Elizabeth Campbell Berry

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ELIZABETH McCUTCHEN BERRY , second daughter of James and Grisal McCutchen is the only sister whose married name is not given by her brother Patrick in his will of 1812. After being mentioned in her father's will of 1759, we hear no more of her until Patrick McCutchen, her brother, refers to her as being deceased, and he leaves some money to her children. (He does not name them.) Since the other sisters of Patrick, Sarah McNutt and Margaret Buchanan, are called by their married names, when a DAR inquiry came in asking about a McCutchen who must have married a Berry and lived in Washington County, Virginia, we immediately believed this to be the Elizabeth mentioned in James and Grisal McCutchen's and Patrick McCutchen's wills. I have later found in Augusta County Annals of Virginia (Chalkey), that indeed one James and Elizabeth Berry were selling property in 1771. We proceed with the belief this is our Elizabeth. We are indebted to the late Grace Love of Memphis and her sister Louise McIntyre of Newman, Illinois, and to Frank Berry, Lewis, Iowa, for the information that follows. It is suggested that Frank Berry be consulted for more detailed information. Children of Elizabeth McCutchen and James (?) Berry are: Grizzel, born about 1770, married James Maxwell, August 12, 1790, by Charles Cummings, Washington County, Virginia. Samuel Berry, born January 27, 1780, died February 10, 1855. He married Jane Ann Weir, born 1784. She died March 13, 1834. Both were born in Virginia. They were married September 6, 1803. Sarah (Polly),, born 1785, died June 8, 1846. Married Joseph Williams, born 1783, died June 19, 1846. They were married in 1818. John McCutchen Berry, born in Virginia, March 22, 1788, died February 24, 1857. He married Frances Williams, born April 7, 1789. She died July 17, 1866. They were married in 1808. Grizzel Berry, daughter of Elizabeth Berry, was born in Virginia about 1770 or 1776. She married James Maxwell, born in Georgia in 1766. She died in 1820, he died March 3, 1825. Their children were: Elizabeth, born in Washington County, Virginia, June 1, 1791. She married Archibald Bratton. She died September 2, 1864; he died October 1, 1845. Rev. David Maxwell, born in Washington County, Virginia, January 16, 1793. He married Betsy Hood. He died August 11., 1848; she died March 16, 1862. Mary (Polly), born in Washington County, Virginia, November 27, 1796. She was married on November 25, 1819 to William E. Bratton in Warren County by J. Lapsley. She died February 13, 1875; he died November 11, 1844. (This family might have been in Williamson County, Tennessee. See James McCutchen's chronological record.) Sarah, born in Washington County, Virginia, married Charles Stewart. We have no other data except the date of Charles Stewart's death which was March 14, 1833, in Kentucky. Hattie Maxwell, born in Washington County, Virginia. No other information. Patsy Maxwell, born in Washington County, Virginia, 1802 and died September 27, 1841. She married Moses Harriman. Melinda Berry Maxwell, born in Washington County, Virginia, May 2, 1803, died February 4, 1882. She married Jonathan Cooley February 19, 1828, Montgomery County, Indiana. He was born July 7, 1803 and died November 27, 1880. John Maxwell, born November 30, 1806. He first married Margaret Bristow and second, Elizabeth Paxton. Prudence Maxwell, born April 9, 1811, Bowling Green, Kentucky; was married to Stephen Blackford, Montgomery County, Indiana, September 20, 1827. She died July 13, 1864; he died January 28, 1865.

The children of Samuel Berry and Jane Ann Weir were: James, born in Franklin County, Tennessee, October 1, 1805 and died September 26, 1855. He married Jane Officer Rutledge, born Henderson County, Ky., November 23, 1808, on February 28, 1820, by the Rev. John McCutchen Berry, Springfield, Illinois. Baxter B611 Berry, born in Franklin County, Tenn., October 25, 1807 and died December 2, 1891. On October 2, 1832, he married Elizabeth Preston Cameron, who was born in Henderson County, Ky., January 18, 1813, and died April 3, 1896. Margaret Berry, born in Franklin County, Tenn., February 15, 1810, and died November 25, 1893. She married September 29, 1828, Thomas Johnson who was born in Tennessee, November 7, 1804, in Menard County, Illinois. He died December 19, 1893. Elizabeth McCutchen Berry, born in Franklin County, Tennessee, October 3, 1812. She married William Griffin Jeter, born in Louisville, Ky., September 20, 1807, March 9, 1832, in Fulton County, Illinois. She died May 31, 1875; he died August 31, 1867. Martha Ann Berry, born in Franklin County, Tenn., in 1814 and died 1900. She married David Curtis Clark. William Preston Berry, born in Franklin County, Tenn., 1816, and died 1874. He first married Ducille Wilcox in Menard County, Illinois, September 12,1839. Later, married Susan Spickelmire, born in Indiana, 1833; died in 1910. Mary Berry, born in Franklin County, Tenn., 1818. She married Jim Jones. Sarah W. Berry, born in Franklin County, Tenn., May 16, 1824, died December 14, 1846. She married James Altig, in Menard County, Illinois, June 13, 1844. The date of James Altig's birth is August 13, 1827. Harriet Melinda Berry, born in Menard County, Ill., November 6, 1827 and died October 19, 1902. She first married Redding Nance, March 20, 1849. He was born January 17, 1825 and died February 7, 1854. On September 29, 1856, she married John T. Jones, who was born February 25, 1813 and died July 4, 1886. Samuel and Ann Weir Berry both died in Illinois and are buried in Abraham Cemetery, on land Samuel Berry entered from the government, September 12, 1826. His brother, John McCutchen Berry, was a well known Cumberland Presbyterian minister. Samuel's daughter-in-law, Janie Rutledge, the wife of James Berry, was a sister to Ann of the Abraham Lincoln romance. Consult Frank Berry, Lewis, Iowa, for more history regarding this family.

The'only letter we find from any of the Berry descendants was found among the papers of James McCutchen, second son of Samuel and Catherine Bell McCutchen. Elizabeth McCutchen Berry and Samuel McCutchen were brother and sister. The letter was dated February 13, 1856, and is from John McCutchen Berry, Presbyterian minister, from Clinton, DeWitt County, Illinois, to Cousin Harrison, in answer to one from Harrison to him dated January 29th. He stated he was glad to hear from him, but surprised to learn that he had left Meadow (?). He mentions having written him there, after having heard that he had lost his wife and had six children to care for. He consoles him by telling him that they will have all suffering repaired when they are reunited in Heaven. Admonishes him to have faith. He further states he did not receive the letter Harrison wrote to Petersburg, but had one from him written in April, 1854. He says he left Menard in May and moved to Clinton. He also said he did not receive the $10 which Harrison had sent by mail. He makes suggestions how this might be traced, that is, if he has a receipt. (He goes into detail about how this can be done.) He further states that he supposes Harrison has heard from Brother White "that your Uncle Sam was dead, died about one year ago, and your cousin James died last fall, also your cousin Mary Jones died last fall. The other friends as far as I know are well. Your Aunt's health is very poor at this time. Your Aunt and I are living alone with only Finis' daughter is now staying with us." Then he mentions that Harrison had requested information about lectures and stated that he thought they would sell in Tennessee. He will leave that up to Harrison, as well as in regard to his book. He asks that his respects be given to all of the brethern who might inquire about him. He signs himself, "yours as ever in the gospel of Christ". This letter suggests a double relationship. John McCutchen and Samuel Berry are brothers, yet John M. Berry, in the letter refers to Samuel as "your Uncle Samuel". Samuel's son James and Mary Jones are called "your cousins". (If John M. is a cousin to Harrison, so should Samuel be, unless Samuel's wife Jane Ann Weir is Harrison's aunt. If this is the case, then John M. Berry must be a cousin through the Berry or McCutchen families.) It will be noted that John McCutchen, brother to Elizabeth McCutchen Berry, married Elizabeth Weir, while Elizabeth McCutchen Berry's son Samuel married Ann Weir, who is the daughter of James Weir, Elizabeth Weir McCutchen's brother. Samuel and John M. Berry are first cousins to John McCutchen's children while Jane Ann Weir Berry is also first cousin to John and Elizabeth Weir McCutchen's children. Jane Ann and Samuel Berry's children would be double second cousins to John and Elizabeth Weir McCutchen's grandchildren. This double relationship, however, can not account for Samuel and Jane Ann being uncle and aunt to Harrison, while John M. is only a cousin. As I see it, Harrison would have to be a nephew of some degree to Jane Ann Weir Berry. Since we do not know who the various Weir brothers and sisters married, we cannot definitely place this Harrison. It is believed, however, that the letter was passed on to James McCutchen, son of Samuel, because of his kinship with -the Berry family, first cousin to Samuel and John M. Berry. Neither could Louise McIntyre or Frank Berry throw any light on who this "Cousin Harrison" could be.Louise McIntyre has stated she believes Elizabeth McCutchen Berry must have died before that family left Washington County, Virginia. Her information regarding John McCutchen Berry shows he and his father went to Tennessee when John McCutchen Berry was 14 years old. No mention is made of a mother. Carl Sandburg refers to John M. Berry in his Lincoln Biography, Louise stated. Frank Berry has a record of the descendants of the other children of Elizabeth McCutchen Berry. Both he and Louise believe there were children other than the ones given here. Louise suggests that one James married a Walker in 1791, Washington County, Virginia, surely must be another child. (Note the number of years between the birth of the children listed.) A biography of William Andrew Harrison, D.D., a prominent minister in Tennessee, often referred to by the McCutchen family of Tennessee, does not in any way indicated that he could be the Harrison to whom John M. Berry was writing. This Dr. Harrison was the son of William Henry and Ann Jane Magoffin Harrison, born December 4, 1824, at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. He married first in 1856. His second marriage was in 1878.1392 Notes for James (Spouse 1)