ELIZABETH F. FARQUHAR, the daughter of James FARQUHAR and his third wife (name unknown), was born ca. 1843 in Fayette County, Alabama [1].  She was always known as Lizzie.  After the death of her father in 1859, Lizzie and her older sister, Pop FARQUHAR, went to live with their older half-sister, Katie BERRY [1].

Lizzie FARQUHAR married Henry T. BERRY on September 11, 1866, at the home of George and Katie BERRY in Fayette County, Alabama [2].  Henry T. BERRY was born August 12, 1843, in Fayette County and was the son of William C. BERRY (1803–1878) and Massa Ann TOMPKINS BERRY (1819–1903) [3].  Henry's older half-brother, George R. BERRY, was married to Lizzie's older half-sister, Katie FARQUHAR BERRY.  During the War Between The States, Henry served in the Confederate army in Company H, 41st Alabama Infantry [3].

Henry and Lizzie BERRY moved to Texas in 1867 with George and Katie BERRY and other friends and relatives.  They settled in Burnet County, Texas, and homesteaded 160 acres of land in the Sunny Lane Community [3].  Lizzie's older half-brother, Anderson FARQUHAR, and her older sister, Sarah TRAWEEK, had settled in Burnet County in 1853.

Lizzie BERRY made at least one trip back to Fayette County in the early 1880s to visit relatives and friends, and she may have gone back more than once.  An old letter, dated April 4, 1884, and sent from Frances LONG BERRY in Fayette, Alabama, to her son, W.L. LONG, in Burnet County, Texas, mentions Lizzie and indicates she may have been somewhat contrary.  Part of it reads:

"We often sing on the hundredth page but can't
get the right tune for it.  I tried to get
Lizy BERRY to sing the tune of that when she
was here.  She would not sing a word for me."

Another interesting fact about Lizzie is that she apparently suffered from some sort of mental illness and would periodically have a "spell."  During one of her "spells," she would talk about a man she was supposed to marry back in Alabama but who was killed (perhaps a beau who was killed during the War Between The States) [3].

Lizzie FARQUHAR BERRY died within a year after she was enumerated on the 1900 U.S. Census of Burnet County, Texas, which was taken in June of 1900.  She is buried next to Katie BERRY in Cauble Cemetery in Burnet County.  A small fieldstone marks her burial site.

After Lizzie's death, Henry BERRY married Miss Mary BROWN on June 11, 1901, in Lampasas County, Texas.  Mary BROWN BERRY died in childbirth about 1903.  Henry BERRY sold his land in Burnet County and returned to Fayette County, Alabama, in about 1911.  He later adopted a boy who was known as Arlie BERRY [3].

Henry BERRY died in Fayette County on November 22, 1935, several days after participating in the Armistice Day Parade.  At the time of his death, he was one of only four living Confederate veterans in Fayette County.  He was buried in Oak Grove Methodist Church Cemetery near Stough in Fayette County [3].


Excerpted from The Family and Descendants of Capt. James Farquhar, Revolutionary War Patriot, and Selected Allied Families, by Rick Herring, ©1991.  Used by permission.

Primary Sources:

1. 1860 U.S. Census, Fayette County, Alabama, p. 351.
2. Fayette County, AL, Marriage Records, 1866–1878, p. 45.
3. Glenn Berry, Wagons South, Wagons West, William Clarence Berry Ancestors and Descendants (1987), p. 98.