DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of the official marker for John Berry, Frontiersman, out of Williamson County. Now, some men just live a life. And then there are men like John Berry — born in Kentucky in 1786 — who seem to walk straight through history like it owes them something.
He started out a veteran of the War of 1812. That's already more than most men could claim. But John Berry wasn't finished.
In 1816 he pulled up from Kentucky, moved his family to Indiana, and then — just eleven years later, in 1827 — he loaded them up again and brought them all the way to the Atascosito District of Texas, when Texas still belonged to Mexico. Mexico must have thought well of him, because when the towns of Liberty and Mina — that's Bastrop today — were founded, John Berry was awarded lots in both of them. Now, when you raise a frontier family, the apple doesn't fall far from the oak.
His three oldest sons — Joseph, born 1811; John Bate, born 1813; and Andrew Jackson, born 1816 — all served in the Republic of Texas Army. All three rode as Texas Rangers before and after the War for Independence in 1836. All three fought in the Battle of Plum Creek in 1840.
Three sons, one family, and every single one of them answered the call every time it came. But the Mier Expedition of 1842 — that's where the story turns heavy. Joseph Berry was the first casualty in that whole ill-fated campaign.
The first one lost. His brother John Bate survived, but survival had a price: he spent a year in Perote Prison. You sit with that a moment.
One brother dead. One brother in a Mexican prison. And the old man, John Berry, still out there building a life.
By 1846, John Berry settled three miles northeast of Georgetown in Williamson County. He built a blacksmith and gun shop. He built a spring-driven grist mill right there near Berry Creek.
The man was 60 years old and still putting things up from scratch. He had eighteen children by three wives. Betsy Smeathers — daughter of pioneer Texan William Smeathers — she passed in 1818.
Gracie Treat, gone in 1830. And his third wife, Hannah Devore, born 1812, outlived John Berry by a considerable stretch, passing in 1904. Eighteen children.
Three wives. Decades of frontier life. And it wasn't over.
When the Civil War came — 1861 to 1865 — five of his sons and three of his sons-in-law served in the Confederate Army. This family simply did not sit anything out. John Berry died at age 80 and was buried near his home.
Near that creek. Near that mill he built with his own hands. Now here is the part that'll stop you cold.
Among John Berry's descendants is a great-grandson. A boy who grew up to become the most decorated soldier in American history. His name was Audie Murphy.
One Kentucky-born frontiersman. One family line running from the War of 1812 all the way through to the most decorated soldier America ever produced. John Berry didn't just live a life.
He planted one.
What the marker says
(1786-1866) A native of Kentucky and veteran of the War of 1812, John Berry moved in 1816 to Indiana. In 1827 he brought his family to the Atascosito District of Texas. Mexico awarded him lots in Liberty and Mina (Bastrop) when those towns were founded. Berry's oldest sons, Joseph (1811-1842), John Bate (1813-1891), and Andrew Jackson (1816-1899), served in the Republic of Texas Army. All three were Texas Rangers before and after the War for Independence (1836) and in the Battle of Plum Creek (1840). Joseph was the first casualty in the Mier Expedition (1842), and John Bate was in Perote Prison for a year. A Williamson County pioneer, John Berry settled three miles northeast of Georgetown in 1846. He built a blacksmith and gun shop and a spring-driven grist mill near Berry Creek. Berry had 18 children by his three wives: Betsy Smeathers (d. 1818), daughter of pioneer Texan William Smeathers (Smothers); Gracie Treat (d. 1830); and Hannah Devore (1812-1904). Five sons and three sons-in-law served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861-1865). Berry died at age 80 and was buried near his home. His descendants include a great-grandson, Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in American history. (1978)