INFORMATION NOT VARIFIED BY CURRENT MANAGER OF THIS MEMORIAL

John Berry has been proven through DNA testing to come from ole Henry Berry1 of Dogue VA d 1677Old Rappahannock Co Va

called the 'Berry Plain Berry's', his wife is unknown.
Henry Berry had at least 4 kids: HenryII; William; John; Richard.

Henry BerryII died 1697 Richmond Co Va and left at least one child HenryIII.

Henry BerryIII died 1749 King George Co Va and had 10 kids in his will: Joel; HenryIV; Benjamin; William; George; Enoch; Ann; Mary; Elizabeth; Sarah.

William, son of Henry BerryI, died 1721 King George Co Va married Margaret Doughty. William named 4 kids in his will: Joseph married Catherine Simcock; Enoch married Dulcebella Bunberry; Margaret Berry Rogers; Elizabeth Berry Strother.

Descendants of this line found Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

John's parents were William Berry 1750-1819, Clarissa Feagen 1754 who ended up Indiana and became friends with the Smeathers family.
Henry Berry1 1626-1677
Henry Berry2 1652-1697
Henry Berry3 1694-1749
Enoch Berry 1725-1818
William Berry 1750-1819 +Clarissa Feagen
John Berry 1786-1866
John Berry Jr 1836-1921
Jesse Noble Berry 1887-1957
Aubrey Thomas Berry 1914-1991
JT Berry (ID #21)** verified ** 1945-our proxy

John Berry, pioneer colonist, gunsmith, and blacksmith, was born in Louisville, Ky. He fought in the War of 1812. He moved from Christian Settlement, Ill., to Blue Spring, Ind., in 1816. Berry had three sons by his first wife, Betsy Smeathers, daughter of Capt William Smeathers, whom he married about 1810 and she died in Illinois; John had 3 daughters by 2nd wife Gracie Treat, married July 13 1819 Ill; and 12 children by 3rd wife Hannah Devore, married Liberty Texas May 8, 1831. 1826 he moved his family to the Atascosito District on the lower Trinity River Texas. Mexico awarded him a lot in Liberty when it organized the municipality May 1831. As a gunsmith, blacksmith, knifesmith, and furniture builder Berry qualified for the lot as an artisan. BY 1834 he moved to Mina, later called Bastrop, where Mexico awarded him 2 town lots and a 12acre farm lot as an artisan.

David Crockett, traveling on the Old San Antonio Road toward the Alamo, stopped at Mina while Berry repaired Crockett's famous rifle, Old Betsey.

Berry's three sons by his first wife Betsy were John Bate, Andrew Jackson, and Joseph Berry. All three were Texas Rangers before and after the Texas Revolution, served in the Army of the Republic of Texas, and fought in the battle of Plum Creek.

Berry, his 3rd wife Hannah, and their small children took refuge at Ft Parker during the revolution, and upon returning to Bastrop found their home burned to the ground. 1840 the family moved to the settlement later became Caldwell in Burleson County, where they lived for the next 10 years.

The Texas Congress named Caldwell as the county seat in 1840, but the county was not organized until 1846. The Berry family was living there at the time.

Berry applied to be a Robertson colonist Nov 6 1835 but did not settle on his league of land, located about 3 miles northeast of Georgetown, until the winter of 1846.
He built a spring-driven gristmill, later called Gann's Mill, on Berry Creek.

1848 he served as a commissioner, named by the Texas legislature, to organize Williamson County. For the fourth time, he was living in a Texas county seat when the county was organized.

Berry was a member of the Church of Christ; his third wife, Hannah, was a faithful Baptist. Their home at Berry Creek was regularly used for Baptist services.

John was a friend to the Native Americans living the area and took in a young boy child whom he later raised and buried near him. John rode a big white horse and the NA thought of him as a Great Warrior.
LC Magby #53121665

Five of Berry's sons and three of his sons-in-law served in the Confederate Army.

His most distinguished direct descendant was his great-grandson Audie Murphy, descendent of his 2nd son John Bate Berry by his lst wife Betsy Smeathers.

On the grounds of the Williamson County Courthouse, the buhrstone from the Berry Mill is preserved beneath a state historical marker placed for Berry, whose descendants meet annually to commemorate the Berry family's service to Texas.

John Berry died sadly Dec 24 1866 and buried in a small family cemetery on the Berry Farm. His grave is marked by a plaque placed by the Daughters of the War of 1812.