As you may remember, I have long searched for the paternalancesto rs of Reuben Berry, who had been born c.1745 in or nearFrederick Count y, Virginia. In 1752 he was described by Thomas Ashbyas his "cousin." I n 1754 he was identified as a "bastard" child andbound to Rose Ashby, w hom I now believe to have been the wife of thisThomas Ashby and sister o f Henry Berry [III]. The child was surnamedBerry because his unmarrie d mother was the daughter of Henry Berry[III] and because his father's n ame had not been revealed.
Now, thanks to DNA, I know the surname of Reuben Berry's father:I t was Dickenson.
I am a direct male descendant of this Reuben Berry, and my yDNAdo es not match that of the Henry Berry [III] descendants nor that ofthe T homas Ashby descendants. However, the 67-loci test of my DNArevealed t hat there is a close match between me and some men surnamedPike, Grim, H uskey, Palmer, Spencer, Dickenson, Dickerson andDickison. For example , on the 67-loci test I am a genetic distanceof only 5 from Donald Ro bert Dickenson and Charles Howard Dickenson.The Family Tree DNA organi zation says that there is a 99% likelihoodthat I share a common ancest or with each of these men somewhere "in agenealogical time frame."
So, I began searchng for records of pre-1750 ancestors of thevari ous men named above. Most of these men did not have records oftheir m ale ancestors that far back. But someDickenson/Dickerson/Dickison peo ple did. The most helpful resourceswhich I found on the internet thro ugh Google were "Ancestors of Davidand Carla Goodloe" and "Ancestors o f Lesa Gibson Pfrommer." Andthere, to my amazement, I found a Thomas D ickenson who died inHANOVER PARISH of KING GEORGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, in 1 735. Remarkably,that was the very same parish and county in which Reu ben Berry'smother had been reared since her birth there c.1726 and whe re she wasprobably living in 1748 when her father--Henry Berry [III] o f HanoverParish in King George County--wrote his will there.
Another bit of information is that when Henry Berry [III]'sbrothe r, George Pley Berry died in neighboring Essex County in 1721,it had b een Thomas Cooper Dickenson who had appraised his estate.Note that Tho mas Cooper Dickenson was the son of William Dickenson(born in 1652) wh o was the brother of the above-named ThomasDickenson (born in 1660).
It may be that after the daughter of Henry Berry [III] becamepreg nant she was sent to live with her aunt, Rose (Berry) Ashbyand/or her b rother, Enoch Berry, in Frederick County, Virginia.Obviously, neither R euben's father nor his mother were able to rearhim after 1754, when th e Frederick County Court took responsibilityfor placing him legally wi th his aunt, the then-widowed Rose Ashby.Eventually Reuben was reared b y Stephen Ashby, the son of Rose(Berry) Ashby.
Although this Thomas Dickerson (born in 1660) was probably tooold t o have fathered our Reuben Berry (c.1744), it is likely that heand his w ife Alice had a son or grandson who gave the Dickenson yDNAto the baby w ho became the the paternal ancesstor of me and manyothers named Berry.
Here are the names of men who have been paternal ancestors tomany o f us and our children for the last 25 gnerations:
27. Johnne Dykonson (c.1240 - ? ) York, England
26. William Dykonson (1266 - 1300) York, England
25. Hugh Dykonson [Dykensonne] (1316 - 1370) England
24. Anthoyne Dickinsonne (1346 - 1396) England
23. Richard Dickinson (1377 - 1441) Kingston-on-Hull,Yorks hire, England
22. Thomas Dickinson (1400 - 1475) Kingston-on-Hull,Englan d
21. Hugh Dickinson (c.1422 - 1509) Kingston-on-Hull,Yorksh ire, England (ancestor of poet Emily Dickinson)
20. William Dickinson (bet. 1452 and 1460 - 1546) Leeds,Ke nt, England
19. John Dickinson (bet. 1474 and 1477 - 1542) KensonManor , Leeds, Kent, England
18. William Dickinson (1501 - 1590) Bradford Hall,Stafford shire, England
17. Richard Dickinson (1520 - 1560) Bradley Hall,Kingswinf ord, Staffordshire, England
16. Simon Dickinson (1541 - 1613) Bradley Hall,Staffordshi re, England
15. Richard Dickinson (c.1564 - ? ) London, England
14. John Dickinson (c.1593 - 1654) London, England
13. Griffith Dickenson (c.1625 - before May, 1673) Englandt o Virginia c.1656
12. Thomas Dickenson (1660 - 1735) To Hanover Parish, KingG eorge County, Virginia in 1`719
11. [Unknown] Dickenson (est. c.1690 - ? )
10. [Unknown] Dickenson (est. c.1720 - ? )
9. Reuben Berry (c.1745 - 1829) Frederick and HampshireC ounties, Virginia, to Hopkins County, Kentucky
8. William Berry (c.1777 - 1839) Frederick, Hampshireand H ardy Counties, Virginia to Henderson and Hopkins
Counties, Kentucky, to Benton County,Missour i
7. Vincent Fugate Berry (c.1812 - 1895) Benton andDallas C ounties, Missouri
6. Thomas Moon Berry (1841 - 1916) Benton County,Missour i
5. Harvey Thomas Berry (1871 - 1947) Benton County,Misso uri
4. Ralph Shumate Berry (1902 - 1976) Benton County,Misso uri, with a little while in Iowa
3. Keith Thomas Berry (1936 - ) Benton and othercount ies; finally Jackson County, Missouri
2. Living Berry (1968 - ) Hamilton County, Indiana
1. Four living Berrys (1996, 1998, 2001 and 2004 - )Ha milton County, Indiana
So now we all know why the yDNA of Keith Berry so closelyresemble s the yDNA of several Dickinson/Dickenson/Dickison
men.
Sincerely,
Keith T. Berry
kmb36@kc.rr.com
Reuben was apprenticed on January 1, 1755, to John Gregg, who thenlive d in Stafford County, Va. He married Margaret Martin, daughterof Fran cis Martin, who, in his will of King George county 1770, lefther 1/4 o f his estate.
