Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. II, Part 88

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 732

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. II > Part 88

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(VI) Samuel Berry, son of Lieutenant Thomas Berry (5), was born at Portland (Falmouth), Maine, May 4, 1774. He was an active, good-na- tured, brave and energetic man, a mason by trade. He died at Georgetown, May 18, 1851, aged seventy- seven years. He married (first) Mary (Polly) Gould; (second) Miss Hubbard, of Massa- chusetts, who died September 26, 1818; (third) Hannah Small, of Phippsburg, daughter of Samuel Small, a soldier of the revolutionary war; and ( fourth) Miss Oliver. The children of Samuel and Mary (Gould) Berry were: I. Captain Sam- uel, Jr., born July 4. 1799, married Hannah B. Pennell, October 13, 1825; lost at sea in the brig "Gautelupe" of which he was master, together with liis son Samuel Henry, in 1844; resided in Bruns- wick and had six children. 2. Joseph, born at West Bath, Maine, 1797, died at Georgetown, Octo- ber 26, 1872, aged seventy-eight years; married Nancy Lee and had two sons; married (second), Harriet Oliver, daughter of David Oliver, and had ten children. General Joseph Berry was a mason by trade, working with his father in early life build- ing government lighthouses along the coast of New England ; then engaged in milling and shipbuilding in which he prospered; was collector of the port of Bath in 1857; was major-general in state militia ; was member of state legislature of Maine several years. 3. Joshua Berry, born at West Bath, Septem- ber 18, 180 -- , married Mary Doughty, of Brunswick, died in Bath, Maine, at the home of his daughter ; was a mason by trade. 4. John, born at West Bath, May, 1804, married Elizabeth Oliver, who died December 13, 1856, aged fifty-two years; (sec- ond) Sarah Rhodes; lie was a successful ship- master and later was in business in Wisconsin; died at Georgetown, May 22, 1869. The child of Samuel and his second wife was: 5. Jane, died un- married. The children of Samuel and Hannah ( Small) Berry, his third wife, were: 6. Betsey, mar- ried 1. J. Hollis, merchant, and lived in Boston. 7. Mary. 8. Lydia, died in infancy. 9. Curtis, born at Harpswell, a mason by trade, in successful busi- ness in Boston; retired in 1860 and bought a large farın at Newport, Maine, where he lived until his death in 1876, aged sixty-one years; married twice but had no children. 10. Stephen Decatur, born September 16, 1818, see forward.

(VII) Stephen Decatur Berry, son of Samuel

Berry (6), was born at Winnegance, Phippsburg, Maine, September 16, 1818. His mother dying when he was ten days old, Stephen was taken to the home of his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Small, of Meadow Brook, Phippsburg, where he grew to manhood. He early took to the sea and became an active and successful shipmaster. General Joseph Berry, mentioned above, in whose ships Stephen Berry sailed, once remarked that Stephen was the most active and efficient man he ever saw on the deck of a ship. He was noted for firmness and kindness in the management of his men, and for whole-hearted friendship and generosity in his re- lation with friends. He died of cholera at New Orleans, Louisiana, May 24, 1852, at the age of thirty-three years, six months. The enthusiasm and affection with which older people, the friends of his youth and young manhood, now refer to his traits of character, bear testimony to their loyalty and to his enduring memory. His remains were brought to Maine, and interred in the Georgetown burying ground.

He married Jane Mary Morse, youngest daugh- ter of Deacon Elijah Morse, of Phippsburg, Maine, June 12, 1845. She was a descendant of William Morse, the pioneer settler, who was born in Marl- borough, Wiltshire, England, in 1608. He and his brother Anthony came to America in 1635 and set- tled at Newbury, now Newburyport, Massachusetts. A third brother Robert, late of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, came to Boston the year before the immigra- tion of the two other brothers and shortly after- ward settled in Newbury also, but removed to New Jersey in 1637. Anthony Morse lived in Newbury till his death in 1686. William Morse married Elizabethı , about 1635, and they had ten children. He died at Newbury, November 29, 1683.

Joseph Morse, fourth child of William Morse, was born at Newbury about 1644; married Mary and lived at Newbury until his death, Jan- tiary 15, 1678-79; they had five children.

Joseph Morse, second son of Joseph Morse (2), was born at Newbury, July 26, 1074, and lived there; married Elizabeth Poor and had ten chil- dren; was one of the constituent members of the Third Church of Newbury in 1725 and was chosen a member of the Monthly Society by that church December 7, 1727.

Daniel Morse, second son of Joseph (3) and Elizabeth (Poor) Morse, was born at Newbury, March 8, 1694, married Sarah Swain and they had four children.

Daniel Morse, third son of Daniel (4) and Saralı (Swain) Morse, was born about 1725-26, and bap- tized February 25, 1733, at the Third Church in Newbury; he married Margaret McNeil, of Irish descent, and resided in Georgetown. The birth of four children are recorded.

Daniel Morse, first son of Danicl (5) and Mar- garet ( MeNeil) Morse, was born in Massachusetts ; married. 1775, Mary Wyman, of Phippsburg, then Georgetown, and they had eleven children; he owned and lived on the estate known as Morse's Mountain in Phippsburg; he died about 1839; he was a soldier in the revolutionary war. .

Elijah Morse, third son of Daniel (6) and Mary (Wyman) Morse, was born in Phippsburg about 1785; married Ann Morrison, who was of Scotch descent, daughter of Moses Morrison, a soldier in the revolution, about 1815; was for many years dea- con of the Free Baptist Church of Small Point, Phippsburg ; their children were-Lucretia, married Captain William Sprague and had four children ; Perey, married Rebecca Wallace and had five chil-

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dren : John L., married Sarah Wallace and had four children; Arnold; Jane Mary. Elijah, died March 31, 1857.

Jane Mary Morse, fifth child of Deacon Elijah Morse (7), was born March 18, 1828, at Morse's Mountain, Phippsburg; married, June 12, 1845, Stephen D. Berry, as mentioned above. She married (second), 1858, Byron Campbell, who died Novem- ber 20, 1903. She is now living with her son, John Cutting Berry. She had no children during her sec- ond marriage. The only child of Stephen D. and Jane Mary (Morse) Berry was John Cutting, men- tioned below.

(VIII) John Cutting Berry, son of Stephen De- catur Berry (7), was born January 16, 1847, in the district of Small Paint, Phippsburg, Sagadahoc coun- ty, Maine. He was but five years old when his father died, and he and his mother made their home with her father, Deacon Elijah Morse, of Phippsburg, with her brothers, and with a great uncle, Christopher Small. In these homes the boy came under the influence of a strong religious life which did much to shape his character and subse- quent career. At the age of seventeen years he united with the church and much of his life since has been devoted to religious and humanitarian work. -

Dr. Berry was sent to the public schools of his native town and then to Monmouth (Maine) Acad- emy. He began to study medicine at the Medical School of Maine (Bowdoin), was student interne at the United States Marine Hospital at Port- and, Maine, and finally completed his under- graduate studies at Jefferson Medical College ( Philadelphia), from which he graduated in 1871, at the age of twenty-four years. The finances of the family obliged him to support and educate him- self after the age of fifteen years.

On his graduation he was appointed by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to its newest mission field. as medical mis- sionary, and after a year of practice in this country he reached Japan in May, 1872. That nation was just emerging from her great po- litical revolution, and her contact with the

civilization of the west so emphasized her own backwardness and darkness as to make her eager to receive the rich gifts which the science and re- ligion of the Occident held out for her acceptance. What developed later into the largest of the Chris- tion missions to Japan, with all its Christian, hu- manitarian and educational work, had but just begun, and thus at the early age of twenty-five years Dr. Berry found himself the medical member of this great missionary organization, and in a coun- try eager to adopt the Caucasian civilization and the customs and ideas of Christian nations. Never was there more to stimulate a young man to large activity and rapid growth than the conditions surrounding him during those early years. Of his work during this period Professor W. W. Keen, his old teacher of anatomy, writes. in substance (Transactions of the College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Third Series, Volume IV): "Dr. Berry arrived in Japan in the spring of 1872 and was at once appointed the Med- ical Director of the International Hospital (En- ropean) at Kobe. At the end of nine months his Japanese medical work had become so arduous that he resigned his connection with the International Hospital, and, with the co-operation of native friends, opened another dispensary in a more central lo- cality. But in a few months, in order to avail him- self of proffered government aid, he changed to a still larger building owned and supported by the government as a hospital under native management.

During this time he had observed cases of kakke, a disease closely resembling the beri-beri of India, but so altered by climate and other influences as to present distinctive clinical features. Partly to learn the pathology of this disease, but chiefly to afford his students an opportunity to study anatomy, he wrote to the government requesting the privilege of teach- ing human anatomy by dissection at the hospital, and asked that the unclaimed bodies of criminals should be furnished him for this purpose. This application met with a favorable response. The re- quest was forwarded to the central government and in a few days a favorable reply was received, direct- ing the local authorities to grant the privilege of dissection. A suitable building for the purpose was specially constructed and this was opened for use November 8, 1873. On the day following the receipt of the first two subjects for dissection, the physi- cians of the Hiogo prefecture and neighboring provinces met at the hospital, when the exercises were opened by reading in Japanese a brief history of anatomy. After an hour and a half spent in reading, the circulation of the blood was studied and then the dissection of the brain demonstrated. The next day the regular course was begun. In 1875 the government regarded this school with such favor as to place in it eighteen selected young men. In the meantime another hospital had been organ- ized at Himeji, fifty miles away, and four dis- pensaries within a radius of twenty miles. To this hospital and to these dispensaries Dr. Berry made monthly tours, meeting from five hundred to seven hundred patients each month, besides numerous physicians from the saine localities. In order to in- struct these physicians didactically as well as clin- ically, he prepared lesson sheets and sent them to the nearest dispensary, where they were copied and thence forwarded to the next. In this way a large number of native physicians, who could not leave their prac- tice to come to the school for study, received help- ful instructions. A feature of the work receiving special attention was that affording the native pro- fession, and also the public, information on epi- demic diseases. Papers on smallpox, typhoid fever, cholera, etc., were circulated at different times when epidemics of these diseases occurred or threatened, while the native press was employed to teach the masses by articles on house-building, heating, ven- tilation, drainage, nursing, care of children, personal and public hygiene, etc. Dr. Berry learned much of the inner life of Japanese prisons through visiting the sick in the Hiogo prison with one of his hos- pital assistants, and at once set himself at work to effect much needed reforms there. When the re- quest for permission to visit the prisons was granted the work of inspection was at once begun, and was followed by a report in which special stress was placed upon the following among other topics: A system of thorough classification ; special education of prison officials ; introduction of industrial labor ; the teaching of trades and the art of self helps; the abolition, except under peculiar limitations, of corporal punishment; making the reformation of the prisoner, rather than his punishment, the first aim : importance of preserving domestic ties of prisoner ; value of Christianity as a reformatory agent ; ven- tilation ; prison architecture ; care of sick, etc. The report was accepted and acknowledged by the gov- ernment, published, and sent out to the prisons of the country." Of this work for the prisons a Japanese gentleman recently in this country study- ing our systems of prison management (Mr. To- mioka) said: "Dr. Berry's report was the beginning of prison discipline reform in Japan. * a *

* great light in the darkness of our prison sys-

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tem." In 1879 in order to open up and establish a mission station in the interior of the country, he left Kobe and became Adviser to tlie Okayama Prefectural Hospital and Board of Health, where he remained until he came to America in 1884. Dur- ing. the last two years of his connection with the Okayama Hospital the number of patients treated annually in the hospital was over ten thousand. After a year of special study in New York he re- turned to Japan in 1885 to establish the Doshisha University Hospital and Training School for Nurses in Kyoto, of which institution he became medical director. He held this position for ten years, during six of which he also filled the chair of Professor of Physiology and Hygiene in the University. Upon his resignation from the mission the Prudential Committee of the American Board took action as follows :

"Tuesday, March 3, 1896, the Prudential Com- mittee voted to accept the resignation of Dr. J. C. Berry, Physician and Missionary of the American Board. But the committee cannot suffer the with- drawal of so eminent a physician and so conscienl- tious a missionary without bearing testimony to his distinguished and successful service in Japan. By his wisdom, ability and energy he has contributed to elevate the medical profession in that country. His hospital and Nurses' Training School have been models of wisdom and efficiency, and his methods have been adopted by the intelligent and successful native physicians. He has the confidence of all who know him, both Americans and Japanese. While regretting the retirement of Dr. Berry from the service of the American Board, we are glad of an opportunity to record our high estimate of his per- sonal character and of his professional skill."

This action of the board was supplemented by similar action of his mission and this was further supplemented by personal letters of members of the mission urging his return.

For twenty-three years, during the period of na- tional development of New Japan, he was closely identified with the religious, humanitarian and edu- cational movements in that country. The triumph of sanitation, hygiene, nursing and surgery during the late war with Russia, when the Japanese made by far the best record ever known in the world's history in the prevention of disease and saving of the sick and wounded, is a personal triumph for Dr. Berry, one of the pioneer workers along these lines.

His active professional labors and interest in the general work of the mission prevented much at- tention to writing, though he gathered abundant material in his work in Japan. Among the more important contributions of Dr. Berry to the literature of medicine are: a monograph on the Climate of Japan, written for the Congress of Hygiene at the World's Fair, Chicago, by request of the Japanese Advisory Committee, and the "Kyoto Memorial for the Abolition of Licensed Prostitution in Japan," a document presented to the National Parliament after wide circulation among the Christian communities of the Empire. Referring to him and his recent speeches on the subject of Christian Missions, the Portland Daily Press said :

"Dr. Berry is a man of large ability and ex- perience and an impressive speaker, who at once finds favor with his audience."

In 1885, while in America, Dr. Berry took post- graduate study in New York, and in 1894 he studied in Vienna. After leaving Japan he came to Wor- cester and since then has resided in that city, making a specialty of eye and ear diseases. Dr. Berry was welcomed in the professional, social and church life

of the city, and has taken a leading position in re- ligious, charitable and humanitarian work. He lias been president of the Worcester City Missionary Society for ten years, since 1896. He has been a dea- con of the Plymouth (Congregational) Church since 1900. He is a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, and a member of the board of directors of the Wor- cester Young Men's Christian Association. He is president of the Memorial Home for the Blind, Worcester. He was formerly president of the Wor- cester Congregational Club, of which he is still a member, as also of the Worcester Economic Club.

He is at present ophthalmic and aural surgeon to the Worcester City Hospital, and visiting ophthal- mologist to the Baldwinville Hospital Cottages. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, of the American Medical Association, also of the New England Ophthalmological Society, Boston, and of the Jefferson College Alumni Association.

Dr. Berry's four great-grandfathers were all sol- diers in the revolution as indicated in the gen- ealogical sketch above, and he is a member and at present vice-president of the Worcester Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. He was formerly president of the Natives of Maine, a Worcester so- ciety organized for social purposes.

Dr. Berry married, April 10, 1872, Maria Eliza- beth Gove, youngest daughter of Hartley and Eveline (Hill) Gove, of Bath, Maine. (See sketch of Gove family below). Their children are: I. Edward Gove, born at Kobe, Japan, January 6, 1874, died at birth. 2. Evelyn Morse, born at Kobe, Japan, April 22, 1876, died January 4, 1877. 3. Katherine Fiske, born at Bath, Maine, August 31, 1877, baptized in Bath the following year by Rev. John O. Fiske, D. D. 4. Gordon, born in Okayama, Japan, March 7, 1880, baptized by Rev. M. L. Gordon, D. D., at Osaka, Japan, May, 1880. 5. Helen Cary, born at Okayama, Japan, November 24, 1882. 6. Almira Field, born at Kyoto, Japan, April 17, 1887, baptized by Rev. J. D. Davis, D. D., of Hiezan, near Kyoto, in August, same year; united with Plymouth Church, Worces- ter, January, 1901 ; died March 31, 1901.

(1X) Katherine Fiske Berry, daughter of John Cutting Berry (8), was born at Bath, Maine, August 31, 1877. Her early education was received in Japan from her parents and private teachers. In 1893 she returned to the United States by way of Germany, where six months were spent in study. After a year in the Newton high school, Massachusetts, she went to the Burnham school at Northampton, where she graduated to enter Smith College in 1898. Standing high in her classes, she at the same time found time for many college activities, among which may be mentioned membership in the Oriental Club, the college choir and the Alpha Society (of which she was alumnae secretary for a time). She was promi- nently interested in the "dramatic" life there; con- tributed frequently to the college Literary Monthly; was vice-president of the Missionary society during her junior year; and served on various committees.

Graduating in 1902, when she received the degree of A. B., she came to Worcester with her parents. Since then she has been secretary of the Consumers League of Worcester and secretary and treasurer of the Smith College Club of Worcester. She has been active in the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation, and was for two years chairman of the en- tertainment committee. From 1902 to 1905 she was principal of the primary department of the Plym- outh Sunday school, Worcester, of which church she is a member.

(IX) Gordon Berry, son of John Cutting Berry (8), was born in Okayama, Japan March 7,

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ISSo. With the exception of a short visit to America he remained in that country until thirteen years of age, when the family returned to the United States, via Europe. His early education, begun by his parents and private teachers in Japan, was continued in Ger- many for six months; then in Massachusetts, where he graduated from Worcester Academy in 1898 and from Amherst College four years later. Deciding to study medicine, he now entered the University of Michigan, where he obtained his degree of Doctor of Medicine in June, 1906. A few of the activities of his school life may be mentioned: At Amherst he became a member of the Chi Phi Greek letter fraternity ; he made the track team in his freshman year ; his junior year was spent at Colorado Col- lege, where he was in the Glee and Mandolin Clubs ; at Michigan he joined the Nu Sigma Nu medical fraternity ; for two years he played on the Uni- versity Golf team; during his second year he was state water analyst in the University Hygiene Lab- oratories. On graduation he accepted the position of second assistant in ophthalmology in the medical department of the University of Michigan. During the summer of 1906 he passed the state medical board examinations in both Michigan and Massa- chusetts, and was appointed to the position of house officer in the Worcester City Hospital, the term of service to begin in April, 1907. He is a member of Plymouth Church, Worcester.

(IX) Helen Cary Berry, daughter of John Cut- ting Berry (8), was born at Okayama, Japan, No- vember 24, 1882. Her early education was re- ceived in Japan from her parents and members of the mission. In 1903 she came to America with the family by way of Europe, stopping for study in Hanoyer, Germany. On finishing her grammar school course at Worcester, she entered the Classical high school, graduating in 1901. Remaining another year for special work, she then entered Wheaton Seminary, Norton, Massachusetts, graduating in 1904. Here she was the junior class vice-president and president of the senior class. In every branch of the school life -- athletic, theatrical, musical, social-she took an active and prominent part. In 1903 she repre- sented the seminary as a delegate to the Silver Bay Conference of Lake George, and at graduation was chosen as one of the Commencement speakers. During 1904-06 she attended the Lucy Wheelock Kindergarten Training School, Boston, graduating in June of the latter year; she was vice-president of her class in her junior and senior years, and wrote the Class Will and Grinds at graduation. She was elected assistant secretary of the Wheelock Alumnae Association. She passed the kindergarten certificate examinations in New York city, June, 1906, and a similar examination in Worcester, where she has been appointed teacher in the public schools for 1907. She is vice-president of the Worcester Wheaton Club, and member of Plymouth Church.

(IX) Almira Field Berry, daughter of John Cutting Berry, early developed into a child of un- usual attractiveness and promise. At the age of thirteen she showed remarkable musical talent, while in character she was exceptionally affectionate, tact- ful and winsome. Six months before her death she entered the Ninth Grade School, and concerning her life there Principal Vermille wrote as follows: "She was earnest and faithful always, and diligent and careful in all her work. She was open-hearted and sincere in all her thoughts and deeds. Such sunshine was in her disposition and sp quaintly wise her sayings-trusting and affectionate in all her ways, helpful to her classmates and a continual blessing to her teachers. The 'clouds of glory' were still with her. "Her memory will be a help

and an example to her teachers and classmates as long as they live."

Her school work was selected as among the best in her grade for the exposition.

MRS. JOHN CUTTING BERRY (MARIA ELIZABETH GOVE) was born at Bath, Maine, December 18, 1846, the youngest of ten children of Hartley and Eveline (Hill) Gove, of Bath, Maine. Her parents were married at Phippsburg, December 8, 1825, by Rev. J. W. Ellingwood.

(VII) Harley Gove was born in Edgecomb, Lin- coln county, Maine, November 10, 1800, and died September 29, 1859. He was the third son of John and Betsey (Leeman) Gove.

(VI) John Gove, father of Hartley Gove, was son of Ebenezer Gove, and an early settler in the state of Maine.

(V) Ebenezer Gove, father of John Gove settled about the time of the revolution in Edgecomb, which was incorporated in 1774. He was captain of the first Edgcomb Company, Third Lincoln County Regi- ment, in 1776. (Mass. Archives). There is no record of any service in New Hampshire. From his rank it may be presumed that he was an officer before the revolution and very likely served in the French and Indian war. In 1786 he was an appraiser and on the committee to partition the estate of William Hodge, of Edgecomb. He helped settle the estate of Nathaniel Leeman of Edgecomb. Betty Leeman, the widow, was appointed administratrix Angust 7, 1792. He helped make the inventory of estate of Joseph Decker of Edgecomb in 1795. He died in the fall of 1796. His widow Mary was appointed administratrix September 12, 1796, with Ebenezer Gove (doubtless the eldest son) and William Mc- Cobb as sureties. His inventory amounted to $7.769.35. These records show that he lived and died at Edgecomb.

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Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. II, Part 88

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 732

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 732