Household #127: Berryhill, John

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In the 1900 Barney census, John J. Berryhill Sr. headed a 7-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

John Berryhill headed a 7-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner and 5 children.

John Berryhill's listed occupation was Farmer.

Reported birthplaces span Florida and Georgia, pointing to movement into Barney or family formation across county or state lines.

Newspaper and Public-Record Trail

This section flags public-record leads separate from the census table. The detailed discussion stays in the family narrative, research status, and source citations below.

1900 Census Household

Children and Later Trails

This section is reserved for later-life child evidence. No later spouse, death, burial, obituary, probate, separate household, or descendant-line identification has been added here yet from direct records.

Family Narrative

John Berryhill headed a white farming household in Barney in 1900 with his wife Wealthy Patrick Berryhill and five unmarried children still at home: Thomas, Charlie, Susie A., John M., and Robert. Another daughter, Priscilla, had already married Calvin Luther McKinney in 1895 and was no longer in the household. The present record set supports a strong family outline from the Civil War era into the 1920s, but it also shows that the older encyclopedia entry claimed more than the evidence would carry. This household now reads best as well documented and ready for a conservative, source-based treatment.

The strongest identity anchor for the couple is the 1867 Brooks County marriage record for John Berry Hill and W. C. A. Patrick. Later records support the reading that W. C. A. Patrick was the woman later called Wealthy Berryhill, with "Welthy" best treated as a record or transcription variant. The household can then be followed through the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses. John's local placement is strengthened by his 1867 Brooks County voter registration, an 1880 agricultural schedule entry in District 4, and a 1910 newspaper item about the sale of the John Berryhill farm near Barney.

John's earlier trail is stronger than it was at the start of this review, though it still needs careful wording. A Civil War service profile places a John Berryhill from Laurens County in Company C of the 2nd State Troops, with later service notes tying him to the 49th Infantry and recording a wound at the Wilderness. That compiled military material, taken with the 1867 Brooks County voter registration and the 1867 marriage, makes the 1860 Laurens County John Berryhill the best current earlier candidate. It is a solid working identification, but the compiled service profile should not be treated as the last word in place of a full service or pension file.

The newspaper trail adds useful local texture without changing the basic proof standard. In 1903 John Berryhill was named in Barney civic news as a councilman nominee. Another 1903 item about a stump-puller accident identifies him as the owner of the machine and helps place sons Charles Berryhill and John Berryhill Jr. in the same working orbit. A 1903 death notice for Charles Berryhill reports burial at Mt. Zion Camp Ground, which fits the later burial pattern seen elsewhere in the family. The 14 Oct 1899 Barney farmers notice and the 1910 farm-sale item both support John's standing as an established farm operator, but they do not by themselves justify claims about family prominence or larger economic influence.

Wealthy Berryhill's end-of-life notice is one of the most important records for the family. The Atlanta Journal of 17 Sep 1926 reported the death of Mrs. John Berryhill at home in Barney on Tuesday at age seventy-nine. The notice also said that her brother H. Wesley Patrick had died in Quitman a week earlier, and it named surviving Patrick siblings G. W. Patrick, J. E. Patrick, and Miss Emma Patrick. Most important for this household, it named surviving children as Robert Berryhill of Lakeland, W. A. Berryhill of Adel, John Berryhill of Barney, Mrs. W. F. Jones of Lakeland, Mrs. W. C. Edenfield of Barney, and Mrs. L. C. McKinney of Adel. That notice is the cleanest single source for the family's later geographic spread and for several adult child identities.

Several children can now be identified with confidence. Thomas of the 1900 household is the later Thomas Arthur Berryhill, also seen as T. A. Berryhill and Arthur A. Berryhill. His 1901 Berrien County marriage to Bettie Wingate, his 1910 and 1920 censuses, his World War I draft card giving birth date 12 Aug 1873, and his 1934 death certificate in Cook County all fit together well. The death certificate names his parents as John Berryhill and Martha A. Patrick. Because the broader household evidence points consistently to Wealthy Patrick Berryhill, Martha A. Patrick is best treated as an informant or clerk error rather than as a separate maternal identity.

Susie A. Berryhill is now firmly identified as the later Susie or Susan Edenfield, wife of W. C. Edenfield. Their 1904 Brooks County marriage is direct proof. She can then be followed through the 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950 censuses. Her obituary in the Valdosta Daily Times of 22 May 1961 is especially useful because it names son W. Ray Edenfield of Newark, Ohio, daughters Susie B. Bebout of California, Mrs. Robert Campbell of Barney, and Mrs. A. W. Hazel Victor of Tampa, and brother J. W. Berryhill of Barney. That obituary ties the Edenfield branch back into the Berryhill family in clear record language.

John M. of the 1900 household is best read as the later John Wesley Berryhill, usually styled J. W. Berryhill. He appears as a son in the parental household in 1910 and 1920, and his World War I draft card gives the fuller name John Wesley Berryhill with birth date 28 Mar 1884. Later censuses in 1930, 1940, and 1950 place him in Brooks County as a single carpenter. The Georgia death index for John W. Berryhill, who died in Brooks County on 27 Oct 1963, fits that same man. The present evidence strongly suggests that he never married and remained closely tied to the Barney home place.

Robert Berryhill is now much clearer as Robert Lee Berryhill. The 1910 census places Robert L. Berryhill in Lakeland, Florida, in the household of William F. Jones and wife Georgia, which is a strong clue that the later Mrs. W. F. Jones of Lakeland was Robert's sister Georgia. Robert's own line is then supported by his 1913 Brooks County marriage to Ethel Joyce, the 1920 Barney census, the 1930 Lakeland census, a 1952 death and funeral notice, and burial at Camp Ground. Local Barney items from March and April 1915 also support the identification of Bob Berryhill with Robert L. Berryhill. One item names Mr. and Mrs. Bob Berryhill and daughter Vivian, which matches the later Vivie Lee or Vivian L. Berryhill seen in census records.

Priscilla Berryhill can be carried forward with good confidence as the daughter who married Calvin Luther McKinney in 1895 and later appears in the 1926 widow notice as Mrs. L. C. McKinney of Adel. Georgia Jones, wife of William F. Jones of Lakeland, is also now strongly supported as a Berryhill daughter, probably the same woman listed in the widow notice as Mrs. W. F. Jones. The least settled child problem now centers on the W. A. Berryhill named in the 1926 widow notice. Because Charles Berryhill appears to have died in the 1903 stump-puller accident, W. A. Berryhill should not be treated as a later name for Charlie. The better reading is that W. A. Berryhill was another son or close family member whose exact place in the household still needs direct reconciliation.

Connections to Other Barney Families

• Wealthy Berryhill's 1926 death notice firmly places this household within the Patrick sibling group through H. Wesley Patrick, G. W. Patrick, J. E. Patrick, and Emma Patrick.
• Priscilla Berryhill's 1895 marriage links HH#127 to HH#24, the Calvin Luther McKinney household, but the evidence does not support broad social conclusions beyond the marriage itself and the later 1926 identification of Mrs. L. C. McKinney.
• The 1910 Lakeland household of William F. and Georgia Jones, which includes Robert L. Berryhill, strongly supports Georgia Jones as another Berryhill daughter and helps explain the Lakeland branch named in Wealthy's 1926 notice.
• Camp Ground and Mt. Zion burial references recur across the family, especially for Charles Berryhill, Thomas A. Berryhill, Robert Lee Berryhill, John Wesley Berryhill, and later Edenfield relatives.

Military Service

The best current reading identifies Barney's John Berryhill with the Laurens County John Berryhill in compiled Civil War service/profile material. That material places him in Company C, 2nd State Troops, includes a later 49th Infantry note, and records a Wilderness wound. The 1867 Brooks County voter registration and 1867 marriage help bridge the identification, but the page should continue to call for a full service or pension file before treating the service profile as final.

Open Research Questions

• The best current reading is that John Berryhill of Barney is the same man as the John Berryhill found in Laurens County before the war and in the compiled Civil War service profile, but a full service file or pension file would strengthen that conclusion.
• Charles Berryhill appears to have died in the 1903 stump-puller accident, so W. A. Berryhill in Wealthy Berryhill's 1926 death notice must represent someone else; his exact identity and relationship still need direct reconciliation.
• Priscilla Berryhill McKinney is strongly supported, but a fuller direct-record trail after marriage would still help close that branch.
• Georgia Berryhill Jones is now strongly supported through the 1910 Lakeland household and the 1926 widow notice, but an additional direct record naming her parents would finish the case more cleanly.
• Land, tax, probate, and burial records for John and Wealthy Berryhill would improve the household's economic and end-of-life documentation.

Research Status

WELL-RESEARCHED: John Berryhill and Wealthy Patrick Berryhill are supported by the 1867 marriage record, the 1867 Brooks County voter registration, the 1880 population and agricultural schedules, the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses, and Wealthy's 1926 death notice. Several children who were previously vague are now identified with strong direct evidence: Thomas Arthur Berryhill, Susie A. Berryhill Edenfield, John Wesley Berryhill, and Robert Lee Berryhill. Priscilla McKinney and Georgia Jones are both strongly supported as daughters. Charles Berryhill now appears to have been the son killed in the 1903 stump-puller accident, which means the W. A. Berryhill named in 1926 remains an unresolved identity rather than a plausible later form of Charlie. The household no longer needs inflated interpretation, but it does support a solid family reconstruction with a few remaining record-level gaps.

Sources

• 1860 U.S. Census, Laurens County, Georgia, household of John Berryhill, probable earlier candidate.
• Civil War compiled service/profile material for John Berryhill of Laurens County, including Company C, 2nd State Troops, later 49th Infantry note, and Wilderness wound reference.
• 1867 Brooks County, Georgia voter registration for John Berryhill.
• Brooks County, Georgia marriage record for John Berry Hill and W. C. A. Patrick, 1867.
• 1880 U.S. Census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of John and Wealthy Berryhill.
• 1880 agricultural schedule, District 4, Brooks County, Georgia, entry for John Berryhill.
• 1900 U.S. Census, Barney precinct, Brooks County, Georgia, household of John Berryhill.
• 1910 U.S. Census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of John and Wealthy Berryhill.
• 1920 U.S. Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of John and Wealthy Berryhill.
• The Valdosta Times, 14 Oct 1899, Barney-area farmers notice naming John Berryhill.
• Barney civic and accident notices, 1903, including John Berryhill councilman nomination and stump-puller accident coverage.
• Death notice for Charles Berryhill, 1903, reporting burial at Mt. Zion Camp Ground.
• Newspaper item on sale of the John Berryhill farm near Barney, 1910.
• Atlanta Journal, 17 Sep 1926, death notice for Mrs. John Berryhill.
• Brooks County, Georgia marriage record for Susie Berryhill and W. C. Edenfield, license 4 Oct 1904, marriage 12 Oct 1904.
• 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950 U.S. Census records for Susie or Susan Edenfield.
• Valdosta Daily Times, 22 May 1961, obituary of Mrs. Susie Edenfield.
• Georgia death index entry for Susie A. Edenfield, died 20 May 1961, certificate 17779.
• Berrien County, Georgia marriage record for Arthur A. Buryhill and Bettie Wingatt, 17 Feb 1901.
• 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census records for Thomas Arthur or Arthur Berryhill.
• World War I draft registration for Thomas Arthur Berryhill, giving birth date 12 Aug 1873.
• Cook County, Georgia death certificate for T. A. Berryhill, 1934, naming parents John Berryhill and Martha A. Patrick, informant J. W. Berryhill, burial at Camp Ground.
• Georgia death index and memorial material for Thomas Arthur Berryhill, used as secondary support for later details.
• 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census records for John W. or J. W. Berryhill in the parental household.
• World War I draft registration for John Wesley Berryhill, giving birth date 28 Mar 1884 and Barney residence.
• 1930, 1940, and 1950 U.S. Census records for John Berryhill in Brooks County, Georgia.
• Georgia death index entry for John W. Berryhill, died 27 Oct 1963, certificate 29157.
• 1910 U.S. Census, Lakeland, Polk County, Florida, household of William F. and Georgia Jones, including Robert L. Berryhill.
• Brooks County, Georgia marriage record for Robert Berryhill and Ethel Joyce, 13 Feb 1913.
• 1920 U.S. Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of R. L. Berryhill.
• 1930 U.S. Census, Lakeland, Polk County, Florida, household of Robert L. Berryhill.
• The Valdosta Daily Times, 7 May 1952, death and funeral notice for Robert Berryhill.
• Camp Ground memorial material for Robert Lee Berryhill, used as secondary support for burial and date details.
• 1915 Barney local news items naming Bob Berryhill, Mrs. Bob Berryhill, and daughter Vivian.

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