Berry Cemetery Transcription - Cheap Flights Assist in Your Genealogy Research
BERRY FAMILY CEMETERY
Also Holy Redeemer Cemetery for Slaves,
Indians, and Paupers.
Near Ash Grove, Greene County, Missouri
Directions: From Ash Grove, go west on Highway 160 to County Road 9,
turn left on CR 9 and go to CR 68. Go left on CR 68 to CR 74, then
left on CR 74. It is on the left side of the road, there is a
historical marker in front of the fence marking the spot, turn into
the field and drive back through a second gate to reach the cemetery.
There are many unmarked graves here, and graves marked by wooden
crosses or stones that do not have names.
Photographed and transcribed by Jane Owens, Heather Gilbert and Johnna
Quick on 14 Sept 2004.
BERRY
Millard W 4-16-1920 11-3-1959 Missouri Pfc 4065 OM Service Co
WWII BSM-PM
Della May 2-5-1891 6-15-1917 Daughter of Wm H and Caroline
William H 8-10-1848 1-31-1917
Caroline 8-25-1850 9-8-1914 Wife of Wm
Herbert W 4-26-1879 3-18-1904 Son of WH and CM
Birtie 5-2-1882 1-10-1902 Son of WH and CM
Sarah E 9-3-1873 2-24-1891 Daughter of WH and CM
BOONE
Maria 8-5-1819 12-19-1893
BOYD
A. no dates
DECKS
Elizabeth died 1-14-1905 Aged 71 years
HARVEY
Maude Lee 1881 1924
Rev. H 1851 1918
Sarah A 7-10-1857 11-25-1906 Wife of H Harvey
Lulie E 7-8-1876 5-4-1889 Daughter of ? and ?E Harvey
William E 3-11-1883 2-16-1889 Son of H and SE Harvey
HERRON
Susan V 12-25-1860 4-11-1912 Wife of Aaron
HUDDLESTON
Rachel A 2-9-1821 1-3-1902
JACKSON
Katherine Deja 11?991 5?998
JAMES
Charity 3-18-1842 3-31-1914
JONES
R S 11-28-1854 12-20-1892
MASON
John died 9-24-1888 Aged 51 years
OLIVER
Alma L Died 3-27-1884 Daughter of HW and SA Oliver
PERYMAN
Jocy Dell 8-28-1881 6-19-1882 Daughter of R and MA Peryman
RICHIE
James E 1-1-1937 10-14-2003
SIMMONS
Ralph 7-4-1854 5-16-1904
Jasper 11-2-1882 1-11-1908
Enoch 8-13-1886 2-1-1900
WALLS
Rev. James Parson Walls {Note: there are blocks here put up for the
family, no dates, and a note that stated “Rev. James Parson Walls and
Vinney and family by grandson William Delbert Herndon?
Vinney
Joe
Charles
Bob
Press
Baby
WHITE
Grace born and died 3-12-1891 Daughter of GW and LJ
YOKUM
Lewis Frank 3-17-1893 2-14-1966 Missouri Pvt 3 Co 164 Depot
Brigade WWI
From the Springfield News Leader, 10 Sept 2005
Historic burial place for 'slaves, paupers and Indians'
Moses Berry, whose family maintained the burial
grounds, applied for the designation.
by Jenny Filmer, News Leader
ASH GROVE ?The final resting place for former
slaves, rural black families and several souls
whose names are lost to time has gained national
recognition.
Ash Grove's Berry Cemetery has been named to
the National Register of Historic Places. The official
brass plaque marker will be unveiled today in a
special ceremony at the site.
The 130-year-old cemetery was deeded as a burial
place for "Slaves, paupers and Indians" who were
not allowed interment at the Ash Grove Cemetery.
Now it's all that's left of a once-thriving black
community in northwest Greene County.
"They were husbands and wives and children ?a
community of people that had hope in the generations
to come," said Moses Berry, great-grandson of the
cemetery's founder, William H. Berry.
"They built their own homes. They built their own schools.
They worked and prayed for their community and left
behind a loving legacy."
Moses Berry, an Orthodox priest who spent most of
his life away from the Ozarks, now lives adjacent to
the cemetery on his great-grandfather's farm.
Berry said his family had always maintained the
cemetery, but it had fallen into neglect before he
inherited the nearby farm eight years ago.
"We rescued that cemetery from the woods," said
Berry. "Tombstones had been knocked down by
grazing cattle. We had to fill dirt in some of the
graves that had sunken."
With the help of many volunteers, much of the
one-acre burial ground has been cleared of brush,
fenced in and nursed back to a respectable state.
But Berry worries about what will happen after he
can no longer care for the property.
He sought the National Register designation as a way
to encourage future generations ?and especially
African-Americans ?to remember the cemetery's
significance.
"I did it because I know how important it is for
generations to come to have some sort of landmark
to say 'We were here,'" said Berry.
"And, maybe we'll be able to get some help in main-
taining the cemetery."
Gaining a National Registry designation is not an
easy task.
"It's not something you just fill out a form for," said
Mark Miles, director of the state historic preservation
office, a division of the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources.
"You have to do some research. You have to complete
a description of the property, which can be quite detailed.
And you have to create your statement of significance.
You have to build a case for why the property is significant."
Gail Emrie, chair of the Greene County Historic Sites
Board, prepared the nomination for Berry Cemetery.
"I was accepted onto the (county) board and said I'd
like a project," said Emrie "I think it had been sitting
on the table for a while."
Emrie said she's lost track of the number of hours she
spent researching the property, but she considered it a
privilege.
"I learned a lot from their lives," she said. "These are
the forgotten pioneers, for one thing."
Some of those buried in the cemetery are descendants
of slaves belonging to Greene County homesteader
Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone.
"The Boone family came to Missouri, but their slaves
came too. We don't really pay much attention to those
people that came and who did a lot of the work," said
Emrie.
She was fascinated by the story of Frank Lewis "Fireball"
Yocum, a World War I veteran buried in the cemetery
who played baseball with the Kansas City Negro League
team, the Monarchs.
"I've learned that there was a thriving community of
blacks here, even in the rural towns," said Emrie. "I
hadn't realized that. And for economic and social reasons,
it disappeared."
Nominations for the National Register of Historic Places
must be approved by the Missouri Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation before being sent for consideration
to the National Park Service in Washington, D.C.
The Berry Cemetery nomination was accepted on the
National Register on Nov. 13. Berry received notification
of the designation in April.
Federal approval brings a level of prestige to a historic
site. But it rarely results in any funding. In fact, the
property owner is responsible for purchasing a bronze
plaque identifying the site.
Emrie said the Greene County Historic Sites Board covered
the $95 needed for the plaque.
"Making it a National Registry site will give it more attention
and significance beyond Greene County," said Emrie,
"especially for people researching African-American history."
Emrie said the designation also enhances the Nathan Boone
Homestead State Historic Site and Berry's Ozarks Afro-
American Heritage Museum, both in Ash Grove.
Berry said he hopes the National Registry designation will
help preserve not only the memory of a vanished black
community, but the segregated world in which it functioned.
"People need to know that there are institutions all over
the country that Afro-Americans made and maintained,"
said Berry. "If they wanted to be buried, they had to
make a cemetery.
"It will be a place where future generations can look
back and recognize what their ancestors accomplished.
It says, 'My life is connected to more than just the present.'"
The Rev. Moses Berry stands near the graves of his
great-grandparents Caroline "Boone" Berry and William
Berry at the slave cemetery in Ash Grove. The cemetery
has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.
William Berry is an ancestor of the Rev. Moses Berry,
who helped the 130-year-old Berry Cemetery gain a
spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
This article and photos from the Springfield News Leader.