His sons all moved to northern VA and 3 even continued on to KY.
Residences & events:
Joseph is described in contemporary literature as a "planter ofStaffor d County" VA.
St Paul's Parish, VA. His name appeared in the Parish Register as are sident there.
King George Co, VA. The Register recorded his move there where healso o wned property.
1722-3 He served as executor of his father's large estate.
4/17/1748 He made deposition to Fairfax Co, VA court, in which hesaid h e was 57 years of age and lived "near King George Court Houseabout 70 m iles distant" and that he sold Dogue Run Mill 29 Dec 1725to Andrew Har rison & Richard Griffin
1758 There are separate deeds of land in King George County fromJosep h Berry, Jr., to Benjamin Berry, to Charles Carter, all thatyear. Tho se tracts adjoin that of each other and land of EnochBerry. They lie o n the north side of the Rappahannock River. Thesedeeds show that this l and was inherited from their father, JosephBerry, Sr., by will, 1749, w ho inherited it from his father, WilliamBerry, and wife, Margaret Doug hty; who inherited it from Margaret'sfather Enoch Doughty, who inherit ed it from his father, Rev. FrancisDoughty.
His birth date is derived from a statement he made in 1748 at theFair fax court, in which he said he was then 57 years of age.
Will of Joseph Berry 1749 King George, VA.
"In the name of God Amen. I Joseph Berry of the County of King Georgea nd Parish of Hannover being in good health and sound and perfectsence a nd memory as usually at other times past for which blessing Igive than ks and praise to Almighty God, but calling to mind theuncertainty of t his life and that it is appointed for all men once todie do make and o rdain this to be my last will and testament inmanner and form followin g, that is to say,
first and inprimis I commend my soul into the protection of my greatan d mercifull creator and my body to the earth from whence it came tobe d ecently buried at the discretion of my executrix hereafter namedin sur e and certain hope of a joyfull resurection at the last day,and for su ch worldly good as it hath pleased God to bless me with Igive as follo ws, vizt:
Item: That, whereas by the Last will and testament of my fatherWillia m Berry, deceased bearing date the 5th of Feb. 1720 he hasthere demise d to my brother Enoch Berry the plantation and landwhereon he then liv ed in the following words, vizt..I give to my sonEnoch Berry the plant ation I now live on with all the land joyningthereto now in my possess ion being the third part of a certainpattent granted to Enoch Doughty b y computation five hundred acres tohim and his heris lawfully begotten o f his own body and for want ofsuch heirs to fall to my son, Joseph Ber ry and to his heirs lawfullybegotten of his own body. Now that I am h eir at law to my mother shebeing the daughter of said Enoch Doughtly, I a m apprehensive that thesaid clause or paragraff mentioned in my said f ather's will does notconvey a legal title to my said brother Enoch Ber ry in the said land,but notwithstanding as I know it was my Mother's d esire and myfather's will that my said brother Enoch Berry should have a p art ofthe said land, I do therefore declare and am well contented that i tshould be according to their will and desire, but as my brother EnochB erry and I have formerly agreed that he the said Enoch should havein l ieu of the said land given to him by my father's will the upperpart of t he said land being the plantation whereon I formerly livedbefore the d eath of my father Wm. Berry, now I do hereby desire andit is my will t hat my said brother Enock Berry do hold the saidplantation whereon I f ormerly lived as above said it being the sameplantation whereon my bro ther Enoch Berry now lives with all the landlying between the North ea sternmost bounds of the said Pattent andthe Creek called Doughty's cre ek which creek is the division betweenhis land and mine, his land bein g the upper part of the whole tact tohim and the heirs of his body law fully begotten and for want of suchheirs to return to the heirs of my b ody lawfully begotten in the samemanner as is mentioned and intended i n my fathers will aforesaid, butif it shall happen at any time hereaft er that my brother Enoch Berryor his heirs or any other person or pers ons claiming under them shallclaim any right or title to the land wher eon I now live it being thesame land what is mentioned in my father's w ill aforesaid or shallbring any troublesome or vexatious suit in law a gainst my heirs,executors or any other person or persons claiming by m e or my heirson account of the aforesaid gift intail mentioned in my f ather's willas aforesid, that then this paragraff in my will as it abo ve recitedshall be utterly void and of none effect and that my heirs, e xecutorsor administrators or any other person claiming by them shall h avepower and authority to enter and possess the premises above mention edas if this demise had never been mentioned in my will.
Item: It is my will and desire that my well beloved wife CatherineSimc ock Berry do hold and possess my land and plantation whereon Inow live d uring her life only allowing to my son Joseph Berry theliberty of the h ouse which he has lately built and the liberty ofbuilding such other h ouses as he has occasion for with a reasonableportion of ground to wor k on provided that he shall have no priviligeto work any land but such a s his Mother is willing to let him havewithout being prejudicial to he rself.
Item: It is my will and desire that after the death of my wifeCatherin e Simcock, my land whereon I now live be equally dividedbetween my 2 s ons Joseph and Benjamin Berry allowing to each part anequal breadth up on the River counting from the mouth of the Creek tothe lower corner o f the tract next to Col. Carter's land, the line orlines for the divis ion to extend back from the River to paralletlCarter's lines, my son J oseph to have the first choice after thedivision the said land to them a nd their heirs forever, but if itshall happen that either of my said s ons Joseph and Benjamin shalldie without heirs or making any legal dis position of the parts of thesaid land that then the inheritance shall d escend to their nextbrother, vizt. my son Withers he being my third so n, and if theyshould both dye without heirs or otherwise disposing of t heir land intheir lifetime that then the inheritance thereof shall des cent to thesaid son Withers and his next brother Thomas, my fourth son , to beheld by them in the same manner as is above mentioned to their o lderbrothers. Likewise if my 2 sons Withers and Thomas should bothe or either of them dye then the inheritance shall descend to their 2younges t brothers, Baldwin and Reuben, my 5th and 6th sons, in thesame manner a s is above mentioned to their older brothers. Themeaning of my intent a nd desire that my 2 oldest sons then living ortheir heirs may from tim e to time hold my said land between them, andif my said sons or any of t he or their heirs they being at the sametime in right and property to s ell or convey the whole or any partthereof belonging to them as they s hall think fitt.
Item: It is my will and desire that my wife Catherine SimCock do holda ll my other estate both real and personal during her life to use anddi spose thereof at her own discretion in paying my debts and funeralexpe nses and likewise for her own support and the support andmaintanance o f my children until the youngest come of age which Idesire may be unde r her tuition and if any part of my estate or theprofitts thereof (exc epting the reversion of my land as above demisedto my sons) be left at h er death that it may go to my children to bedistributed amongst them a ccording to the discretion of my afresaidwife Catherine Simcock Berry w hom I do hereby constitute and appointto be whole and sole Executor of t his my last will and testament andI do hereby revoke and disannull all f ormer wills by me heretoforemade and do ratifie this to be my true and l ast will as witness myhand and seale."
