By John Berry
(first research conducted and published by Connelly Burgin Berry in 1986)
The following is an updated synopsis of a letter my late uncle, Connelly Burgin Berry prepared in or about 1986 about a Berry relative from the Burke Berry family, Ezekiel Berry. The following is an updated version based on what is known today.
Ezekiel Berry is believed to have been born in Maryland or Virginia in or around the mid-1750s and was the son of William Berry, Sr. who was believed to have been born in 1738 in Maryland. In 1780, William Berry obtained a grant for 640 acres of land lying on both sides of Drowning Creek, West of Hickory, N.C., upon which he and his wife (Elizabeth Montgomery) made their home. The plat of this property lists the chain carriers as John Ervin and Ezekiel Berry.
It is uncertain whether or not there were 2 Ezekiel Berrys in Burke County at the time, or perhaps one was the son of the other. It is hard to say. What we do know is this. In 1813, an Ezekiel Berry is reported to have been a very wealthy man residing in Burke County. Employed in his home was a young woman named Mary (or Maria) Hildebrand (born Nov. 11. 1795) who worked doing carding and spinning.
On December 18, 1813, Mary Hildebrand gave birth to an illegitimate son whom she named Logan Berry because Ezekiel was the father. Of note, the Catawba County Genealogical Society noted, in their review of the Lincoln County court minutes that a Bastardy Bond was issued for Ezekeal Barrey (Berry) in October of 2013 with the mother listed as Mary Hildebrand.
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| 1813 Lincoln County Bastardy Bonds |
Ezekiel Berry apparently wanted to keep Mary and his young son Logan Berry but Mary and James Clark slipped out of the home under the cover of darkness and moved to Macon County, Georgia where they resided with a Setzer family that was related to Mary. Apparently, Ezekiel Berry's family also was not thrilled with the idea of Ezekiel marrying Mary. Mary later married James Clark but she wanted her son to have his true father’s name of Berry.
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| Logan Berry |
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| Original 1986 Letter from Burgin Berry |
My uncle had asked the question of whether this Ezekiel Berry could be the Ezekiel Berry who was the chain carrier on William Berry's land grant? He must have been at least sixteen years of age when he was a chain carrier. If so, he would have been born prior to 1764. If Ezekiel Berry was a wealthy person in Burke County in 1813, he should be listed in the census records. However, his name does not show up in the 1810, 1820 or other census records. I tend to believe that this Ezekiel Berry was however, someone different. There is evidence that the Ezekiel Berry who was the son of William Berry, Sr., died at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. Perhaps this Ezekiel Berry (the father of Loan) was his son.
The name Ezekiel has come down in the Berry family. John Berry (ca. 1794- 1870) married 10 January 1813, Barbara Fry, daughter of Nicholas Fry, Jr. They named their first born, a son, Ezekiel Berry (Oct. 10, 1813 - Oct. 22, 1890) who married Margaret Peggy Page. They and other members of their family are buried in the yard of Friendship Methodist Church which overlooks Drowning Creek. This Ezekiel's brother, William M. Berry (1824-1911) married Adelaide Speagle and they named one of their six sons Ezekiel Berry who married Laura Williams. daughter of Clingman Coleman Williams, William and Adelaide are buried in the yard of Warlick’s Baptist Church which also overlooks Drowning Creek. Logan Berry, son of the first Ezekiel Berry, married I February 9, 1832, Matilda Postell and they were the parents of ten children. Descendants of this family are very prominent in Macon County today.
