Joseph Berry Mustered Out

Yesterday, Feb. 22, death came to Mr. Joseph Berry at the age of 89 years less two months, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. John B. Adams. He was living in Ohio when the civil war broke on the Union and early in August enlisted in Company H, Third Ohio Volunteers. After three years service and discharge he re-enlisted and was made sergeant-major, and then promoted to lieutenant and assigned to Company D where he served to the close of the war. Mr. Berry was one of the pioneers in this county, taking a claim north of our city on Elk river where he lived until infirmities compelled him to retire. Since the death of his wife seven years ago he has lived with his daughter in this city. Recently he had been more feeble than usual, but on Sunday, 14th, attended the Lincoln memorial service with his Grand Army comrades. The funeral will be at the J. B. Adams home, 209 South Fourteenth, at 10 a.m. Thursday, in charge of his pastor, Rev. J. T. Shreye assisted by Rev. A. P. Appleby. McPherson Post will assemble at the hall at 9:30 and march to the residence. The ritual service will take place at the home.

From History of Montgomery County, Kansas, By Its Own People, published by L. Wallace Duncan, Iola, Kansas, 1903, pgs. 511-512:

JOSEPH BERRY – A patriot defending the cause which gave birth to the “Sunflower State:, a pioneer subduing nature’s wilds within her borders, a solid and substantial citizen, revered and honored throughout the length and breadth of Montgomery county—this, in epitome, is the record of Lieutenant Joseph Berry, a farmer of Sycamore township.

William Berry, grandfather of Joseph, was one of the independent Irishman who chose to leave the land of his birth, rather than to further stand the exactions of a selfish English monarch. He came to America, in the early part of the nineteenth century, and settled in the “Hoosier State”, where he reared a family of thirteen children, their names being: William, James, Joseph, Isaac, Polly, Nancy, Cecilia, Sarah, Mark, Hannah, Samuel (two names not given). Of these, Mark married Christine Lozer, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Christopher and Ann (Rolland) Lozer, both natives of Switzerland. Their children were: Jsoeph, John (deceased), Elizabeth Archer, of Ohio; Hannah Taylor, Mark and Christine, also of the “Buckeye State”; and Ann Van Notwich, now deceased. By a former marriage to Polly Hughes, Mark Berry had one child, Polly, who, when last heard from was living in Indiana.

The immediate family of Joseph Berry consists of wife and four children. Mrs. Berry was Mary Jane Hewitt, born in Jefferson county, New York, July 28, 1835, the daughter of George and Rebecca (Fisk) Hewitt. On the 1st of September, 1902, Mr. and Mrs. Berry celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding, amid the rejoicings of many friends and relatives. Of their children, Ida Tuttle, with her two children, Floy and Viesta, live in Purdy, Missouri; Ira H. is a locomotive engineer, live in Joplin, Missouri; he has one son, Hollis, who served in the Phillipine war; Effie Holbert, resides with the parents and has one child, Pauline.

Joseph Berry was born in Holmes county, Ohio, April 21, 1826. At seventeen, he went to Lucas county, where he spent eight years, thence to Michigan, where, in Lenawee county, he married. He soon returned to Ohio, where he resided in various places, until his coming to Kansas, in 1866. He resided three years in Lawrence and, in the spring of ’69, made the trip to Montgomery county, with ox-team, besides which, the sole family possessions were a few household goods, two cows and $30.00 in money. Mr. Berry filed on a quarter section, in section 13-32-15, erected a log cabin and began life anew. The cabin had a hay floor and no windows, but is severed them for a shelter until Providence smiled on their efforts sufficiently to enable them to replace it with a more comfortable home.

Their neighbors were the Indians, and they soon became well acquainted with a number of chiefs, among which may be mentioned Nopowalla, Beaver, Wild Cat, One Eyed Pete and Old Toby. But once were they molested, and that was on account of the Red Man’s insatiable appetite for liquor.

The Berrys cultivated the original place until 1882, when they sold, and bought the present farm, in section 12-32-15, and where they have continued to reside. During his residence in the county, Lieutenant Berry has ever evinced an intelligent interest in the welfare of his community, serving a number of terms on the school board, as justice of the peace, and as township trustee. The family are members of the Sycamore Congregational Church.

Passing now to the war record of Lieutenant Berry, the biographer notes that, in August of 1861, he enrolled, as a private, in Company “H”, Third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, under Col. Zahm. They entered Gen. Wood’s division of the Army of the Cumberland, and were at Shiloh and every battle of importance following, until they reached Atlanta. Here, he was with Gen. Wilson, in his daring raid around that city, and, again, at Jonesboro. The time of his enlistment having expired, Mr. Berry promptly veteranized, again took the oath, and served to the close of the war, being mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, August 16, 1865. He entered the army as high private, was advanced, in turn, to sergeant, sergeant major, second lieutenant and, just before his service ended, to first lieutenant. He was in the brigade that had the honor of capturing Jeff Davis, at Irwinsville, Georgia.

Contributed by Mrs. Maryann Johnson a Civil war researcher and a volunteer in the Kansas Room of the Independence Public Library, Independence, Kansas.