William Berry (pioneer)
William Berry (1619 – June 28, 1654) was the first settler at Sandy Beach, Rye, New Hampshire.
Early life
William Berry was born 1610 in Norfolk, England, the son of Johan Berry. He was in service to Captain John Mason in 1631, when Mason sent 58 men and 22 women to the Piscataqua River in North America. Among them were William Berry, William Seavey, Francis Rand, and William or Anthony Brackett.[1]
The following were returned as belonging to Sandy Beach in 1688: William Berry, John Berry, John Marden, John Foss 1st, John Foss Jr., John Odiorne, Anthony Brackett, Francis Rand, Thomas Rand, William Wallis, James Randall, William Seavie, James Berry, Samuel Ran, John Seavie, Anthony Libbie, and Joseph Berry.
Adult life
William Berry married Jane Unknown in 1636 in the town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
He became a freeman on 18 May 1642 in Newbury, Massachusetts and is on the list of the first settlers of Newbury.
William Berry by wife Jane had Elizabeth Berry in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States in 1634.
Signer of Glebe Conveyance
Berry signed the Glebe Conveyance in 1640.
He received a lot "upon the neck of land on the south side of the Little River at Sandy Beach on January 31, 1648 that included the area where 'Locke's Neck' is located.
Political life
Berry served as a Selectman of Strawberry Bank (which is now Portsmouth, New Hampshire) in 1646.
References
- ↑ Palmer, Ansell W., ed. Piscataqua Pioneers: Selected Biographies of Early Settlers in Northern New England, pp. 385-6, Piscataqua Pioneers, Portsmouth, NH, 2000. ISBN 0-9676579-0-3.
- Savage, James A., A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, 1860-1862., (Boston 1860-1862; rpt Baltimore 1955), [Savage], 1:171
- The Berrys by the beach : one of New Hampshire's first families / by Sylvia Fitts Getchell.
- New England Marriages Prior to 1700,Charles Torrey,New England Historic and Genealogy Society, Boston
- Parsons, Langdon B., History of the Town of Rye, NH From Its Discovery and Settlement to December 31, 1903, (1905; repr. Bowie, MD: Heritage Press 1992), [RyeHist], 269.
- Brewster, Charles W., The Selling of the Land, ~1860