The BERRYs of North Georgia

The BERRYs of North Georgia

Thomas, Little, Philip, Jesse #1, Jesse #2, Elias & Martha

Covering:
Fannin, Floyd, Habersham, Lumpkin, Gilmer, Murray,
Pickens, Towns, & Union Cos., GA

Including raw data BERRY files!!!

We have unearthed several BERRYs who migrated into North GA 1820-1840:

Into Habersham Co., GA:

Jesse #1 BERRY b. 1771-1780 who arrived 1st bef 1820; won land in 1827 Lottery as a resident of Habersham Co.

Little BERRY b. 1770 VA who m. Sarah ? 1810 SC per LDS

John BERRY filed suit in 3/28/1820 Habersham Co. Don't know what happened to him.

Joseph BERRY won land in 1827 Lottery as resident of Habersham Co. as did Jesse #1 BERRY. He came from Burke Co., NC. Believe he left Habersham Co. to live on his new land.

Philip BERRY b. 1775 [actually Philip TERRY or PERRY, as supported by deed records. He's now excluded from our BERRY research]

Residents of Habersham Co., GA who won land in 1838 Land Lottery:

Little BERRY [same as above-mentioned]
George W. BERRY
Martin W. BERRY

Into Gilmer Co., GA from Macon Co., NC by 1840:

Jesse #2 BERRY b. 1776 SC; no wife on either 1840 or 1850 census, Gilmer Co.

Into Union Co., GA from Blount Co., TN by 1828:

Thomas BERRY b. 1798 Blount Co., TN

Into Union Co., GA by 1837 from possibly Habersham Co., GA:

Elias BERRY b. 1812 SC

Based on what I have gathered so far, our BERRY research back in SC probably should start with Hudson, George & William BERRY in Laurens Co., SC. Hudson was directly involved with the Estate of Lewis AKINS who died there in 1791. Lewis' grandson, John AKINS, Sr. was the progenitor of all the AKINS out of Union Co., GA. Lewis' grandson, Littleton AKINS, died in Gilmer Co., GA. Both John & Littleton were sons of Ezekiel AKINS who lived in Old Pendleton Dist., SC and died in Transylvania Co., NC....the same migration pattern from SC thru NC into North GA that so many of our ancestors took, including the CRUMLEYs that are also related to the BERRYs and the BOWERS of Union Co. GA.

Little BERRY & Sarah are in Lumpkin Co. GA by 1850. Where were they in 1840? I ordered the "Little Berry" KY land lot documents that I unearthed from ancestry.com search last year. This lot was given to a man named Little Berry SURNAME?...not Little BERRY. I shared this info with the folks that own those KY Land Records web pages and I believe they fixed this....but there's no way that I know of to correct what's at ancestry.com.

Jesse #1 b. 1771-1780 is gone after 1840 from Habersham Co....but is the Jesse A. BERRY found 1850 Lumpkin Co., GA. The 'transcribed' census info shows him being age either 73 or 53. Based on the where he was living and how the county lines changed, this more than likely this Jesse#1 above, and so age 73. He may be the same Jesse that is buried in Nimblewill Cem. I'm not sure.

Jesse #2 is in Gilmer Co., GA by 1840....some of his children are later found in Murray Co., GA. So far, we have no connection between this Jesse and the Jesse & Little BERRY out of Habersham Co. but it is believed that they are related somehow with the Burke Co., NC clans. Perhaps one is the son of Joseph BERRY and the other a son of John BERRY who were in early Habersham Co.

Thomas BERRY [1798-1879] & Cintha RUSSELL were married 1821 in Blount Co., TN and arrived in Union Co., GA area by 1829. He served as Postmaster in Union Co. in 1837. Thomas was the son of George BERRY & Elizabeth "Betsy" LOWERY of Blount Co., TN. Thomas left Union Co. GA before 1860 & he died in 1879 in Greene Co., KY. His 2nd wife was Susannah Freese JUDD. Several of his children, though, remained in the North Georgia area [i.e. Marcellus]. This family IS related to Martha BERRY, Founder of Berry College in Rome, GA...but the connection it is very distant.

NOTE: A Union Co. Heritage Book family article says that this Thomas was a brother of Elias BERRY also of Union Co. GA. This is not the case. Thomas was George & Betsy's only son out of 11 children and no one seems to believe that George & Betsy were ever in SC where Elias was born.

Martha McChensey BERRY, 1866-1942, founder of BERRY College in Rome, Floyd Co., GA, was a dtr of Thomas BERRY & Frances Margaret RHEA who were m. in Entowah Co., AL. Thomas was a s/o of James Enfield BERRY & Rebecca Crawford McCHESNEY who m. 1818 in Blount Co., TN. James' parents were Thomas BERRY & Sarah Elizabeth Martha WALKER who m. 1788 in Augusta Co., VA but moved to Blount Co., TN. Thomas d. 1805 and is buried at New Providence Cemetery w/ TN D.A.R. Grave marker in Blount Co., TN. He was a vet of the Rev. War having served as a Private from VA.

Elias BERRY was b. 1811-1812 SC and died 1885 in the Choestoe Dist., Union Co., GA. He was most likely the son of Little & Sarah BERRY as Little was the only BERRY above that was still in SC in 1811-1812. Elias married first ?? b. probably around 1836. They had two children, Hannah b. 1837 & Elizabeth b. 1838. This first wife was born 1820-1825 according to 1840 census records. This couldn't be Sarah JOHNSON as she was b. 1814.

We believe that Elias BERRY's first wife was Hannah CRUMLEY, but this is not yet proven. The Hannah BERRY that was in Lumpkin Co., GA in 1852 wrote a letter about her government pension from her father, Thomas CRUMLEY d. 1836. Hannah's mother was Ruth MORGAN-BERRY who died 1837. This Hannah stated her age in as 64...making her born abt 1788. She also mentions Elias BERRY in this letter but not what their relationship was. Some researchers have jumped to the conclusion that Elias was her husband....I believe that instead, this Hannah was married first to Little BERRY, Elias' father. We are conducting further research on the CRUMLEYs in early Habersham Co., GA at this time. Several of these CRUMLEYs also went to Union Co., GA and married Hannah BERRY & Caleb BOWERS only daughter, Sarah Rebecca BOWERS.

Elias has been found in a 1854 deed referred to once as Elisha; but all other records show him as Elias; except his tombstone says "Lish". I see frequently that Elias, Elijah, Elisha and Eli can refer to the same man. Jesse M. BERRY witnessed this deed. I don't know yet if this Jesse M. was the Jesse Martin BERRY, s/o of Jesse#1 above or else it was Elias' brother Jesse b. 1832. Both Jesses were of majority to witness deeds in 1854.

Union Co., GA Recorded Deeds show land owned 3/15/1857 by a Jesse BERRY. In 1880, a Hannah BERRY of Lumpkin Co., GA sold this same land. Hannah had to have inherited this property somehow but those Estate records are likely in Lumpkin Co. or were part of the Union Co. records that did not survive the fire. There was a Jesse BERRY who died 4/1856 & is buried at Nimblewill Cem. in Lumpkin Co. but that d.o.d. was a year before the execution date of this deed.

An E.H. BERRY of Whitfield Co., GA sells a different tract of land in 1858 in Union Co., GA. These 4 deeds have raised more questions than they have answered.

Elias BERRY married second Sarah JOHNSON [b. 1811-1814 NC] abt 1847 and they had 2 children: John Johnson BERRY b. 1848 and Thomas BERRY b. 1850. Sarah was the dtr of John J. JOHNSON who lived next door to Elias BERRY in Union Co., GA. John J. JOHNSON is buried on the hill between their two farms. Their farms were in the Wolf Creek area which is near present-day Vogel State Park.

Elias' sister, Susan Sarah, married Isaac HOOPER in 1847 Union Co. She was on the 1840 census with Elias' family.

Elias BERRY is my direct-line connection via his dtr, Hannah, who married Caleb BOWERS 1852 Union Co., GA. Hannah is buried next to and to the left of Elias at Shady Grove Cem., Union Co., GA. Next to Hannah is an unmarked grave which I believe to be her mother who died 1841-1845. To the right of Elias is Sarah Johnson BERRY his second wife. Hannah's husband, Caleb, died while in prison at Camp Douglas, IL and is buried in the Conf. Mound at Oak Woods Cem., Chicago, Cook Co., IL according to his military records. Union Co. GA court minutes shows Hannah as widow 1865-1867 with 4 children; which substaniates his military records. The fifth BOWERS child was born 1868-1869 and there is a marriage record for Hannah BOWERS m. James BALLARD 4/11/1868 Union Co., GA. However, Hannah is alone going by BOWERS again on the 1870 census Union Co., GA with 5 children.

Elias BERRY died in 1885 in Union Co., GA and his estate was probated in Union Co., GA.

Visit: Elias BERRY web page at C.A.T.'s Southern Genealogy

BERRY Raw Data Files:

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