MEMBER OF THE ROBERT AND ELIZABETH CATE BERRY FAMILY
SEPTEMBER, 19 2007
WILLIAM BERRY was probably born about 1775 and was one of the younger boys in the Robert Berry's family. In 1780 Patrick Rutherford was granted a North Carolina Land Grant for 247 acres. This Property was south of Robert Berry's 1757 Land Grant. William Berry was about 5 years old then and would have known all three of Patrick Rutherford's sons. Patrick Rutherford died in 1887 and his three sons sold their fathers property to Robert Berry. William was about 12 years old at the time. I mention this because later in the 1830 Blount County Alabama Census there was a William Berry living two farms away from Thomas Rutherford. The two men were approximately the same age. Not much more is currently known about what happened to William after 1808. We do know that he married Hannah Cate daughter of William and Elizabeth Cate on August 12th 1799. VIEW MARRIAGE BONDD In the 1800 Orange County Census William and Hannah listed one son under 10 years old. Most likely their first son was only a few months old. On June the 1st 1808 a second son was born to William and Hannah. They named this son Thomas Person Berry. There was a very popular General who lived in the area by the name of General Thomas Person. I do not know if Hannah named their second son after the General because she knew him or if they were somehow was related to him. I may only be hero worship. This was frequently done in those early days. We do know that there may be two possibilities for William to be missing in the 1810 census. Several of the men in the community may have gone to Tennessee or Georgia to claim some land that was being vacated by the Indians and granted to settlers by the United States Government. It is commonly believed by descendants that Indians killed Thomas Berry, William's brother while searching for land. William and Thomas married sisters. We do know by his fathers will that Thomas was deceased by 1812. All of these facts seem to support the theory that Hannah Cate Berry and her sister Sarah Cate Berry were living together with their 4 sons and Sarah's Daughter Eleanor in 1810. The Children were all under 10 years old and the two women were listed in the 26 to 45 bracket. The other possibility is that the two brothers were involved in the war of 1812 but I think this is doubtful. We also know by Robert Berry's will that William was not deceased. I think William left his wife and did go in search of land. I also think he remarried and was in Blount County Alabama in 1830 and 1840. He may have been in Mississippi in the 1850 census. We may be able to find a male descendant of William and if we ever do he could take a DNA test that will prove we are right about Williams movements after he left Orange County N.C. There were a great many Berry heads of household in Fayette County Alabama in the 1830 and 1840 census. It is a known fact that some of them are related to Robert Berry of Orange County North Carolina. I think William and Robert Berry Jr. were both there. John Berry who's descendant tested to be related to the Robert Berry Family from Orange County N.C. was in Fayette County Alabama in 1840 He ended up in Rusk County Texas in 1860. One of William Berry's descendants took the DNA test and is one of the six known Berry Descendants who are related to Robert Berry. More on DNA later.
