Thomas Berry Jr. (bef. 1750 - abt. 1812)

Born before 1750 in Augusta, Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 21 May 1812 after about age 62 in Washington County, Virginia

Biography

Thomas Berry was born in 1742 in Augusta County, Virginia, the second of thirteen children and the second of six sons of Thomas and Mary Buchanan Berry.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/185424758/thomas-berry

Thomas married twice. His first wife is believed to have been named Mary.

On 14 Sep 1807 Thomas Berry married his second, wife Prudence Dickinson in Washington, Virginia, United States. ^[1]

In his will written 25 April 1812 in Washington County Thomas Berry names: Wife, Prudence Son, Thomas Son, James Son, George Son, James Son Bazil Granddaughter, PollyBerry, daughter of son William (deceased) Granddaughter, Betsey Berry, daughter of son William (deceased) children of Son William, deceased Son Robert

Will

Thomas wrote his will on 25 April 1812 in Washington County:

"I Thomas Berry of the County of Washington in the State of Virginia sick and infirm in body but of sound mind disposing memory do make this my last will and testament in the following manner.

I direct that all my just debts and funeral expenses be paid out of my estate by my executors. I give to my beloved wife, Prudence all the property which be in my possession at my decease which was hers at the time of my marriage with her. I also give and bequeath to my said wife her choices of one cow and three sheep out of my stock. I also give to my said wife my female slave Chriss during her life or widowhood, and after the decease or marriage my said wife, the said slave shall be sold on a credit of eighteen months and the money arising therefore shall be equally divided between my sons Thomas, James, John, George & Bazil.

I also give to my said wife the sum of three hundred and thirty three dollars 33 1/3 cents which shall be paid to her out of the first money collected out of the sale of my estate. I direct that my bay horse Charley be sold by my co-executors on a credit of twelve months & that the amount of his prices when collected shall be paid to my said wife Prudence. I also give to my said wife one hundred bushels of corn, twenty bushels of wheat and four barrows out of my stock of hogs. I hereby order and direct that all the lands which I may own and possess at my decease in the State of Tennessee shall be sold under the direction of my son James at public or private sales either in large or small grants as may in his discretion best suit purchasers on such credit as he may think will be most beneficial and he is hereby authorized to convey the land thus sold to the purchasers thereof.

I give & bequeath a mare which was taken by my former wife to Tennessee and now in possession of my son James, to my Grand daughters Polly and Betsey Berry, two of the daughters of William Berry my son. I give and bequeath the sum of Thirty three dollars and 33/3 cents to each one of the children of my son William Berry which he had by his first and second marriages, there being ten of them in numbers.

I hereby direct that all my personal estate and the and the remaining part of my slaves shall be sold by my executors to Publick sale on a credit of Eighteen months. After the payment of my death and the following legacies I hereby order that all the residue of my estate of whatever kind it may be shall be equally divided between my sons Thomas, James, John, George & Bazil.

Having made all the provision which I intended for my sons David and Robert I hereby give each of them the sum of one dollar only. My last request to my son David is that he may treat my said wife Prudence with innocent kindness and good will & permit her to dwell in my mansion house or some other house which may be convenient for her on the plantation where I now dwell.

I hereby appoint my friends Andrew Russell and David Campbell executors of this my last will and testament and revoke all former wills made by me, declaring this only to be my last will and testament.

Witness my hand and seal this twenty fifth day of April one thousand eight hundred and twelve.

(The words "Thomas" interlined on the first page in the 12th line from the top before signing.) signed sealed published and pronounced by the said Thomas Berry as his last Will & Testament

Thomas Berry (seal)

James Reed"^[2]

Research Notes

Thomas migrated to Augusta (present-day Rockbridge) County, Virginia, and then in 1769 he moved to present-day Washington County, Virginia. A survey made on 10 August 1781 in Washington County \, [page 180] shows "Surveyed for Thomas Berry Jun.r ..... Three hundred and Seventy four acres of land in Washington County..........by a settlement made in the year 1769 on the fifteen Mile creek the place where the sd. Berry now lives"

"Thomas Berry Jr., who had a survey for 374 acres on Fifteen Mile Creek, can be shown in Washington Co, VA court documents and tax records from 1769 through 1799 often cited as "Thomas Berry Jr" to distinguish him from Thomas Sr. The most significant document to distinguish this Thomas Berry Jr. from BERRY/WALKER is a 1799, Washington Co, VA Deed. [It's important to reiterate that Thomas Berry Sr's Will was produced in court for probate on 20 August 1799.] On the same exact date, Thomas Berry, [now shown as Senior] and his wife, Mary, sell 20 acres of their Fifteen Mile Creek tract to James Wilson. [Washington Co, VA Deed Book 2, page 208, court photocopy in my possession]. It is NOT a coincidence, that Thomas Berry Junior becomes Thomas Berry Senior on the same day his father's Will is filed for probate. The 20 acres sold to James Wilson can be demonstrated to come out of Thomas Berry Jr's original 374 survey by following the 'metes & bounds' of the original documents. Thomas Berry Jr's wife name in this 1799 Deed is "Mary" and she can be found on primary source documents until at least 1804. She died in that year, or certainly before 14 Sept 1807, when Thomas Berry married Prudence Dickenson. ["Marriages of Washington Co, Virginia 1785-1850" compiled by D. E. Brown, WA Co, Historical Society, 1993] My conclusion is that the son of Thomas Berry Senior, the 'logical' Thomas Berry Junior, was the man who died in Washington County, Virginia, between 25 April and 21 May 1812, with a widow named Prudence.

"Two additional Washington County, Virginia Survey records are recorded in the name of "Thomas Berry Junior". The first one is on Page 171 of Washington County Surveys and is dated 20 August 1781. This survey is for 400 acres of land on a 'branch of the Middle Fork of Holstein River' with lines in common to James Berry & Robert Houston. The second survey for "Thomas Berry Junior" is on page 179 of Washington County Surveys and is also on "Middle Fork of Holstein and on the South end of his Settlement". In other words, these two properties abut each other and belong to the same man. Significantly, the first survey identifies Thomas Berry Junior as the "Legatee of William Berry, dec'd.^[3]

This William Berry was ALSO a son of Thomas Berry, Senior. Thomas Berry, Jr, "Legatee of William Berry" can be demonstrated to remain in Washington Co, VA at least through 1820 and to have been married to a woman named Jane. [See Washington Co, VA Deed Book A, p 379,

27 Mar 1802, Thomas Berry Jr/Jane, his wife and transcription posted at: ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/washington/deeds/b6000010.txt] It is easy to see that 'this' other Thomas Berry Jr., "Legatee to William Berry" was not the man who married Elizabeth Walker.

"I have made the effort to find the documents cited by William F. Boogher [here, WFB] for Thomas Berry and Elizabeth Walker. My analysis of the Military Record and other documents, cited by WFB, for the Thomas Berry who did marry Elizabeth Walker follows and demonstrates that WFB failed to take into account multiple men named Thomas Berry and mistakenly attributed numerous records for several different Thomas Berrys living in Washington Co, VA at the same time as BERRY/WALKER."

On 1 August 1776 Thomas served as a private in forces raised for an expedition against the Cherokee Indians under the command of Col. William Christian.^[4]

The following spring, on 29 April 1777 the Washington county court ordered the recording of a Mark for Thomas's Cattle and Hogs, which was "a Crop off the left ear and a crop & slit in the right."^[5]

A month later, on 31 May 1777, he appraised the estate of one Michael Montgomery^[6][7]

We know no more about him until 21 August 1804 when he sold 159 acres to John Berry in Washington County:

Washington County, Virginia Deed Book 3, pages 171, 172

THIS INDENTURE made this twenty first day of August in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and four between Thomas Berry of the County of Washington in the State of Virginia of the one part and John Berry of the County aforesaid of the the other part WITNESSETH that the said Thomas Berry for and in consideration of the sum of two hundred and fity pounds current money to him in hand paid DO bargain and sell to the said John Berry and his heirs one certain tract or parcel of land containing one hundred and fity nine acres^[8]

1. ↑ "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRW9-5X5 : 29 January 2020), Thomas Berry, 1807.
2. ↑ "Thomas Berry, Jr.," Wills and Estate Records,"Washington County, USGenWeb Archives URL: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/washington/wills/b6000003.txt. Accessed 21 June 2017 by Patricia Prickett Hickin.
3. ↑ [Transcription of William Berry's Will posted on VAGenWeb, Washington County Archives at http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/washington/wills/b6000005.txt
4. ↑ ackson, Jim, and Carol Vass, Marie Loughlin, and Donna Fischer, Genealogy of the Berry and Associated Families of Augusta, Rockbridge, and Washington Counties of Virginia URL: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~berry/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~berry/new upload/pages/A2-1c.htm citing Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia.
5. ↑ Gordon Aronhime Papers. Southwest Virginia Card File. Library of Virginia -- Archives and Manuscripts., card#96 for T Berry Sr but has this info re TB Jr.
6. ↑ Gordon Aronhime Papers. Southwest Virginia Card File. Library of Virginia -- Archives and Manuscripts. Page: card #96 Berry, Thos Sr but has this info re TB Jr. on it.
7. ↑ Carol Vass, "McChesney comments," Email attachment, 12 Sep 2012.
8. ↑ ackson, Jim, and Carol Vass, Marie Loughlin, and Donna Fischer, Genealogy of the Berry and Associated Families of Augusta, Rockbridge, and Washington Counties of Virginia URL: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~berry/ Page: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~berry/new upload/pages/A2-1c.htm citing Washington County, Virginia Deed Book 3, pages 171, 172

Sources