The Berry family arrived in Antelope County in 1882. Daniel Griswold Berry, born March 3, 1819, at Greenfield, Erie County, Pennsylvania, had come west to Illinois about 1840 and had settled in DeKalb County. He married Charlotte Aseneth Hollister Fuller, a widow with two young daughters. She was the daughter of Eli Hollister and Mary Bassinger, born in New York on March 3, 1822. They had four children: Sarah Ann, Eli Hollister, May, and Lewis W.
The family moved to Clinton County, Iowa in 1853 and then to Marshall County, Iowa in 1855 before coming to Antelope County.
Eli Hollister
Berry married Anna M Ward on August 14, 1887. Anna M Ward was born in England on November 21, 1870 and sailed
to America with her parents William and Susan Ann Ward and grandparents,
William B and Susan Ann Smith in May 1871. The Smiths and Wards had come to Brunswick. Eli and Anna farmed in the Willowdale community and then came
to Neligh to live in 1889. He was engaged
in the mercantile business started Berry and Company. They were parents of ten children: Grace M, Charlotte L, Esther D, Eli Carl,
Theodore R, Ruth H, Bessie I, Robert Ward and Flora B. Anna Ward Berry died at Neligh on November
11, 1918. Eli Hollister Berry died
March 19, 1943. Lewis Wilbur Berry,
son of Eli and Anna, was born April 14, 1908 and lifetime resident of
Antelope County. He served in WWII
and was wounded. He married Germaine
Gwendolyn Schmidt, daughter of Rudolph Schmidt and Esther Stein May 15, 1946
at Topeka, Kansas. They purchased a
farm in Blaine township in 1952. They
have three daughters: Diane, Karen
Germaine, and Sheila Ann.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in June 2007