group record submitted by a member of the LDS Church. The record includes the submitter's name and address and names and relationships of family members. The address may be outdated. Some information is estimated. To find the record on the film, you must know the batch and sheet number.