Richard Berry

- 1676

• Name	Richard Berry
  Gender	Male
  Death	10 Sep 1676	Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts   [1, 2, 3]
  Alternate death	7 Sep 1681	Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts   [4, 5]
  Person ID	I6972	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of LDN, Ancestor of TNH
  Last Modified	15 Dec 2018

  
  

  Family	Alice
  Marriage	Abt 1650  [2]
  Children	+ 1. John Berry,   b. 29 Mar 1652, Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts d. 1745, Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts (Age 92 years) + 2. Samuel Berry,   b. 11 Jul 1654, Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts d. 21 Feb 1704, Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts (Age 49 years)
  Family ID	F2904	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Dec 2018

  
  

• Notes

  In Barnstable 1643; Boston 1647; Yarmouth 1649. From Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families by Amos Otis, citation details below: In the list of those who were able to bear arms in Barnstable, in 1643, is the name of Richard Berry. It is not slanderous to say the son is a better man than the father, or that the daughter is a better woman than the mother. This remark applies to Richard Berry and his wife Alice. They did not sustain good characters, but their children followed not in their footsteps. He did not reside long in Barnstable. He probably removed to Boston in 1647, and thence to Yarmouth where his large family of children were born. Oct. 29, 1649, Berry accused Teague Jones of Yarmouth, of the crime of sodomy, and Jones was put under heavy bonds for his appearance at the March term of the Court to answer. At that Court Berry confessed that he had borne false witness against Jones, and for his perjury was whipped at the post in Plymouth. His wife Alice was a thievish woman, and husband and wife were well matched. May 3, 1653, she was presented for stealing a neckcloth from the wife of William Pierce of Yarmouth: at the June Court for stealing bacon and eggs from Mr. Samuel Arnold; at the March Court, 1654-5. for stealing from the house of Benjamin Hammond a woman's shift and a piece of pork, and at the following Court in June for thievishly milking the cow of Thomas Phelps of Yarmouth. For the latter offence she was lined ten shillings, "or, refusing to pay, then to sit in the stocks at Yarmouth an hour the next training day." This is a sufficient specimen of her character, and it is unnecessary to trace it farther. It would, however, be unjust to the wife to say nothing more respecting the husband. Richard, notwithstanding his humiliating confession that he had sworn falsely, and his visit to the whipping-post, continued to live on excellent terms with his friend Teague at Doctor's Weir, near the mouth of Bass River. The Court, however, thought differently, and caused them "to part their uncivil living together." In March, 1663, he was fined forty shillings for playing cards; but at the March Court following, the fine was remitted. In 1668, Zachary Rider, the first born of the English in Yarmouth, complained that Berry had stolen his axe, and the matter was referred "to Mr. Hinckley and Mr. Bacon to end it at home." Richard, notwithstanding his vicious propensities, went to meeting on the Sabbath days carrying with him his pipe and tinder-horn. One Sabbath, during "the time of exercise," he and others, instead of listening to the exhortations of the preacher, seated themselves "at the end of Yarmouth Meeting House," and indulged in smoking tobacco. For this offence he and his companions were each mulcted in a fine of five shillings, at the March Court in 1669. Richard Berry died Sept. 7, 1681, having at the time of his death a house therein, though he had in early times been forbidden to erect a cottage in Yarmouth. In his old age he lived a better life, was admitted a townsman of Yarmouth, and his wife became respectable. They were very poor, and having a large family, it was very difficult for them to provide the necessaries of life. They thought it less criminal to steal than to starve. Necessity may palliate dishonest acts, but it cannot justify. Another consideration may be named; as soon as their children were able to contribute something by their labors for the support of the family, no more is heard of the thievish propensities of husband or wife.

  
  

• Sources

  [S119] Ancestors and Descendants of Andrew Lee and Clarinda Knapp Allen by Gerald R. Fuller. Esther Fuller Dial, ed. The Andrew Lee Allen Family Organization, 1952. [S670] "Genealogical Department." The Connecticut Quarterly 2:396, 1896. [S671] Cape Cod Library of Local History and Genealogy: A Facsimile Edition of 108 Pamphlets Published in the Early 20th Century, Volume 1, ed. Leonard H. Smith. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992. [S672] Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, Being a Reprint of the Amos Otis Papers, Originally Published in the Barnstable Patriot by Amos Otis, revised by C. F. Swift. Barnstable, Massachusetts: F. B. & F. P. Goss, 1888. [S1085] History of Hardwick, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register by Lucius R. Page. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1883., year and place only.