Who was the father of John Berry Rainwater, b. July 18, 1820 in N.C.?

Question

According to a copy of a page I have from a book titled "Families", p. 1297, John Berry Rainwater was thought to be a descendant of Governor John White of the Berrys of the Lost Colony of early settlers on Roanoke Island, N.C. 1857.  He was the son of Mary Rainwater and John Berry, and it is said he took his mother's maiden name for his last name, an old English custom.  He lived in Sevierville, Tennessee in 1840, and married Mary "Polly" Gordon Keifer, who was born February 21, 1820 at Greenville, Tennessee.

He is the John B. Rainwater shown as having been born in N.C. in 1821.  I am looking for his father.

Answer 1

Again, I think you've been misled by someone about this "old English custom."  I have seen nothing to support the existence of such a custom, now or ever.

While user-submitted records that don't cite sources are hardly to be accepted as fact without further confirmation, I have such a record at Family Search that says his father was James Rainwater and his wife was born Mary Kifer.

I think you're chasing after something that doesn't exist.