JOHN M. BERRY, a leading and influential farmer and stock dealer of North Strabane township, is a native of Washington county, Penn., born January 14, 1939. He is a descendant of John Berry, a native of Ireland, who immigrated to America, settling in pioneer days in Mt. Pleasant township, this county, where in about the year 1796 he purchased 251 acres of land. Here he passed the remainder of his days. He left two sons -- John and William Gilmore -- of whom John remained on the original tract, and followed agricultural pursuits, in which he was remarkably successful. William Gilmore Berry was born in Colerain township, Lancaster Co., Penn., December 2, 1781. In the spring of 1795 or 1796 he came with his father, John Berry, to Mt. Pleasant township, Washington Co., Penn., and when able to do for himself he moved to Venice, Cecil township, where he purchased a farm and mill property, afterward buying and settling on a farm in North Strabane township. In 1804 he married Jane, daughter of Matthew McConnell, and they had born to them eight children: John, Mary, Elizabeth, Jane, William, Prudence, Matthew, and James. About 1850 Mr. Berry retired from active work and took up his residence in Canonsburg, where he died October 26, 1866; his wife died February 25, 1848, and they are both buried in the Canonsburg U. P. Church cemetery, they having been members of that church. John Berry, son of William G. and Jane (McConnell) Berry, was born August 1, 1805, near Venice, Cecil township, Washington Co., Penn. On December 1, 1829, he married Jane, daughter of John Eagleton, a native of Ireland, and to them were born six children: Jane (married to Ebenezer Carson), Rachel (married to Robert Herron), William, John M., David W., and Carson M. After marriage Mr. Berry resided for seventeen years on the Watson farm in Cecil township; then moved to and lived in Canonsburg for three years, after which he returned to Cecil township, remaining three years. He then, in 1853, came to North Strabane township, having purchased the "Amsterdam" farm from the Pees brothers, where he passed the remainder of his life, with the exception of five years he lived in the borough of Washington. During the earlier period of his life he was a member of the Associated reformed Church of Robinson's Run, then of Canonsburg, afterward joining the United Presbyterian Church, in which he was a member of the Session fifteen years, and after coming to North Strabane township he connected himself with the U. P. Church at Pigeon Creek. In his political preferences he was first a Whig, then a Republican with strong Abolition sentiments, and he held various offices of trust in his township. He died in June, 1881, and is interred in the U. P. cemetery of Pigeon Creek; his wife departed this life in January, 1844, and she is interred at Miller's Run. John M. Berry, the subject proper of these lines, passed his youth in the township of his birth, attending the common schools of the district, and learning practical lessons in agriculture on the home farm. In 1853 he came to North Strabane township with his father where he has since resided, with the exception of the time he was serving his country in the Civil war. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Fortieth P. V. I. and followed the fortunes of his regiment until the battle of Spottsylvania, where he was wounded in the left shoulder. They were fighting in what was called the "Bloody Angle," and our subject was one of the first, if not the first, to get inside the rebel redoubt; he was on the right of the foremost company which let that famous charge. The company numbered twenty-one men, and nearly half of them were killed or wounded. Mr. Berry, after spending, in all, six months in hospital, recovered from his wound and proceeded to Washington, D. C., where he remained on duty till the close of the war, being mustered out June 28, 1865. He then returned home and settled down to the vocation of peace on his farm in North Strabane township, where he carries on general agriculture and is extensively engaged in stock raising, but he is best known to the public as a successful breeder and exhibitor of "Black-Top Merino Sheep," for which he has a large sale all over the United States. On December 22, 1870, Mr. Berry married Mary J., daughter of Samuel L. Weir, of Somerset township, this county, and the children born to this union were Samuel C. (deceased), Minnie J., John L. W. and William E. Mr. and Mrs. Berry are prominent members of the U. P. Church at Pigeon Creek, in which he is an elder. In politics he is a Republican, and has faithfully served his township in various official capacities. In 1885 he was elected justice of the peace, and again elected in 1890, which office he fills with eminent ability. Mr. Berry has been successful and prosperous in his many business interests, and is the owner of a highly improved farm of 178 acres, well adapted to stock raising. In 1890 he erected one of the handsomest and most commodious residences to be found in Washington county, finished throughout with natural woods, and equipped with all the latest improvements in plumbing, having hard and soft, hot and cold water in both the first and second stories. David W. Berry, son of John and Jane (Eagleton) Berry, and brother John M., was born in Cecil township, Washington Co., Penn., in April 1841. He passed his youth in the township of his birth, and in 1853 moved with his father to North Strabane township. He attended the common schools of the district, and afterward entered Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, where he prosecuted his studies with success until the close of the sophomore year, when, along with his brother, John M., he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Fortieth P. V. I. He followed the fortunes of this regiment, participating in all of its battles up to that of Cold Harbor, where, on June 2, 1864, he was mortally wounded, dying in the hospital at Alexandra, Va., on July 4, 1864; his remains are interred in the cemetery of the U. P. Church at Pigeon Creek, Washington county, he having been a member of that Church.

Text taken from page 866 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed January 1997 by Sharon McConnell of Fontana, CA as part of the Beers Project. Published January 1997 on the Washington County, PA pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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