Joseph Berry

Joseph Berry, victim of the battle of Mier, third son of Betsy (Smothers) and John Berry, was born in Monroe County, Indiana, about 1819 and named after his father's brother. With his father and brothers, John Bate and Andrew Jackson Berry, he moved to Texas in 1826 and settled near the mouth of Buffalo Bayou in what is now Harris County. In 1834 John Berry, with his third wife and children, moved to Mina (Bastrop), where Joseph Berry, a gunsmith like his father, joined John Jackson Tumlinson's rangers, composed largely of citizens of Bastrop County. Joseph aided in the construction of a fort near Liberty Hill in 1835 and later served as second in command of that outpost. He was listed on the tax rolls of Liberty County in 1840 as the administrator of Thomas Nesbet's estate of 640 acres. Berry and his brother John Bate received grants of land in the Robertson colony. Joseph's grant was patented in what is now Williamson County. In 1840 the Berrys were living in Burleson County.

After the seizure of San Antonio in September by the Mexican army under Gen. Adrián Woll, Berry rallied to the defense of the frontier by joining the Brazoria Company under Capt. John Shelby McNeill for the Somervell campaign, and when Brig. Gen. Alexander Somervell started home from the Rio Grande on December 19, 1842, he transferred to Capt. Charles K. Reese's company, to which his brother Bate also transferred, and thus became a member of the Mier expedition. As the Texan forces advanced against Mier in the late afternoon of December 25, Joseph fell down the wet, slippery bluff of the Alcantro River and broke his thigh. With a Texan doctor and a small guard, including his brother, he was placed in a hut near the Alcantro River opposite Mier, where, the next day around eleven o'clock in the morning, the small party of Texans was discovered by the enemy, and Joseph was killed.

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From rootsweb:

Joe served under Capts. Seth Billingsley in the Texas Milit ia, John G. McGeehee as a ranger & Captain William W. Hil l as a ranger. Died in the Mexican War, killed on the Mier Expedition. H e was bayoneted to death.
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Birth: 1818 Monroe County Indiana, USA Death: Dec. 26, 1842, Mexico

Joseph was probably the last son born to Betsy Smeathers and John Berry. No trace of her after 1818 is found and John married again 2nd 1819 to Gracie Treat of Indiana.

Joseph was likely named after his FATHER's Brother, Joseph. The Berry family lived in Indiana moving there 1815 from Kentucky after Joe's brother, John Bate was born 1813.

JOHN AND BETSY WENT WITH THE BIG GROUP FROM TENNESSEE IN 1815. Their destination was Monroe Co In where goverment land was to be made available shortly at a very small price and with good title. While waiting for the Iniana territory to be opened to settlers, they lived for almost a year just across the river from Vincennes In what is now Lawrence Co Ill at a village known as the 'Christian Settlement' but officially it was Centerville. There is a well cared for pioneer cemetery at that location with a number of stones still intact but no grave marker has been found for Betsy Smeathers Berry. 1819 John married Gracie Treat in Bloomington Ind who came to TEXAS WITH HIM IN 1826.

1820 Census John Berry-Monroe Co Indiana Males up to 10 - 3 John Bate, Andrew Jackson & Joseph Berry Males 10-16 0 Males 16-18 0 Males 18-26 1 Prob Archibald Jacob Smeathers, son of William Smeathers Males 26-45 1 John Berry Males 45+ 0 [Arch prob w/Berrys as he went to Tx w/them in 1826 & he is not listed in the 1820 Monroe Co census with his brother John] Females up to 10 0 Females 10-16 0 Females 16-18 0 Females 18-26 1 Gracie Treat-John's 2nd wife Females 26-45 0 Females 45+ 0

1826 Joe went to Tx w/father & bro's near Buffalo Bayou, [Harris Co now].

Following is an excerpt taken from deposition of Jack Pope 1985 by Bill Brands. "John Berry came to Tx in 1826 with his 3 sons and 2nd wife Gracie Treat. He arrived with a family group from Indiana to the Trinity River awaiting a visit by the Mexican officials to organize the town. John signed a petition to the Mexican president to send someone to organize the town and it was organized 1831 as Liberty Texas. He was given a lot in the township free and became a gunsmith, blacksmith, cabinet maker and set up his shop. John Berry eventually settled in Williamson Co at the Ganns Mill Farm near Georgetown. After his 2nd wife Gracie passed he mrd a 3rd time to Hannah Devore and they are buried at the old farm. He built the first grist mill in the county. An 1812 marker was mounted on the Buhrstone from his mill and placed on the courthouse grounds at Georgetown and dedicated by Dau of 1812 June 15 1967. His widow Hannah Devore rec'd his pension 1888 in Bandera Co Tx.

1834 Mina [Bastrop] Joseph was a gunsmith like his father & joined John Jackson Tumlinson's Rangers.

Listed 1840 Tax roll Liberty Co & administrator of Thomas Nesbet's estate.

Joe Had a land grant in the Robertson Colony of Williamson Co.

During Texas' struggle for independence from Mexico, the Berry family, except for John and the three eldest sons, John Bate, Andrew Jackson and Joseph, took refuge at Fort Parker to avoid the armies of Santa Anna. This was called the "Runaway Scrape". Both John "Bate" and Andrew Jackson "Jack" Berry were with General Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21 1836. All three of the boys, Bate, Jack and Joe became Texas Rangers with Seth Billinsley, John G. McGeehee, William H. Hill and John L. Lynch. All three fought in the Indian battle at Plum Creek on August 12 1840.

Joe enrolled in Brazoria County & asked Capt John McNeill for transfer in 1842 to Capt Reese for the Mier Expedition to Mexico.

Joe and Bate were members of the ill-fated Mier Expedition to Mexico. Joe was the first to die December 26, 1842. He was bayoneted by a Mexican soldier. Bate was taken prisoner with the rest of the army. He escaped at Salado with the others but was recaptured. He was a prisoner in Perote Prison east of Mexico City, Mexico until September 16, 1844, almost 21 months after his brother Joe was killed. While in Mexico, Joe fell down a bank, broke his thigh and even thou he was guarded, the Mexican's killed him. Joe was never mrd.

Narrative of Joseph Berry's Death by A.J. Sowell A.J. Sowell in Texas Indian Fighters

"In making the run and fight through the Mexicans, John Berry recognized the lieutenant in command as a man whom he knew in San Antonio. The fate of poor Joe was sealed. The Mexican officier went into the room where he lay helpless and killed him with his sword. He then came out flourishing the bloody weapon and bragging about the deed. He was afterwards killed in Texas by the Berry boys."

Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Park/ 414 State Loop 92, La Grange. Completed: 1936. Architects: Page & Southerland. Sculptor: Raoul Josset. Artist: Pierre Bourdelle. Contractor: L.W. Stolz. This memorial, a project marking the Texas Centennial, honors men who died in two incidents. In 1842, an invading Mexican army killed 32 members of Nicholas Dawson's small Texas militia company after Dawson raised a flag of surrender. Later that year, a larger Texan force set out to avenge the Dawson massacre; the Mexican army captured many of the soldiers and forced them to participate in the infamous Black Bean Lottery in which those who drew white beans lived and those who drew black beans were executed. In 1848, the remains of those killed in both incidents were exhumed and reinterred on Monument Hill in La Grange. Bourdelle executed the cameo mural depicting the two incidents, and Josset sculpted the bronze angel that guards the men's tomb.

Family links:

Parents:

 John Berry (1786 - 1866)

 Betsy Smeathers Berry (1791 - 1818)

Siblings:

 John Bate Berry (1813 - 1891)*

 Andrew Jackson Berry (1816 - 1899)*

 Joseph Berry (1818 - 1842)

 Elizabeth Berry Bradberry (1820 - 1859)**

 Hannah Berry Hughes (1823 - 1863)**

 Margaret Berry Chadwick (1825 - 1866)**

 Polly Mary Berry Compton (1832 - 1902)**

 John Berry (1836 - 1921)**

 Jane Berry Rumsey (1839 - 1883)**

 Catherine Ann Berry Jackson (1842 - 1929)**

 Virginia Devore Berry Murphy (1855 - 1906)**

 Patrick Henry Berry (1855 - 1860)**

 George Washington Berry (1857 - ____)**

*Calculated relationship

• *Half-sibling

Burial: Monument Hill Cemetery La Grange Fayette County Texas, USA

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Maintained by: Find A Grave Originally Created by: Nena Smothers Record added: Dec 28, 2014 Find A Grave Memorial# 140556457 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=140556457