In my wanderings through land surveys for early Montgomery County to learn more about the Williams family, I came across Enoch Berry, a neighbor of Isham Williams. There were not many Berry’s in Montgomery County that I could find, they either came and went between Census years and were never documented or Enoch was the only one. Enoch looks to have arrived in Montgomery County around 1797, after the end of the Revolutionary War. I do not know where he hailed from but there were Berry’s in surrounding counties so it may be that Enoch descends from one of those lines. Once in Montgomery County, Enoch settled on Clark’s Creek and remained there until he died sometime between 1800 and 1810. There is no Revolutionary War record identified for him. He had only the one land grant that I could find.
Even though Enoch Berry lived a quiet life I can’t help but wonder if he influenced the naming of children in later generations. There are more than just a few in Montgomery County who ended up with the name Berry as a first or middle name, including Berry Morris, the son of John Jacky and Amelia Morris, my third great grandparents. Was there some relation to the Berry family? Could Amelia’s maiden name be Berry? Or was Berry just a popular name for children at the time? To add to the mystery, John Jacky and Amelia Morris named a daughter Temperance.
Enoch’s granddaughter, Temperance Berry, remained on his land on Clarks Creek at least until the late 1830s and left quite the story, so it is here, at Uwharrie Roots, that Enoch’s tale will be told.
On 3 Feb 1797, John Crump, Entry Taker for the county of Montgomery, recorded Enoch’s entry as a tract of land containing one hundred and fifty acres on the waters of Clarks Creek Northeast side of the Pee Dee River beginning at a hickory, a corner of James Denton's.
On 9 Apr 1807, James Chappell, surveyor for the county of Montgomery, surveyed Enoch’s land as one hundred and fifty acres on the waters of Clarks Creek beginning at a pine in Ussery's line and runs to a pine and hickory James Denton's corner. James Mills and Wily Johnson were chain carriers.
James Denton, mentioned as a neighbor in the land survey for Enoch Berry, had his own land survey dated 19 Oct 1793 for one hundred and fifty acres on the drains of James's Branch, Isham Williams line, including the camp pond. Isham Williams and John Ballard were chain carriers.
On 22 Dec 1780, Isham Williams, mentioned as a neighbor to James Denton on his survey, entered his land grant with Benjamin Baird, the entry taker for Montgomery County, 150 acres on Jim’s Branch, a drain of Clarks Creek, joining David Dumas’s line.
Isham Williams’ survey was done on 13 May 1782 for one hundred fifty acres on the Northeast side of the Yadkin River on Jim’s Branch, a drain of Clark’s Creek, joining David Dumas and beginning at Sias Billingsley’s corner pine
So, through land grants and survey’s we can establish that Enoch Berry, James Denton, Isham Williams, and David Dumas were neighbors who all settled on Clark’s Creek about the same time, and while it is true that Amanda Williams, granddaughter of Isham Williams through his son Archibald, married into the neighboring Dumas family, I can find no further connection between Enoch Berry and Isham Williams, although one may exist, and the paper trail has not yet been identified.
For more information on Isham Williams Click here
The 1790 Census shows Enoch Berry residing in Montgomery County, North Carolina but the vigilant Census taker (or a later transcriber) messed up the record by alphabetizing the surnames so now no one knows who a neighbor was to whom. We can tell from this Census that Enoch is over the age of 16, he has one female, presumably his wife, living with him, and one enslaved person.
The 1800 Census shows Enoch at an advanced age for the time, over 45 years old, making him born before 1755 and around the same age as Isham Williams. On this Census, Enoch is shown with 4 females under the age of 10 in his home, all born between 1790 and 1800. Also, in the home in 1800, but not there in 1790, is one female, 26 thru 44, maybe the mother of the 4 young females, and Enoch’s daughter, or daughter-in-law. Enoch’s wife is showing about the same age as him, born before 1755.
Enoch Berry probably died between the 1800 and 1810 Census years. He is not found on the 1810 Census.
The 1810 Census for Capt. Williams, Montgomery, North Carolina, does show G. Berry, born about 1775, living among the Isham Williams clan. I have not been able to prove who G. Berry is, but some researchers think it may be a man by the name of Green Berry who migrated to Georgia while others show him as George Berry who migrated to Texas. He is not found on the 1830 Census for Montgomery. No land grants have been identified for him either.
Of interest, and a side note, Missouri Williams, daughter of Mastin C. Williams and Jane Hearne, married William Galloway whose mother was Rebecca Seagraves.
Interestingly, in 1830, there is a Thomas Berry, age 50-60 residing on the Stanly side of the river. Does he relate to Enoch Berry on the Montgomery side of the river?
In Mar 1835, Sias Billingsley sold to Thomas Scarbrough a tract of land on Clarks Creek that joined said Scarbrough’s “Berry Tract of Land.” How and when did Thomas Scarbrough obtain the Berry tract of land? Was it when Enoch Berry died, and his land (except Dower rights) was sold?
In Sep 1837, Daniel Freeman sold to Thomas Scarbrough a tract of land on Clark’s Creek that joined Enoch Berry’s line.
On 7 Nov 1838, Eben Hearne, Sheriff of Montgomery County, published a Notice in The Weekly Standard, a Newspaper in Raleigh, North Carolina, that he shall proceed to sell, according to law, at the Court House in Lawrenceville on the 3rd day of December next, tracts of land or so much thereof as will satisfy the taxes, cost, and charges thereon, for years 1836 and 1837, unless paid.
Tempy Berry, 150 acres, Clarks Creek, 70 cents
The 1840 Census documents Mary Berry, age 40-50, making her born about 1795, as head of household with two other females, ages 30-40, born about 1800, and the other female age 40-50, born about 1795.
Is it possible that these are three of the four sisters who were found on the 1800 Census with Enoch Berry?
The 1840 Census also shows John A. Berry, age 30 thru 39, born about 1805. Where has he been all this time? Is he part of the Thomas Berry family living on the other side of the river? Living with John is a female age 90 thru 99, old enough to be the Widow Berry, but I doubt that based on future records of him that bring him and Enoch Berry’s great granddaughter together in marriage – I’ll talk more about that later, so, keep reading. On the other hand, he is showing as married so this elderly female could be his mother-in-law, but I doubt that to.
John A. Berry first married Lilly Ann Scarbrough, the daughter of William “Melba” Scarbrough and wife Lucretia who was born about 1778 and not making her old enough to be the elderly female listed on the 1840 Census with John A. Berry.
Who this elderly woman remains a mystery for now. She is definitely from a prior generation, a grandmother, or even a great grandmother of the Berry or Scarbrough family.
In 1850 we finally get more information about family members – the names of all those living in a household. In the household of Polly (Mary) Berry, age 56 (born about 1794/5), is Temperance, age 46, born about 1804, and probably the same woman who is mentioned in the 1838 Newspaper article when her land was to be sold for taxes, and Sarah A., age 6, born about 1844.
The 1850 Census shows John A. Berry with wife, Lilly A., and 15-year-old Frances J. Scarbrough, who may be the child of Lilly Scarbrough Berry, but is not the child of John A Berry.
I discovered that Frances Jane Scarbrough married John Chares Teal on 1 Apr 1855. John is the son of Joseph and Macy Teal from Anson County, North Carolina.
On 29 Jul 1861 was published in the Newspaper Fayetteville Semi-Weekly Observer the death of John C. Teal at Garysburg, Northampton, North Carolina. John had enlisted in the Civil War in Company C, Regiment 23rd Infantry on 27 May 1861. His Muster Out Date was 20 Jul 1861 at Garysburg, North Carolina. He died the same day. The Newspaper notes he has four children, but I can only account for three.
The 1870 Census shows that Jane Scarbrough Teal is back home with her mother Lilly Ann Scarbrough Berry and stepfather, John ‘Jack’ Berry. She and her children are mistakenly noted as Berry, rather than Teal.
Mary Ann ‘Annie’ Teal married Thomas Gardner in 1881. Her sister, Laura Jane Teal married Alfred Warner in 1877 and brother Julius ‘John’ Teal married Virginia Gay in 1889.
Lilly Ann Scarbrough Berry died before 1877. Most family trees suggest she died in 1874.
Mary Polly Berry and Temperance Berry are not found on the 1860 or 1870 Census, and it is assumed that they died between 1850 and 1860 … except Temperance did not as we will later see.
In 1860, in the home of D. D. Berry, county surveyor, is found 16-year-old Sallie Berry, born about 1844. Also found in this home is Benj. Scarbrough and Frank Scarbrough, relatives of Lilly Ann Scarbrough who had married John A. Berry. I have not been able to figure out why Sallie is listed here. Perhaps she worked as a domestic servant for the DeBerry or Scarbrough family.
I am not able to find Sarah “Sallie” A Berry in the 1870 Census but did find that she married in Jan 1877 to none other than John A. Berry who is now the widower of Lilly Ann Scarbrough. Did Benj. Scarbrough or Frank Scarbrough, who are related to Lilly Ann Scarbrough Berry, introduce Sarah A. “Sallie” Berry to John “Jack” Berry? How, or if, John Berry and Sarah Berry are related, I do not know.
The marriage license was a great find. It shows that Sarah A. “Sallie” Berry is the daughter of an unknown father and Tempy Berry. It also shows that Tempy Berry is alive in Jan 1877.
Unfortunately, John A. Berry did not list his parents’ names.
The 1880 Census shows John “Jackson” Berry, age 75, and wife Sarah, age 36, and daughters Lena, age 8, and Annie, age 2. It is obvious that Lena, being born in 1872, six years prior to the marriage of John and Sarah, is not the child of John Berry and Lilly Ann Scarbrough, his first wife. Lilly Ann would have been 66 years old when Lena was born, too old to have a child. Lena must be Sarah’s daughter by an unknown man.
John A. Berry died in May 1882 intestate. His 45-page estate can be found at FamilySearch. In Sep 1882, Sarah A. Berry asked that letters of Administration be granted to J. M. Robinson.
Further in the file, we find that John and Sarah Berry had two children, Sarah Ann Hannah Berry, noted as age 4 years in 1882, and Della Marshall Berry, noted as age 2 years in 1882. Frances Jane Scarbrough Teal is not noted as an heir at law.
The fact that Sarah A. Berry named a daughter Della Marshall Berry, may be a clue that she is somehow related to a Marshall family in the area. More research is required here.
On 28 Oct 1883 Sarah Berry remarried to James Wesley Hartsell, a widower, age 59, son of Jacob and Lucinda Hartsell of Stanly County, North Carolina. The couple were married in Pee Dee Township, at the home of Sallie A. Berry by Justice of the Peace, C. W. Wooley. Witnesses were C. M. Overton, John McInnis (he also was a witness at Sallie’s first marriage to John A. Berry), and J. M. Lilly all of Montgomery County.
James Wesley Hartsell was first married to Penelope "Nellie" Eleanor Whitley. They settled on the Stanly side of the river and lived in Smiths Township in 1850 but had moved to Big Lick by 1870. They had children, Ephraim, Jacob, James, Pearson, Jonas, Doctor Jackson, and Eli. Between 1870 and 1880, James and Nellie moved to Mount Gilead on the Montgomery side of the river, where they are found on the 1880 Census. Nellie died sometime between 1880 and 1883.
James Wesley Hartsell descends from the Leonard Hartsell / Esther Leipp line from old Mecklenburg / Cabarrus County. Of particular interest to me is that C. M. Overton signed as a witness to James's marriage to Sarah “Sallie” Berry. Since the wedding was held at the home of Sarah Berry, a personal place, and not at the courthouse where any passerby could be a witness; no, these witnesses were invited guests, most likely family members. I think C. M. Overton was invited by James Hartsell because he/she was a family member.
While I am not sure who C. M. Overton is yet, this connection provides me more clues to add to my Tucker research.
Let me explain because this is a great example of how to use the research tool called F.A.N. – Family, Associates, & Neighbors - as part of your genealogical research and the very reason that we must build our trees out as much as we can, picking all the “low fruit,” those easy-to-find relationships, allows us to eventually find the “higher fruit,” those hard-to-find relationships that are usually brick walls.
James Wesley Hartsell's first cousin one times removed is Daniel Hartsell (m. Margaret Tucker), whose father is Leonard Hartsell (m. Barbara Sides). Daniel and Jacob (James Wesley’s father) are first cousins, their father’s, Leonard, and John, being brothers.
Daniel Hartsell married Margaret Tucker in Cabarrus County in 1824, but the couple settled down in what is now Furr's Township, Stanly County. They attended Flat Rock Lutheran Church with James and Milly Hartsell Tucker, as well as Jacob Tucker, the son of George and Maria Dorothea Tucker. Daniel Hartsell signed as bondsman for the marriage of Sarah Amelia "Milly" Hartsell, probably his sister, and James Tucker, probably the son of Jacob Tucker, in 1827, Cabarrus County.
James and Milly Tucker migrated to the Eldorado area of Montgomery County between Jun and Oct 1840. They are found on the 1840 Census on both the east side of the Pee Dee River (in Jun 1840) and again on the west side of the Pee Dee River (in Oct 1840). Mary Tucker, a daughter of James and Milly Hartsell Tucker, married John C. Overton, who is no doubt related to C. M. Overton who signed as a witness to the marriage of James Wesley Hartsell and Sarah Berry.
Yet another great genealogical find, in this marriage license we learn that Sarah Berry is the daughter of William Mask and Temperance Berry, both parents listed as dead, so Tempy Berry died between 1877, when Sarah married John A. Berry and 1883 when she married James Hartsell. We also learn that Sarah has moved from Mount Gilead to the Pee Dee area of Montgomery County.
More research required to find out who this William Mask is.
The 1900 Census, what we can see of it, shows J. W. and Sarah Hartsell with one child, Rosella, age 15, living in Mount Gilead.
1910 finds Sarah ‘Sallie’ widowed again. Living with her is her daughter Sarah Ann Hannah "Annie" Berry Wade, from her first marriage to John A. Berry, and her grandchildren. ‘Annie’ married John Edwin ‘Johnny’ Wade, son of Pleasant and Lucy Frasier Wade, in 1897 and they had Claude (1900), Lyle Berry (1902), Jacob (1903), Roy (1905), Gladys (1907), and Johnsie (1909).
Notice that Sarah ‘Sallie’ has had 4 children with only 2 now living. I do not know for sure which of the other children lived and died. I can find no information on Lena Berry, who was shown on the 1880 Census or Della Marshall Berry who is listed in the 1882 estate file of John A. Berry.
Rosella Hartsell may have married in Stanly County, but I have not been able to prove or disprove this is the right Rosella so I will refrain from posting anything here.
It is my belief right now that Lena and Della are the children who died.
Sarah A ‘Sallie’ Berry Berry Hartsell, the great granddaughter of Enoch Berry, died on 9 Mar 1922 of Bright's disease, a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. She is buried at Sharon Cemetery Mount Gilead, Montgomery County, North Carolina.
Her daughter, Sarah Ann Hannah "Annie" Berry Wade died in 1957 and is buried at Guilford Memorial Park in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Interesting!
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