Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/306

 BERRY.

BESSEY.

of thp ground on which the city was built. He l)n)inott>d the interests of the city and instituted the ferry system with New York. At the out- break of the civil war lie entered the army as surgeon of the 38th N. Y. infantry, though his age excluded him from any obligation to do so. An incident occurred at White House, Va., which showed the character and courage of the man. In ISG'2. when the army under General McClellan made their retreat to Harrison's I>anding, the sick and wounded, about three hundred in nimi- ber, with Dr. Berry in charge, were left behind by some oversight; he undertook the work of conveying his patients by train to the new head- quarters on the James river, and on the way he gathered over five hundred other sick and wounded men and brought the eight hundred into hospital camp. He died at his home in BnK>klyn, from overwork and fever contracted in till' sw;mii)s of Virginia. Oct. 32, 1865.

BERRY, Hiram George, soldier, was born at Thomaston. Maine, Aug. 27, 1824. He was prom- inent in local jiolitics, holding office as representa- tive in the state legislature and mayor of Rock- land. He organized a volunteer militia company in the city, known as the Rockland guards and celebrated for its efficiency in drill and discipline. In 1861 he was made colonel of the 4th Maine in- fantry, served in the first battle of Bull Run and with McClellan in the peninsular campaign, with distinguished gallantry, and was promoted brigadier-general, April 4, 1862. He was given command of the 3d brigade, 3d division, 3d army corps, and fought at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, the seven days' fight, 2d Bull Run and Chantilly. In January, 1863, he was made major-general of volunteers and commanded the 2d division, 3d army corps. At Chancellor.sville he displayed especial bravery in carrying out the following order of General Hooker: "Go in, general; throw your men into the breach; don't fire a shot — they can't see you — but charge home with the bayonet." The division for three hours alone withstood the onslaught of the Confederates, and finally drove them back, regaining for the Federal army their lost ground. The fight was renewed the next morning, and Berry's division received the first assault. Heading one of his brigades, he led a bayonet charge several times successfully, but was shot and mortally wounded. He died on thobattlffifd.lof Chancfllorsville, May2, 1863.

BERRY, James Henderson, .senator, was born in Jack.son county, Ala., May 15, 1841. In 1848 the family removed to CarroUton, Ark., where the son attended school and worked on the farm and clerked in a .store. In 1861 he entered the Confederate army as lieutenant in the Ifith Arkansas infantry, fought at Pea Ridge and luka, and lost a leg at Corinth in October,

1862, while under Van Dorn in his attack on Rosecrans. When Port Hudson surrendered, in 1863, he was sent to Texas and Arkan.sas, and when the war was over retired to his home in CarroUton. He was elected to the legisla- ture of Arkansas in August, 1866, and admitted to the bar the same year. In 1869 he removed to Bentonville, and in 1872 was elected to repre- sent Benton county in the state legislature, and was speaker of the house during the extraordinary session of 1874. In 1876 he was chairman of the state Democratic convention, and was judge of the circuit court in 1878. He was elected governor of Arkansas in 1882, and in March, 1885, was elected to the United States senate to fill a vacancy, caused by the resignation of Senator Garland. He was re-elected in 1889, and again in 1895 and in 1901, serving 1885-1907.

BERRY, Nathaniel Springer, governor of New Hampshire, was born at Batli, Elaine, Sept. 1, 1796; son of Abner and Betsy (Springer) Berry. His father was a shipbuilder; his grandfather, John Berry, was a captain in the Continental army; his maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Springer, was an artillery captain in the revolutionary war and was killed in battle. In 1812 he began a five years' apprenticeship to a tanner, and at the age of twenty-two he entered upon a leather manufacturing business at Bristol, N. H. He was successful in business and prominent in local politics, serving many terms in the state legisla- ture. For nine years he acted as judge of the court of common pleas, and in 1856 he was appointed judge of probate, remaining in this office until 1861, when he was elected by the Republidan party governor of New Hampshire. He was re-elected the following year, and was one of the war governors who signed the letter of June 28, 1862, urging President Lincoln to call for volunteers to put down the rebellion. He died at Bristol, N. H., April 27, 1894.

BERRY, William James Courtnald, librarian, was born in Jersey City, N. J., May 28, 1847. After his graduation from the Englishtown (N. J.) academy, he devoted some time to the study of law, and was admitted to the bar, after being graduated from Columbia college law school in 1876. He then entered the employ of a prominent law-publishing hou.se in New York city. In 1870, when the New York bar associa- tion was organized, he became its fir.st librarian, and held the position for over twenty-seven years.

BESSEY, Charles Edwin, botanist, was born at Milton, Wayne county, Ohio, May 21, 1845. After taking an academic course in his native town he entered the Michigan agricultural col- lege, where lie was graduated in 1869, and later took a special course at Harvard. He then